In The News: Harry Potter, The Deathly Hallows – And New Directions for Daniel Radcliffe

Daniel Radcliffe has already chosen his post Harry Potter script and is set to star in a new realisation of the well-known and much-loved ghost story, The Woman In Black.

But first Harry Potter mania is set to take over all over again as Radcliffe is set to film the seventh and final part of the series in October, whilst he and his co-stars have already finished filming the sixth – Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows, which is released this in 2011.

Radcliffe has grown up in the public spotlight, having starred in the first Harry Potter movie when he was only 12. To watch a young actor progress is always very interesting, and by and large Radcliffe has been a model example, with very little in the way of controversy or bad blood blanching his past.

As the final chapter of the Harry Potter franchise looms, it’s probably a period that Radcliffe is spending taking stock of his career options, weighing up what direction his life should take and ways in which he can use his time working on his Harry Potter work to reinvent himself, or best optimise his prospects.

And just as he does that, we can look at ourselves and take stock of our own lives. We may be at a point where a relationship has ended, and a whole spectrum of opportunity has suddenly opened up to us.

A useful rule of thumb is to engage your head, heart and gut in this process.  When there is conflict – you may need to rethink your direction. When head, heart and gut are aligned you are probably on the right track.

Just as a film star moving onto a new career path needs to evaluate future choices, the newly dating can also make informed decisions on where they want to head to next.

We can do this by looking at three elements of our lives. Firstly, our past relationships are our evidence of happy and unhappy times. We can examine them (without getting too emotional to be clear about our needs) to see what went wrong, what we can do about our own behaviours and what we looked for in our partner that perhaps wasn’t right for us.

We can look at what we want to do differently. We can shape our own future by only taking choices that will best benefit, and will banish the possibility of us making the same mistakes again.

Finally, we can think about what we have learned about ourselves, and how we can put these discoveries to use. We may have been extremely patient with a demanding partner, or we may have found ourselves able to steer an unhappy ex back into good humour. These are invaluable skills, and knowing that you have them in your locker is great for self-confidence.

Whatever choices you make – make sure your choice moves you closer towards your own happiness.