E026 Grounded & Growing: How Your Childhood Blueprint Shapes Your Patterns Today

If you have been starting to notice patterns in how you think, learn or make decisions, this episode will help you understand where they come from. We are looking at how your brain is wired and why certain ways of thinking feel easier than others.

You might already be seeing parts of this show up for you. This is your chance to pause and check in. The $7 Season Mapping Quiz will help you understand where you are right now and what to focus on next.

Grounded & Growing: How Your Childhood Blueprint Shapes Your Patterns Today

In this episode of The GA Wellness Podcast, I take what surfaced last week and go a layer deeper. What started as a simple moment playing Banjo Tooie turned into a clear understanding of how my brain connects ideas, recognises patterns and builds things over time.

You will hear how different thinking styles show up in everyday life, how your early experiences shape the way your brain processes information and start working with your natural wiring instead of trying to make yourself think a certain way. 

📋 What we covered:

• What your “blueprint” means
• How early experiences shape the way your brain processes information
• The moment I realised how my brain links patterns and ideas
• How Banjo Tooie revealed my natural way of thinking
• The difference between linear, associative, exploratory and systems thinking
• How your natural thinking style influences decisions and energy
• Why some tasks feel easy and others feel draining
• How your nervous system responds when something does not match your wiring
• Why forcing yourself into certain structures creates friction
• Why understanding your wiring changes how you approach your day 

🧰 Grounded & Growing: Reflection Guide
A guide to help you pause, notice your patterns and understand how your brain naturally processes information.

👉 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:

• Your brain has a natural way of processing information
• Early experiences shape how you think and respond
• Some environments support your wiring, others create friction
• Understanding your patterns helps you make clearer decisions
• Working with your wiring makes things feel easier

🔁 Episodes referenced in this episode:

E025 Grounded & Growing: What You Loved as a Child Might Still Be Shaping You
E020 Create Calm On Purpose: Finding Intention and Equilibrium for 2026

🎧 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 recognise how your brain works and feel more confident making decisions in a way that fits 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

E026 Grounded & Growing: How Your Childhood Blueprint Shapes Your Patterns Today
Georgia Ann

Opening

What if the clearest explanation for how your brain works is hidden inside something you loved when you were a kid because when I stumbled across mine, it felt like the light switched on. Suddenly, the way I build, the way I connect ideas, even the way I create this podcast started making a whole lot more sense.

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 Back
Hey, lovely. Welcome to the GA Wellness Podcast and if you've been here for a while, welcome back. I'm so glad you're here today because this episode has actually been in development probably for at least six months now. I've had the pieces sitting with me and I just knew the timing wasn't quite right until now. In fact, I think I even mentioned back in episode 20 that when I was starting this year off, I had a different arc and episode in mind and this is it, this is here now. It's also going to be one of those conversations where once you see it, you can't unsee it. What I'm about to share today will make a lot more sense, especially when you get to the end of the episode.

This Arc Feels a Little Different
Okay, so last week we started our Grounded & Growing arc, and I mentioned that this arc might feel a little bit differently and you might have already felt that last week. All my arcs hold a certain structure. There's always a message, a nugget, or a reflection that I want you to take away. Plus, I'll weave in my personal story and how I experienced something in my life. I bring in the science where it's helpful. Most importantly, I ground it into how it might fit into your current life and circumstances. This arc and this episode in particular are a little bit more reflective. So I really want to give you the permission to pause where you need to.

Pause If You Need To
If something lands and you feel like you need to take a moment, like literally, stop the podcast, drop something down, sit with it, let it land because this is very much going to be one of those episodes. Then resume the pod when you're ready. Okay and because it's hard to take notes unless you've got the right setup, grab a notebook if you have it handy or just open the notes app on your phone and take notes when something starts to stand out for you.

Coming Back to Episode 025
Before we go any further, I want to bring us back to last week's episode for a minute, especially if you've just jumped into this arc. Last episode, I shared what happened when I slowed down over the summer break, when I wasn't constantly thinking about the next thing or carrying all those invisible responsibilities in my head. I actually gave my body space to breathe and when that happened, certain things just kind of came back. Like old interests, my love of platformer games with Banjo Tooie very much being in the spotlight and the spark of curiosity I just hadn't felt in a while. As lovely as that sounds, I also shared how quickly my brain tried to label it as impractical or unnecessary.

