This is Anne with your Coaching On The Go

When you start getting into the nitty-gritty of planning, where does your joy go?

Today, I’m asking you to look through the quarterly goals that you’ve completed and sprinkle them with joy.

Make sure that you have opportunities within the structure of your creating, where you are keeping your head up, keeping your being open, and playing as you go.

Playfulness opens you to creativity and resourcefulness.

It is like the lubricant in the gears that keeps everything keeps everything moving fluidly.

I was in a group years ago and I was focusing on my achievement, on doing the right thing, not making any mistakes.

On the side. I had an accountability buddy.

I would do crazy things with her when I would get her on the phone to make her laugh.

We would laugh so hard together and all sorts of interesting, ingenious ideas would come up as we talked.

When we got back into the bigger group, she revealed the things that I was doing to make her laugh.

I was so embarrassed because they weren’t I would say feminine.

They were, you know, a funny scream, because, I was taking the word JOY and (cover your ears. I don’t want this to be too loud for you!) I was going “JOOOOOOOOOOYYYYYYYY!”, a loud, sustained, screaming joy with an intensity like it’s NOT joyful, to be ironic, and it made her laugh.

She called me to do it for the group.

Oh my gosh.

I was so uncomfortable and I got to realize how I had been stuffing my humor and my joy.

Years prior I used to get scolded for being too joyful.

I would, even into grad school, not be taken seriously because I was funny.

People would take my attitude as not smart because I was being silly or bubbly so I stuff that quality and with it, made myself serious to be taken seriously and considered intelligent.

Consequently, that joy call started to be replicated.

They asked me to do it regularly, and I got more and more comfortable with it.

What ensued was that other people started to do the Joy Call.

People would laugh hysterically.

It would break the tension and create ease, collaboration, and energy that was so positive.

After I left that group of people and that leadership training container, I discovered that it was continuing above and beyond me.

It is still a thing over a year later where people have a joy captain to remind them to not forget the joy.

I don’t know what your story is about happiness and playfulness when you are working diligently.

Is your life when you’re working hard and putting your head down devoid of joy?

Are you playful as you work?

I suggest the latter because it creates incredible results and a life that’s worth living while you’re working.

I have a beautiful day.