This weekend I shared a really important reminder with my Personal Victories newsletter subscribers: victories are pretty empty without a little fun. I’m all for hard working, in fact I prefer hard work over the quick and dirty tactics that many people think work well in internet marketing and other areas of life. But if you get to your hard won goal and all you want to do is clean the dirt off and go to bed how much of a victory was it really? The whole reason most of us work towards victories is because we think they’re going to be this amazing result and we’re going to be so glad that we did all that had to happen for us to get to that point. But when we don’t want the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow we need to step back and take a good look at all we’re working towards because it’s in those moments that we’re finally able to see the truth for what it is rather than being so buried under work that we can’t see it.
So what should our journey and work towards victories be? Fun! No, not every moment will be fun, some will be very challenging because we’re being stretched and pulled and developed into the amazing people we have the potential to be. But if we make sure to incorporate something we do enjoy into each work day not only will we reach our victories better and quicker, we’ll be happy to throw the celebration then too.
I’ve learned in my years in business and studying other businesses that happiness can be a big indicator with success. When employees and customers are happy, not only is the business more productive, but you have less of the issues that many business owners have to deal with like looking for customers and hiring new employees and profit losses. Yes, it’s still a business and there is still work to be done, but happy employees are much more productive than those who are miserable, and happy customers are happy to come back and excited to spread the word about how amazing you are.
I would encourage you to start the week off by checking the general temperament of your family, your business and yourself. If you’re miserable, if everyone around you looks miserable, it’s time something changed, or any goals you set for your future will just feel empty.
“I realized the more fun I had, the more relaxed I was working, the better I worked.” Bill Murray