The Stories We Tell Ourselves
That's where we started talking about the stories we tell ourselves in those moments. The voice that's quiet or may be shouting at you, saying, ‘that doesn't make sense in your life anymore, or you've grown out of that.’ It almost sounds nagging, right? Then when we flipped the script because the focus last week was simply noticing and recognising when this happens for you and in what environment. I really wanted you to sit with that without immediately taking any action or shutting it down. So, if you feel you need a little bit more context about that piece, especially around the stories we tell ourselves and how they formed, go back and listen to episode 25 and it'll set this conversation up beautifully. Once you've noticed those pulls and stories, the next natural question becomes, what do they actually reveal about you?

When This Became Personal
That's where we're going to go next. For me, this stopped becoming theoretical very quickly, and it became personal and I want to walk you through that moment properly. Okay so I mentioned Banjo Tooie earlier and if you're curious about how that game actually works and why I love it so much, I unpacked that properly in the previous episode. I genuinely had to hold myself back because I could talk about that game for hours. That episode in particular gave you a deeper breakdown, especially around how the worlds connect and that detail is important with what I'm about to share. Initially, I literally thought I was going to sit there, run around, unlock things, get stuck, figure it out and have a whole lot of fun in the process and I did. I was completely immersed.

The Lightbulb Moment
Then my brain started doing what it usually does, started linking things. I was noticing how one world connected to another, how unlocking something over here had changed what was possible somewhere completely different, how nothing existed in isolation and everything influenced something else and it kind of hit me like a tonne of bricks. I thought, hold on, I mean, is this where it all started? I mean that genuinely. I started wondering whether this was my origin point, was this why I loved it so much as a kid? Was this why it always felt so natural to me in a way that other things didn't? Two very clear distinctions came to mind, almost like two roads that were always entwined. They were both part of me, connected, but slightly different. The first one was my love for psychology.

My Love for Psychology
That love has always been there. I can trace it right back. I remember being about 13 and dad bought me a book about how the mind works. I would sit there, completely immersed in it, trying to understand what it all meant. I've always been fascinated by how people think, why they respond to things the way they do, how behaviours form and how stories shape the way someone moves through their life. I never formally pursued psychology, even though I wanted to. I moved into business studies, marketing, human resources, economics. Accounting and law were technically options too, but numbers and law case studies just were never going to light me up. I tried. My brain just doesn't operate that way. Psychology, though, always did.

Psychology and Systems Thinking
Sitting there playing Banjo Tooie, I realised what I loved about the game was the pattern recognition, the cause and effect, the way unlocking something in one world changed what was possible somewhere completely different. It is basically the butterfly effect in real time. You do one small thing over here and it ripples outwards. It influences something you didn't even realise was connected. Side note, this is literally my brain in real time. I'm always scanning for ripple effects. If this happens, what does that change? If I say this, what does this influence? If we shift this belief, what moves with it? So the first road is, for me is psychology and systems thinking and then the second distinction landed. I love building interconnected worlds. Yes, I loved exploring them and understanding what the developers were thinking, but I also love creating them myself.

Building Interconnected Worlds
I've always been a bit of a dreamer and my mum used to tell me I was constantly lost in my own little world and growing up in the 90s, before the Internet and mobile phones were everywhere, this is how I passed the time. I would create these fantasy worlds, connecting things together and build things in my head. So while I playing, my brain was linking on how the game worlds connected to how I build GA Wellness, how I structure podcast arcs, how I reference earlier episodes, months later, because in my mind, they're still part of the same story. In fact, when I plan an episode, I'm always thinking, which previous episode does this relate to? How can I bring you with me on a journey without repeating the same information?

