This week I am going to talk about having more fun in your business! Thanks to smartphones, tablets and unlimited internet access, we are always connected and can always be working. It is hard to go out to a nice dinner with friends without getting an urgent email or a business call. It’s almost impossible to ignore those tiny notifications lighting up your screen at every hour of the day, but sometimes you absolutely need to. Hard work is the key to success, but in this blog post, I want to remind you and encourage you to have lots of fun with your business, too.

It’s easy to tell yourself you simply don’t have time to have fun or to play more, especially if you are driven and hardworking. (like someone I know…) But, taking time to have fun in your business and life is not just an option – it is critically important. We daydream about the life we will live when we have more money, but do you really want to live your life for “Someday”?

Have Fun with Your Business, It Will Pay Off.

If you are a happy person, then it will be easier to create success in all aspects of your life. It will also make people more excited to work with you. After all, who would want to work with someone that is constantly stressed and burned out? To create the best team possible, you need to make sure that people see you having fun in both your business and your life. Here are some tips on how to have fun with your business:

1. Be sure you start the day in a happy place. Start the day by listing all of the things that you are happy about. For example, you are your own boss and can choose your own hours or list the 5 things that you are grateful for that day.  If you are your own boss, that is something that most people only dream about. Chances are, you are living a life that is better than ¾ of the people on this planet and we want to be grateful for that. So write it down and remember what you are grateful for. Then take that optimism to work with you and start to have fun with your business.  Don’t take everything so seriously.  If someone annoys you, walk away and be glad you aren’t them. When you are on conference calls, be the person that interjects some humor and fun too.  One thing I know for sure – gratitude changes everything.

2. Find ways to make the people around you laugh! That’s right. It is the best way to have fun in business. This is especially important when you find yourself slipping into a bad mood (we all get there!). Rather than creating a ripple of tension around you, create a ripple of giggles! Just remember that you don’t need to take everything so personally. If you find yourself stuck in that mindset, maybe you should diffuse tensions by making a joke or something light hearted. Just be silly sometimes!  My Mom is one of the funniest people I know.  She raised 9 kids and has had her share of ups and downs for sure but she always finds something to laugh about.  We were very lucky to be raised by her and I try to remember to be light and to find the humor in things like she does.  You don’t have to be the life of the party all the time, but it is fun to make people laugh!

3. Remember to DO something FUN! I know it takes a lot of time and work to build our businesses. But you need to understand that you will NEVER do everything that you need to do.  There is just not enough time in the day. So, don’t let your to-do list run your life. Some mornings, you just have to wake up and think about what you WANT to do rather than what you HAVE to do. To have fun in business, you need to take time to do things out of enjoyment rather than necessity. Even if you just take the time to do ONE fun thing a day, you will notice a difference in your mental health and will have more fun with your business!  I have a journal practice where I ask myself what am I going to do today just for the fun of it?  I can work a lot.  My goal for this year is to play more which means I have to schedule the play.  Just booked a night to go watch my friend perform Flamenco next week!

4. Make every effort to add some FUN to your work related tasks. To do that, you must consciously decide to add the energy of fun to whatever you need to do. It may help to listen to some of your favorite music while you work or to change up your environment by working in the garden or a local coffee shop.  I like to take breaks with my computer at the coffee shop around the corner in my San Francisco neighborhood.  Listening to music always lifts my spirits and have to remind myself to turn the music on.

5. Last but not least, remember to dream! I for one love dream boards. I look at mine as I drink my morning cup of tea and think about my plans for the future. It also helps me to start my day off with a sense of fun, peace and success. Dream boards are a great way to get very specific about what you would like to create in your life. There are so many things that have come true from my dream boards!  Even my husband and our 3 kids.  I have a picture of a very oddly shaped palm tree on a beach on my dream board and when Mark and I were in Tahiti on the beach last year, I looked over at this palm tree near us and it was exactly like the picture on my dream board.   There are so many areas of my life that have manifested from my dream boards. Plus, a dream board party is a great way to have some fun, get together with teammates and relax!

So if you want to have more fun in your business, keep up the hard work, but also, remember to relax, let loose and enjoy life! Laugh more. When people see how much fun you are having, more people will want to be a part of your team.  Hope you are having a great January and your year is off to a great start!