E025 Grounded & Growing: What Your Childhood Interests Reveal About How You Think

If you have been overthinking your next step or feeling disconnected from what you actually enjoy, this episode will help you understand why. We are looking at how childhood interests, nervous system safety and familiar patterns shape the way you think and make decisions 

Maybe there is something you have already noticed yourself pulling away from because it does not feel practical right now. This is your chance to pause and check in. The $7 Season Mapping Quiz will help you understand where you are and what to focus on next. 

Grounded & Growing: What Your Childhood Interests Reveal About How You Think 

In this episode of The GA Wellness Podcast, I explore what started to resurface when I slowed down and gave myself space by playing a childhood game.  It gave me a clearer understanding of how I approach decisions and what naturally holds my attention. 

You will hear how early interests can shape the way your brain works, why curiosity tends to get pushed aside in busy seasons and what begins to change when you start paying attention to it again. 

📋 What we covered:

• What happens when old interests start to resurface
• Why we talk ourselves out of things that feel “impractical”
• The stories we carry about what we should and shouldn't be doing
• How the brain holds onto familiar patterns because they feel safe
• The Banjo Tooie story and what it revealed about exploration
• What curiosity can show about how you think and learn
• How responsibility and pressure can redirect curiosity
• What intrinsic motivation looks like in real life
• Why curiosity returns when your nervous system has space
• How story and state shape the way we move forward 

🧰 Grounded & Growing: Reflection Guide
A guide to help you pause, notice what is coming up for you and explore what might still be shaping the way you think and make decisions. .

👉 coming soon

🧭 Season Check-In Quiz
A simple guided check-in to help you work out which season you are in right now and what to focus on next.

👉 https://gawellness.myflodesk.com/seasonquiz

🌟 Key takeaways:

• Curiosity is still part of how you are wired
• Childhood interests can point to how you think and learn
• Familiar patterns often come from earlier seasons of life
• Awareness of your story and state is where change begins
• Small moments of curiosity can change how you see yourself

🔁 Episodes referenced in this episode:

E013 FOMO Detox for Mums: Meet JOMO The Joy for Your Nervous System
E024 Living with Intention: What Happened When I Stopped Overthinking Everything

🎧 Related listening:

E007 Let’s Talk Habits: Why You Can’t Hustle Your Way to Wellness
E008 The Myth of Balance: Let’s Talk Seasons
E009 Let’s Talk Integration: The Secret Ingredient to Real Change

By the end of this episode you will start to notice what naturally holds your attention, understand why you have been pulling away from certain things and feel more confident trusting what is coming up for you. 

📱 Let’s Connect 

• All links, resources and ways to connect are here https://linktr.ee/GAWellness

🔔 If this episode spoke to you, lovely, please:

• Follow the podcast.
• Leave a quick review (it truly helps!)
• Share with a bestie who’s ready to reclaim wellness on her own terms.

 © 2026 GA Wellness with Georgia Ann™. All content is for educational purposes only and is not medical or psychological advice. 

Transcript

E025 Grounded & Growing: What Your Childhood Interests Reveal About How You Think
Georgia Ann

Opening

Have you ever noticed how certain interests or ideas still flicker in the background of your life? They show up quietly, you notice them and then they slip away again as the day fills up and you move on to the next thing. So in this episode, I'm sharing what I noticed when I stopped brushing those moments aside and actually paid attention to the way that they changed how I understand myself.

Podcast Intro

Welcome to the GA Wellness Podcast. Small steps, lasting change. I'm your host, Georgia Ann, health coach, solo mum and a woman who's lived through the chaos, the curveballs and the craving for something steadier. After 20 years in the fitness industry and my own journey through grief, motherhood and starting over, I've learned that real wellness isn't about doing more, it's about doing what matters. Each week, we cut through the noise and get real with simple, doable tools to help you feel stronger, calmer and more like you. This isn't about perfection, it's about steady soul led progress because you deserve wellness that fits into your full life, not just one version of it. Let's dive in.

Welcome to the Grounded and Growing Arc
Hey, lovely. Welcome back to the GA Wellness Podcast. Okay, so we're starting a brand new arc called Grounded and Growing. So all of my arcs are practical, but this one might feel a little bit more tangible in a different way. We're going to be tapping into our thoughts, ideas and little nudges you might not have thought about before. Or maybe you have thought about them, but they've been sitting in the back burner because you just don't have time or they didn’t really register. Or maybe you thought about them and then immediately gone, hey, no, that's not practical for me right now. Has the intrigue set in yet? I thought so.

