Rocky!
Last week, some friends and I went to the local theatre to see the current touring production of Richard O’Brien‘s perennial classic “The Rocky Horror Show“, and a cracking production it was too.
Most people go to The Rocky Horror Show for the fun, the music, and the sheer weirdness of it all, which was very much present – in abundance!
But if you look beneath the glitter and chaos, you’ll find something else.
It’s a story about mindset.
About how we see ourselves.
About how we deal with change.
About what it means to live fully.
So, in the best tradition of all those “10 lessons I learned from <insert mundane thing here>“, here are 10 Mindset Lessons we can learn from The Rocky Horror Show.
Treat them how you will…
The 10 Lessons
1. Don’t Dream It, Be It
This is the line everyone remembers. And for good reason.
Dreaming is easy. We all do it.
But dreams on their own don’t change anything. They never have done, they never will.
Action is what changes things.
Frank-N-Furter didn’t sit around wishing and dreaming. He created. He lived it. He was it.
What would change for you if you stopped dreaming and started doing?
“Ah, but I am creating plans, lots of plans, lovely elaborate plans!“
Sorry, but planning, on its own, without taking action, is just dreaming; dreams written down and unfulfilled are still just dreams.
Where are you still waiting for permission to take action?
You are hereby given full permission to go out and Do It!
2. Change Is Messy
The Time Warp is confusing.
A jump left.
A step right.
A pelvic thrust.
It makes no sense; it really is enough to drive anyone insane…
That’s exactly how change feels.
Growth doesn’t follow a straight line. It lurches forward, slips back, and often looks chaotic, confusing, and lacking in sense.
But when you keep moving, eventually it clicks.
That’s when transformation happens.
Of course, it’s even better if you have someone to offer directions and diagrams, but rarely in life are we blessed with a narrator, so just muddle on as best you can, seeing what is going on around you, until it clicks. Which it will if you keep at it.
3. Step Into the Unknown
Brad and Janet didn’t expect to end up in a castle full of strangers. They were scared, they were confused, and they were completely out of their depth.
Sound familiar?
That’s how every big life change feels at the start.
A strong mindset doesn’t wait until things feel safe, because it knows that if we wait and wait and wait, it will never feel safe – how can it if nothing changes? Instead, a strong mindset will step forward even when the path is uncertain, knowing deep-down that this is the only way to ever make progress.
And the weird thing is, the more we keep stepping forward, the easier it gets – the first step is so often the hardest step of all.
What unknown are you avoiding right now?
And what is that first step which you are committing now to take?
4. Be Unapologetically You
Pearls, corsets, eyeliner, sequins.
Nothing about Rocky Horror apologises for being “too much.”
In the “real world”, however, most of us tone ourselves down in an attempt to fit in, usually with some mythical misinterpretation of “normal” (which will, of course, mean something different to every person anyway).
That’s exhausting.
And it limits us.
A healthy mindset accepts who you are, quirks and all.
Indeed, it celebrates who you are, and knows that this is what lets you succeed.
Not everyone will like it.
But the right people will.
5. Find Your Tribe
Nobody goes to Rocky Horror alone and sits in silence.
They sing.
They dance.
They throw things.
They join in together.
That’s the very definition of community.
And it’s vital for your mindset.
You can’t grow if you’re always pretending to belong.
Instead, find the people who get you.
The ones who accept you as you are.
6. “Normal” Is a Trap
Nothing about Rocky Horror is normal.
And that’s why it works.
The same applies to life.
Normal is just a set of rules someone else made up.
When you cling to “normal,” you shrink.
When you let go of it, you grow.
Which “normal” in your life needs challenging?
How are you going to start to challenge it right now?
7. Everyone Has Power
Riff Raff looked quiet. Awkward. Forgettable.
Until he wasn’t.
He had the power all along.
And, dear reader, so do you.
Never underestimate yourself because you don’t fit the usual mould.
And never underestimate others either.
Everyone has more going on than you can see. Including you!
8. Adapt Fast
In the show, the castle literally blasts off into space.
Characters disappear.
Everything shifts.
That’s how life works too.
One minute everything feels stable.
The next, it’s chaos.
You don’t control what happens.
You control how you respond.
Or to put it another way –
You are not responsible for what happens to you;
You are responsible for how you react.
Adapt quickly and you move forward.
Cling to the past and you get stuck.
9. Participation Beats Perfection
At Rocky Horror, the audience doesn’t sit politely.
They throw rice.
They shout.
They mess it up.
And it’s brilliant.
Life isn’t about being perfect. It’s about joining in.
Waiting until you get it “right” means you miss the moment.
Indeed, waiting until you get it “right” means you will never actually get it right – it’s doing all the things you do meantime which ultimately helps you to get it “right” – and “right” often changes anyway.
A resilient mindset values participation over perfection.
Where are you waiting until you’re “ready” instead of jumping in?
What will it take for you to jump in now?
10. Embrace the Mystery
The ending doesn’t make sense.
People die.
The castle vanishes.
Nobody really knows what happened.
And yet, the audience keeps coming back, time after time, for well over 50 years!
Because mystery is part of the magic.
Your life won’t always add up neatly, if indeed it ever does at all.
Not every question has an answer.
And that’s okay.
The right mindset learns to live with uncertainty, and even enjoy it.
That’s the great thing about uncertainty – you never know what it’s going to bring!
Final Thoughts
The Rocky Horror Show is outrageous, silly, and chaotic.
But it’s also packed with lessons about how we think, how we live, and how we grow.
- Stop dreaming. Start being.
- Accept that change as messy.
- Show up as yourself.
- Join in.
- And don’t worry if it doesn’t all make sense.
That’s life. That’s mindset.
And maybe… it’s also time to do the Time Warp again.
Want to explore your own mindset?
If this resonated with you, you’ll love my free quiz: Which Overachiever Are You?
It takes just a couple of minutes and will reveal surprising insights about how your mindset work, and how you can get the best out of it.
