This is a fantastic action montage of one of the most visually stunning moments from the Lord of the Rings trilogy: the lighting of the beacons. I remember sitting in the cinema watching Return of the King with a friend and becoming overwhelmed at the sheer scale and majesty of the sequence – but also the deeper meaning of what I was seeing.

In the narrative arc of the film, this represents a major turning point, as Gandalf announces: “Hope is kindled.” And that’s how it impacted on me personally and emotionally – an amazing cinematic representation of that moment when you think all is lost, but suddenly there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

The reason I bring this up now, several years after the film came out, is that last night I went to a fascinating talk that reconnected me with the power of metaphor. I was asked to think of a goal and then pick a picture from a number of options that represented this goal.

I was then taken through a process known as clean language which gave me the opportunity to fully explore the metaphor represented by the picture I had chosen. I was amazed when this led me to visualising an old-fashioned map – much like those imagined by Tolkien – and eventually the lighting of the beacons.

The thing with personal metaphors is that it’s hard to explain their significance to anyone else, simply because they are so resonant for you as an individual – so I won’t attempt to interpret it here.

Suffice to say it has given me a compelling story to explore which has something to do with the next steps I’m taking on my path.

Try it yourself. Think of a goal you hold dear, then find an image that represents that goal. Describe that image as it relates to that goal, until you start coming up with metaphors. Mine were “light at the end of the tunnel” and “beacons of hope”.

Then ask yourself some simple questions, starting with, what kind of x is that x? Mine might be: what kind of light is that light? Or what kind of beacon is that beacon? Then, is there anything else about that beacon? And whereabouts is that beacon?

In this way you can develop the metaphor and elicit some really useful information for yourself about ways in which you might be able to use it to effect change.

We are hard-wired to think in metaphor, and using metaphor in this way can help your brain to find ways of moving you effortlessly towards your desired outcome.

I’m going to watch the lighting of the beacons until I come up with a complete story with a full cast of characters. Then I’ll start using that map I found…