HALLMARK
5 LIFE LESSONS I LEARNED FROM ROMANTIC HALLMARK MOVIES
(They Have Nothing to Do with Love.)
There’s nothing like curling up with a big bowl of popcorn in your lap and a Hallmark movie on TV. These romantic stories are comfort food for the heart: generous helpings of warm, sweet romance, always served with a happy ending. The right woman always ends up with the right man in the right place – which is usually a quaint small town, where the heroine may be running a year-round Christmas shop a catering business, or a small newspaper that would have gone out of business if she hadn’t been fired from her big-city magazine job and come back to heal in her old hometown.
Yes, they’re predictable and impossibly perfect, and that’s just why I love them – especially now, when so many things are uncertain and sometimes you can’t even count on your day ending happily, let alone your whole life.
Hallmark movies are all about romance, but love lessons aren’t the only kind you can learn from them. I’ve noticed they can also teach you a lot about other parts of life, including business. Here are some of the lessons they’ve taught me (with plot summaries from Hallmark Channel):
- Ask for Help When You Need It — But Use Your Own Judgment
Dater’s Handbook (starring Meghan Markle before she started living a real-life fairy tale)
Perpetually unlucky in love, Cassandra follows the advice in a self-help expert’s book and then must ultimately choose between reliable George and fun-loving Robert. It’s hard to change old habits and place your faith in the experts, especially when your heart tells you something different.
Everyone needs advice, whether they are just starting out or have been in business for years. Be willing to seek the wisdom of experts but trust your instincts and decide for yourself whether to take their suggestions.
Jamie Siminoff didn’t listen to the investors on Shark Tank when they rejected his doorbell-minding gadget, Ring. He kept working on the invention and sold it to Amazon for a reported $1.1 billion
2. You – and Only You — Are Responsible for Your Success
Love at First Glance
A young woman’s hope for an engagement is upended unexpectedly when her fiancé tells her he is looking for someone more adventurous. On her train ride home, she finds herself trading glances with a handsome stranger who, as he exits the train, leaves his phone behind. As she endeavors to return the phone, she finds herself on a journey of self-discovery.
Let someone else determine your success or happiness and you’re likely to find neither success nor happiness. Don’t blame other people or circumstances for your lack of success, and don’t wait for someone else to tell you it’s OK to start pursuing your dreams.
3. Work with Your Competition, not Against Them. It Could Pay Off
For Better or For Worse
Wendy, a wedding coordinator, finds her business and values challenged when the charming and incredibly irritating Marco opens shop as a divorce attorney right next to her wedding chapel. Although Wendy will stop at nothing to promote her wedding business over Marco’s divorce business, she must form an alliance after her son announces his engagement to Marco’s daughter.
Competition helps everyone; it sharpens the competitors’ skills, which is good for customers (especially when it leads to lower prices). But the real reward comes when you stop even thinking of other people in your niche as competition. Spend a few minutes on LinkedIn and you’ll find many successful contributors sharing their knowledge. Aren’t they worried about losing business to the competition? Nope – they’re confident in their success (probably have more business than they can handle anyway) and they’re making their industry better.
4. When Life Changes Your Plan – Plan to Change
Birthday Wish
A woman expecting to get engaged on her 30th birthday is granted her wish for a glimpse into her future – which doesn’t resemble anything she’s ever imagined for herself.
You can have a solid business plan that calculates your future profits and losses and maps put every possible contingency, only to have it all be set back by unforeseen circumstances. When – not if – that happens, be ready to adjust and operate under the new rules.
COVID-19. Do I have to say more?
5. Don’t Wait for Disaster to Strike Before Seeking Fulfillment
Falling for Vermont
A best-selling author loses her memory in a car crash. The town doctor (a single dad) lets her stay in his guest house until her memory returns. As she blends seamlessly into their family life, she must decide if the life she’s been living is the life she wants.
Do you hate your job? Your marriage? Maybe it’s time to stop hating them and do something about it. I’m not telling you to quit today, but to start working toward the more fulfilling life you know you deserve. After all, if you hate your job or your marriage that much, the decision may soon be made for you anyway.
Your Starting Point
Start your journey to success with the Passion Test, which uses a series of questions to identify the top five passions that drive you. You’ll then work with Heather D. Mahoney, a certified Passion Test facilitator, to orient your life in alignment with your passions and create the life you’ve always wanted. Your first step? Take Heather’s free assessment.