Holding the Bigger Picture and the Detail
The part that excites me the most is holding the bigger picture when zooming right into the detail without losing either. It is exactly like gaming. You have the hub world, the interconnected worlds and then you zoom into the individual level and explore the detail and yes, I couldn't help myself. It's obviously come back to the game, but really, while I'm saying this, I love forming patterns in my head and I love seeing how ideas influence each other. I literally think in cause and effect threads that weave together over time and until that moment, I never consciously thought that this was simply just how I think. It was like the switches flipped in my head, like I'd stumbled back into an earlier version of myself before all the sensible, practical layers got stacked on top and that's when the bigger question surfaced.

What Else Has Been There All Along
If I can trace this back so clearly to something I loved out as a child, what else has been there all along? Okay, so I just want to pause a second here and check in with you. Have you got your notebook nearby? What I just described is my brain wiring in real time and where we're going to go next is the science layer, but in a slightly different way. We're going to talk about the different ways our brains are wired and why they tend to operate the way they do. We're all different, so how our brains operate are different, too. You might find that you sit cleanly into one category. You might notice that you're a combination over the spectrum and this is very normal and let's be honest for a second, most of us just want to understand ourselves better.

Beyond Personality Tests
How many personality tests have we done over the years? Meyers-Briggs, Enneagram, Strengths Finder. I even read a book about 20 years ago called Please Understand Me and don't get me wrong, all of that is interesting. Some of it is genuinely helpful. It gives language to your traits, your motivations, your tendencies. What we're about to explore here is slightly different. This is going to be so much more than your personality labels or your personality traits. It's going to be how your brain actually processes information, how you move through ideas and how your brain naturally prefers to operate when it feels safe and like me, you might even start tracing that back to something you loved as a child. Once you see that wiring clearly, it changes how you make decisions, how you planned and how you respond when something feels off.

Different Ways Our Brains Are Wired
So let's go there. Okay, so think of this as the natural sequence your brain slips into when you have no expectations. No one's watching you every move, and most importantly, no ‘shoulds’. So this is how your brain encodes information and retrieves them later. Okay, so let's start with straight line thinking. Some brains are genuinely wired to work in a straight line. They feel calm when there is a clear beginning, middle and end. They like knowing the next step and finishing one thing before moving on to the next. There is something deeply regulating about ticking something off and knowing exactly where you are in that sequence. If you hand that brain a messy concept with no entry point, the nervous system can feel agitated.

Associative, Exploratory and Systems Thinkers
Other brains are more associative, which means they jump sideways, they hear one idea and reminds them of something maybe 10 years ago. They connect dots across completely different areas. They might start telling a story, take three scenic tours and then somehow land back at the original point and it all makes sense. Some brains are exploratory. They learn by simply doing. They need to try something, test it, move around inside it and they don't like the full map upfront because they trust that clarity will come through experience and by actually doing and then there are system-based thinkers. They zoom out naturally, they see how everything interlocks. They think in ripple effects. If we shift one belief here, what changes over there? They're constantly scanning for cause and effect. Yes, this is where my butterfly effect brain sits very comfortably. One small shift here, five shifts over there and that's just how my mind works.

Most of Us Are a Combination
Okay, so you might sit in one, but most of us sit in a bit of a combination. You might be beautifully linear at work because your job requires it, but deeply exploratory in your creativity. You might be systems-based in relationships, always sensing your undercurrents but step by step with practical tasks. These are all different preferences to how the nervous system and brain work together to process the world and here's the interesting part. These styles are shaped by temperament, environment, early reinforcement and neural pathways that strengthen over time. When you repeatedly engage in a certain way of thinking as a child, those pathways start to solidify and become your default setting. Which is why I could sit inside Banjo Twee for hours and feel energised instead of drained.

Why Banjo Tooie Felt So Natural
It was feeding my natural wiring because it was asking me to explore the world, to connect the dots to other worlds, to zoom out, zoom back in again. It was training the exact muscles my brain already knew and liked using.