Looking Back Before We Begin
Okay, so I don't say this often, but if you can grab a notebook or open the notes app on your phone, just something to capture what comes up, as there may be a few nuggets you might notice about yourself as we go. Before we start though, I want to take a moment to look back as to where we've just come from, because this is really going to help you understand the real value out of this arc. Okay, so the last few episodes, which was part of the Living with Intention arc, I shared what happened when I unplugged and stepped away from responsibility and allowed myself to live without an agenda. We talked about cognitive load and how much our brains are carrying, even though we think we're resting and we explored what happens when that load finally drops.

What Happens When the Load Drops
We looked at how the nervous system responds when it feels safe, how the body relaxes and how digestion changes when food is predictable and supportive. I shared how play and movement felt easier and when there were no strings attached, how curiosity started to show up again in this really childlike way and if you're thinking, hold on, Georgia, childlike? What do you mean by that? Let's pause there for a second. Children aren't built with the same boundaries, risks and safety mechanisms we carry as adults. Those get laid on over time. You don't have them as a kid. You just have this wild sense of freedom and for most of us, that freedom exists inside some kind of safety, even though we didn’t realise it back then. That's exactly where we're heading with Grounded & Growing.

What This Arc Is Really About
This arc is about exploring what starts to make its way back when life slows down a little. It's about noticing parts of yourself that didn't disappear. They just went quiet because there just wasn't space for them before and yes, some of that can feel similar to being a child, but with the awareness and wisdom you have now as an adult. Okay, now I really have you intrigued, don't I? Okay grab your cuppa and your notebook and let's dive in.

The Story You Have Been Living Inside
Okay, so as we begin our journey, I want to ask you something. How many times have you thought to yourself, ‘oh, no, I can't do that’ That's just for kids. Grownups don't do that anymore. I'm too old for that now. This isn't practical. I should have grown out of this by now?’ All the time, right? When that happens afterwards you avoid it or you push it aside or maybe you forget about it altogether because it doesn't fit with what you think you're supposed to be doing in this season of life. I'm going to flip this script on that for a moment and hold your hand while I say this, that thing you keep telling yourself is not actually the truth. It's the story you've been living inside and I know that can feel a bit big, so let me explain what I mean by that. When I say story, I'm talking about the explanation your mind has made about who you are, what's allowed and what makes sense for your life right now. It's the narrative that runs in the background and feels so familiar that you don't even question it and psychologically, that makes a lot of sense.

Why These Stories Feel So True
Our brains are wired to look for patterns and create meaning from the past experiences. Once a belief helps us make sense of the world or helps us feeling safe in a particular point of time, our brain holds onto it. Even when our circumstances change, the story can stay. This is tied to how our nervous system and brain work together. When something feels familiar, it feels safe and when it feels safe, we tend to accept it as truth and keep moving forward without stopping to ask, ‘is this still true for me? That's why these stories can be so powerful. So I want to invite you into a little moment of curiosity here. Can you think of a story you might be telling yourself right now? If you can, write it down.

Where Did That Story Come From
Here's the part I really want you to sit with for a second. Where did that story come from? Who taught you that? When did you start believing in it? You don't need to answer that yet, just notice what comes up because understanding the story we've been living inside is often the first step in reconnecting with parts of ourselves that are still very much alive and this is where my own story starts to weave in. Until recently, when I say recently, I mean about a year from now. Is that still considered recent? I don't even really know anymore, but until then, I hadn't really questioned the story I was telling myself either. I didn't consciously think, oh, I'm not allowed to enjoy certain things anymore but I absolutely made choices based on what felt responsible, sensible and practical.

When Something Shifted for Me
Being a single parent, juggling all the things, the roles stack up and life gets full quite quickly and  without realising it, some parts of me were, I guess you could say, tucked away, maybe dormant. Same thing, really. Then something shifted. Back in episode 13, when I introduced the JOMO arc, I mentioned that Ellie and I were in rest season when we were playing video games together. In particular, Kirby and the Forgotten Land. That was it for me, that was my trigger, my spark, I guess you could say. It reminded me how much I loved platformer games, especially those old school 90s platformers. I literally had this moment of recognition. That feeling of being a kid again felt infectious and I remembered how much I loved spending time playing computer games as a kid.

Banjo Tooie and the Way I Learned
Okay, so I was the kind of kid who would sit for hours completely immersed in a game. Why? Because I loved the exploration, I loved finding the hidden pathways, unlocking abilities and  then slowly connecting the dots between different worlds. Okay, so my absolute favourite game growing up was Banjo Tooie. Not the original Banjo Kazooie, Banjo Tooie and I know if you've never played games like this before, it might sound like a tiny detail, but it actually matters more than what you think. Banjo Tooie came out a few years after Banjo Kazooie and it felt like the developers trust the player a little bit more. They took what already worked and then expanded on it. They made the world bigger, more complex and less obvious in how you were supposed to move through it.

