Have a cheery, playful attitude towards all tasks that life entrusts into you.
Don’t be naive, complacent and folly. Be hyper-aware and then unaffected anyway. Never lose your optimistic-nature when you’re struggling upwards.
Then, you can face danger and chaos in an aggressive, but inherently playful attitude. Like the quarterback that is making the final play at the last quarter. Playing at a high-stakes is still playing.
Always have fun. Especially when doing your life’s work. Smile and feel playfully-proud, feel playfully-adventurous.
Act like you are the king of the world so you will play your best, out-play your rivals, and naturally exert your fullest potential into thing.
It’s impossible to create something of high-quality from a dull, apathetic, cynical, resentful and negative state of mind.
Life is inherently silly, even ridiculous, why not be amused and joyful before we start trying to “get things done”. Before we trample over problems, and bull-doze our way through obstacles, why not see how things can be done joyfully?
Be really amused. Roll with the punches and laugh – make other’s laugh. Make something great out of the mundane reality of work.
Lead
Often, we recognize a leader by his ability to be joyful. A strong leader knows that competence is bred from consistently playing. He intuitively knows that mastery was achieved by the attractiveness of this fun task. His positive outlook, in turn, made this task fun.
Intuitively, we know that fun is the ideal. Fun is quality-work. Fun is a great vibe.
Fun is where we all want to be… and we are constantly figuring out how to be in that state. Indeed, the average person walks around mouth agape, mouth-breathing, in a state of apathy, negativity, depression, and struggle.
They are desperate to find the next getaway, something that can snap them into the greatness of fun.
It’s the looked forward-to weekends, the vacations, and the drugs and porn.
Or rather, it could be you, and your leadership.
Alas, most of us are living a transitory phase of apathy and confusion – right before we find the next thing we can have fun doing. Sometimes, so desperate to snap out of this bored transitory phase, we seek unwholesome things that have long term consequences, and we ruin our lives.
All this we do so that things can get better – a little more fun. Short-lived as it is.
We hope to smile and laugh a bit. To have a bastion of light amidst life’s inherent darkness.
Can you embody this blessing unto others? Like an alchemist you will use your leadership to transform the present reality into something better.
Instinctively, fun means that things are going good. At the very least, things are certainly getting there.
Smile, have fun, laugh, dance, be creative. They will follow your lead with a new, positive, innovative way to look at things.
Others will say: “this person is worth following – take me out of this miserable boring existence”.
People Are Whiners
Most of the time, people are unproductive until they get whipped into shape. Whether it’s by an alarm clock in the morning or the boss during working hours, anxiety works well to keep us in check.
Perhaps we’ve lost a sense of our own ambition and motivation because of these constant whippings. These motivations, after all, are exterior forces.
From childhood on, under the guise of guidance, we are socialized into doing this or that. We find ourselves obligated to schedules and places that we much rather not be involved with.
True feelings are repressed, passions are forgone. Admittedly, it’s efficient to get all the “cogs” up to speed in a system, never making sure they understand why. Although efficient, it’s not the best way for someone who is focused on enlightenment and growth. For those who seek this, they can do better.
It’s sad, most people don’t see further potential in their work and how much better everything could get if they optimized their state of being. In work, they only see a means to an end. They whine and complain. They are cynical and even destructive.
It’s very easy to out-compete these people by just having a good time doing what you’re doing. You have a good time because you take ownership of work and you always give it your best. Work is it’s own virtue.
Be more curious and amused at your work. While they are being cogs that are run by other cogs in the system, you will be the engineer that invented the system.
While they are motivated by hidden spite, resentment, and fear, you will be authentic in seeking betterment. Your motivation is inherent, deeply felt.
Therefore, hold your frame. Be amused instead of resentful. Be grateful instead of complaining. Smirk instead of frown. Fight to make the situation fun and lighthearted when other’s want to bring you down.
Show people that there’s a better way, by being that better way.
Final Thoughts
Yes, this is a long-drawn-out way of saying, “don’t forget to have fun”. I’ve wondered why that came to be a formality, and came to the conclusion that it is indeed possible to forget.
It’s possible to put our body’s “through the motions”. It’s possible to run only on momentum and to start doing most things like this, in a trance state, with nothing much on the mind beside accomplishing the work and getting to the other side.
As a consequence, never discovering the inner growth that comes from joyously doing work for the sake of work. For in this state of mind, we can unlock our fullest potential, no matter what kind of industry we take part in.
We can keep a healthy perspective when doing the most arduous and tedious tasks by keeping a child-like spirit. We can stand strong against forces of laziness and destructiveness that seek to degrade our work.