When I operate from that place, now, I feel clear because I'm creative and expansive. When I try to force myself into rigid linear structures for too long, I feel it in my body. Tight chest, sweaty palms, heart pounding and totally overthinking. That subtle friction makes everything harder than it needs to be. So, these responses is your body literally giving you data and when you understand your wiring, you stop assuming. Assuming you are bad at something when it might simply not match your cognitive process. You stop shaming yourself for not thriving inside systems that were never designed for how your brain naturally thinks and process information and this is the layer most personality traits never fully capture. They describe traits, they don't explain the mechanics behind it or underneath it and how your wiring influences your decisions, your energy and your growth.

Why Childhood Matters
Which brings us back to childhood. When you're a child before the internal dialogue got loud before the ‘shoulds’ stacked up. You gravitated towards what was natural. You were drawn to activities that matched your wiring. You felt safe to explore these and you didn't really think about it or needed to justify them. You just did them. As I've experienced, the wiring never really disappeared. It just became less prominent under responsibility. So when I pose the question, what did you like doing as a kid? I really do mean it as an invitation. Yes, visit it for nostalgic purposes, but also approach it with curiosity. Look for clues or themes and look for what kept you immersed without anyone telling you to not do it or to tell you that it wasn't good for you.

You Are Not Going Backwards
It's also really important to really look at this, because it also helps you to understand how your brain prefers to operate when it feels safe and what's really important here is that you're not going backwards. You're actually understanding yourself more clearly, so then you can move forward in a way that actually fits.

A Guided Resource Inside This Arc
Now, if this is stirring something inside you. If you've been sitting there thinking, okay, I actually want to understand how my brain works properly and there's a deeper layer to this. Inside this arc, I'm putting together a guided resource that will help you do exactly that because in the episodes, I can show you the what and the why. I can open the door, I can help you see the patterns and noticing the threads, but the resources are where you actually see it and integrate it in your life. It will walk you through identifying your own wiring patterns by looking at what you loved as a kid and translating that into how your mind operates now. It will help you notice where you might be pushing yourself into modes that actually drain you.

It will guide you to explore where alignment could look like in this season of life and if you feel ready to go there, this is your invitation to take the work a little bit deeper and integrate it in a way that feels personal.

Full Circle Summary
Alright, lovely. Let's bring this together for a moment. Today we took a deeper look into what childhood interests might actually reveal about you. We moved beyond nostalgia and started looking at wiring the way your brain naturally prefers to process information when it feels safe. The patterns you default to, the environments that energise you and the ones that drain you. I shared what happened for me when I visited Banjo Toohey and realised I could trace my love for psychology, systems thinking and interconnected storylines right back to something I loved as a child.

What This Helped Me Understand
That moment helped me see how my mind works. It helped me understand why I build podcast arcs the way I do, why I weave science into story, and why I instinctively create connected worlds inside GA Wellness with Georgia Ann. We talked about differing wiring styles and how they describe how your nervous system and brain prefer to process the world. They are linear, associative, exploratory, systems aware and most of us are a combination of both or combination of a few different ones. Here's the key thread running through all of this, it is awareness. When you understand how you're wired, you can stop blaming yourself and stop assuming you're wrong for not thriving inside structures that were never designed for you. You can then begin making decisions that feel comfortable in your body and this is what today's really been about.

Connect, Growth and What Comes Next
Okay, so let me zoom out for a moment and place this inside the bigger picture of how I like to think about change. In GA Wellness, everything sits inside the C.A.L.M Pathway, which stands for Connect, Align, Lean in and Moments. It's simply the way I organise growth so it feels grounded and real instead of overwhelming. What we've been doing today sits in Connect. It's the first layer of awareness and understanding how your brain naturally processes information. In particular, noticing that patterns have always been there and witnessing the wiring before you change anything. The arc itself sits inside the growth container of the C.A.L.M Pathway. Growth is where we explore your blueprint and where we get curious about who you operate and why it's reflective and layered and sometimes a little confronting, but in the best possible way.

Where We’re Heading Next
Okay, and next week we shift into align and here's why that matters. When you begin making decisions in alignment with your wiring, you open multiple doors. You gain clarity back, yes, but you also get your energy back and once you get your energy back, you often get time back too, because you stopped operating in a mindset that isn't designed for you and that's where we're heading. For now, just notice what's landed for you today, even when small insight is enough and as always, I am 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.