Why That Game Stayed With Me
When I think about it now, what captivated me most was how expanding and expansive it felt. It wasn't a game you rushed through, it was a world you lived inside. Each level was open and layered with paths that didn't immediately made sense. There were collectibles everywhere, but you couldn't always reach them straight away. You had to explore, experiment and sometimes walk away, knowing you'd come back later and that was part of the magic. The game didn't hurry you. It didn't expect you to be efficient. It trusted you to stay curious and this is where it really did something different for its time. Most games back then had a central hub. You return to the same place over and over again, then branch out into the next level and then come straight back again. Everything flowed through one central point. Banjo Tooie expanded on this idea.

A Bigger System and Fresh Eyes
The worlds connected to each other, not just once, but in multiple ways. You could move between them, unlock shortcuts and suddenly realise how areas you'd already explored were part of a much bigger system. Progress worked the same way. You'd gain a new ability in one part of the game, then realise they’re unlocked possibilities somewhere completely different. Something you'd noticed earlier suddenly made more sense and you had to remember places and mentally map obstacles and return with fresh eyes and nothing felt wasted. Every time you came back, it felt purposeful because you were different. You had new abilities, you had more awareness. You had grown. The world hadn't changed, but you had and as a child, that felt genuinely thrilling to me. There was no single right order, no straight line, no sense that you were doing it wrong.

Exploring First, Understanding Later
If you explored things out of sequence, you were encouraged to experiment, take small risks and follow what caught your attention simply because it looked interesting. Looking back now, I can see why that stayed with me. It wasn't just a game, it was a way of learning. Exploring first, understanding later, revisiting things once you had more information, letting curiosity lead and trusting that clarity would come back over time, as you hear later in the arc and especially in the next episode. This is where I can trace a lot of how my mind works today. The way I think, the way I connect ideas, the way I build systems. It all stems from moments like this and this is why Banjo Tooie stayed with me.

What This Helped Me See About Myself
Coming back to this memory as an adult, especially with what I experienced on the cruise and what I moved through last winter, actually helped me to see something really clearly. Without meaning to, I had actually rewired my brain to become risk adverse. That made sense for the season I was in. It helped me cope. It helped me hold things together. It supported me getting through days that needed steadiness and structure. Sitting with this now, I can see how familiar bracing had become, how easily I'd started overthinking decisions and how quickly I'd question myself before even beginning something and then it made me pause and ask a deeper question. What does my nervous system actually need now? When curiosity is constantly filtered through practicality, something starts to feel flat.

What Starts to Feel Missing
That feeling of something being slightly missing is one I hear so many women describe and  that's the reflection I've been sitting with and that's why the moment on the cruise felt so significant. It felt like the shackles had come off. There was space again. Space to notice, space to respond, space to let interest and instinct to lead without immediately shutting them down. Coming back from the ship and revisiting this reflection helped me see how easily curiosity gets dismissed as impractical, when really, it can be one of the clearest signals we have as to how we're wired and what keeps us feeling safe and alive. This is where I want to gently bring you back into this conversation, because you might already be noticing small parts that pull you like this too.

What Have You Been Quietly Drawn To
Little interests, random ideas, things that catch your attention and then quickly gets brushed off because they don't seem useful or necessary right now. So I want to ask you something, what have you been quietly drawn to lately, before you talked yourself out of it?

The Science of Curiosity
Okay, so keep that thought in mind and yes, we're moving into the science part now. Actually, I think it might be the second one for the episode. Ooh, bonus science. Okay, yeah, that's the nerdy part of me coming out now. But don't worry, I promise I'm not going to turn this into a lecture. Okay, so there's actually a very simple explanation for why curiosity shows up the way it does when we're giving ourselves space, especially when we're kids. In educational psychology, there's a concept called intrinsic motivation and all that really means is that we learn best when we're generally interested in what we're doing and we're free to explore without someone telling us it's pointless or a waste of time. 

As adults, learning and growth often sit inside expectations. The expectations of work, family roles and also the internal conversations we're constantly having with ourselves. Over time, those conversations shape how we learn, how we respond and how willing we are to try something new. When learning is self directed, without all those constraints, curiosity deepens. Understanding things stick more easily and we tend to connect the dots faster and honestly, we enjoy the process more. You know how people say it's about the journey, not just the destination. This is one of those moments that actually rings true.

Adults Do Not Lose This Capacity
This is also why children learn so effectively through play, exploring, because they want to, regardless of the outcome. Now, here's the really important part. As adults, we don't lose this capacity. What happens is that we override how we've been wired and when that happens, curiosity gets pushed to the side because it doesn't feel practical enough to listen to. It's still there, it's just not front and centre. So when that pressure eases, even a little, curiosity resurfaces because it's one of the brain's most natural learning mechanisms and that's exactly what happened to me when I went back to playing the platformer games I loved in the 90s. I was honestly just playing. There was no intention behind it but without realising it, my mind started to expand again. I noticed patterns. I felt more open, more engaged.

How Story and State Shape Change
I remember how much I loved exploring, revisiting and figuring things out as I go. What I'm really sharing here is that our life patterns don't magically appear out of nowhere. They've usually been there all along. We just don't always consciously notice them and this leads back to something I spoke about last week. I mentioned how I've been listening to a bit of Tony Robbins and his work around change psychology. In particular, the idea that real change doesn't start with behaviour, it starts with the story you've been telling yourself and the state you're in when you're telling it. When the story says things like, this isn't for me, or it's not practical, or I should have grown out of this, movement tends to stall. It doesn't matter how motivated you are, you're just not going to move.

When Pressure Stops Change Before It Starts
When the state you're in is one of constant pressure, bracing or overwhelm, your body will resist change even if your mind wants it. What's interesting is that even though I understood this concept, I hadn't fully named it for myself and as I look back now, I can see that I've actually subconsciously been building the C.A.L.M Pathway around this exact idea. The struggle rarely comes from the lack of effort, it usually comes from trying to move forward without first noticing the story they've been living inside and the state they've been moving through and  that's exactly why I shared the Banjo Tooie story with you because that story shows you where I started, I was in a state where I was cautious, responsible and honestly, a bit risk averse.

What Shifted First
I had this quiet store running through the background that sounded like, stick to what makes sense, don’t rock the boat, be practical. Then these small moments of recognition started popping up. Playing games with Ellie, feeling the old sense of curiosity again. Remembering how much I loved exploring, revisiting things and seeing familiar spaces with fresh eyes. Here's the part that really matters, those moments didn't change my behaviour straight away. They changed my state and once my state shifted, the story I was telling myself started to change too. The narrative softened from that's not practical to oh, this is actually how I'm wired and that order matters. Story and state come first, behaviour comes later. When you understand that change starts to become less restrictive, it feels like there's more room to move.

The Beginning of Connection
You can see what's been influencing your choices and  this is the first piece of the puzzle. Becoming aware, noticing the story you've been living inside and the state you're operating from before you try to move anything else and when we zoom out a little, you might notice that what we've been talking about today is simply the beginning of connection. Noticing your body, noticing your signals. Becoming aware of the story you're living inside and the state you're moving through. So inside the C.A.L.M Pathway, this is what I call Connect. It's often the first place women realise something has shifted because there's more awareness than there was before and is this conversation resonating and feeling curious about exploring this alongside other women who are in a similar place, there's more information linked in the episode description. You're welcome to have a look and see if it feels supportive for where you are right now.

Full Circle Summary
Okay, lovely, before we wrap up, let's bring this together. In this first episode of the Grounded and Frowing arc, we explored what starts to reappear when life slows down enough. Those small interests, ideas and nudges that often get brushed aside because they don't feel practical or necessary. In the moment we talked about the stories we tell ourselves, how those stories shape what we allow and how many of them formed during early seasons of life and quietly stayed in place even as life changed around us. I shared how this showed up for me through revisiting platformer games I loved as a kid, especially Banjo Tooie.

What Banjo Tooie Showed Me
That experience reminded me how much I'm wired for exploration, curiosity and revisiting things with fresh eyes. It also helped me realise how I've become more risk averse over time and how that made sense for the season I was in. We laid in the science behind curiosity and learning how curiosity is a natural driver of understanding how adults don't lose this capacity, but often override under pressure and how curiosity tends to resurface when the pressure eases. We also talked about change, how it doesn't start with behaviour, but with the story you've been telling yourself and the state you're in when you're telling her. Becoming aware of these two things is often the most meaningful shift and this is what I call Connect inside the C.A.L.M Pathway. What I've shared today is really just the tip of the iceberg.

Where We’re Heading Next
It's the part you can see beneath is where the connection starts to form and where things begin to make sense in a deeper way and that's where we'll continue to explore throughout this arc. Next week we'll build on this by looking at what happens after you start reflecting on what you enjoyed as a kid. I'll be sharing how Banjo Tooie shaped the way my brain works as an adult without even me being conscious of it for years and how those early interests quietly influence who we've become. For now, just stay curious, notice what you're drawn to and trust that awareness is always the beginning and as always, I'm so glad you're here.

Outro

Thanks for being here. Lovely. If today's episode gave you a light bulb moment, helped you feel seen or sparked a small step, I'd love to hear about it.

Tag me over on Instagram @gawellness and share you in so I can cheer you on and if there's a woman in your world that needs this kind of support, send this to her because wellness feels better when we do it together.

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Until next time, take a deep breath and take care of you.

With love,

Georgia Ann

© 2026 GA Wellness with Georgia Ann™.

All content is for educational purposes only and is not medical or psychological advice.