Oftentimes as business owners especially, we can find ourselves being really constrained, very stiff. This is especially true if coming out of your shell is newer to you if you’ve … having experienced the Spotlight Effect in one of our previous Daily Growth Hacks, make sure you check that out.
When you’re being stiff, you’re actually limiting yourself. You’re limiting your energy. You’re actually having a lot of constraints on you. The key is monkeying around and being playful with it. If you have a problem or a situation you’re dealing with, maybe it’s with an employee, maybe it’s you’re actually innovating a new product, or new solution engineering something coming up with your business, or maybe it’s other areas of relationships and your very stiff around your kids, your loved ones, or your friends for that matter, try something different.
Try playing, try monkeying around. Take a cue from children. Children are always playing, and when they find a problem, they look for a creative solution by playing whatever that problem is. Oftentimes for children, it’s actually a physical object, but for us, for us who are on the path of being the authors of our own story, it can actually be an inanimate object. It can be a problem within us, within ourselves. Finding a loose way of looking at it.
Today, if you’re faced with a problem or a situation, what I want you to do is write it down and look at where you can be playful with it. Look at it differently, embrace your childlike behavior. In fact, I encourage you to act like you’re a five or six, or seven, or even a 10-year-old. Don’t go with any older than that, but go up to 10 years old and face that problem, and how would you act it? Act goofy. Look at the problem differently. It’s going to spawn some creativity and has those juices flowing within you, which is going to allow you to see it from a different angle and a different way. When you can see things from multiple angles and multiple different perspectives, it gives you the opportunity to shift and change when you need to.
Today, I want you to stop being stiff. Grab your journal. Write out your Five to Thrive, your mind, your body, your soul, your relationships, and your business, and where are you being too stiff. I talked to a friend the other day who is extremely regimen in around his exercise program. He looks great, and he’s feeling well. However, the stiffness is actually affecting his relationships and his business. Now, when I told him to play around with it, he got upset. I looked at him, I said, “Okay, what supplements are you taking?” and he gave me this laundry list. I said, “What exercise routine are you doing?” “Doug, I have this periodized routine structured out for three months.”
I said, “Great. How does that make you feel when you’re going through this?” He paused for a second. He said, “Actually, it makes me feel kind of crappy. I feel like I have to get this done. I feel like this is just something I have to do no matter what.” I said, “That’s fine. Look, what if you took an adaptive playful attitude around the situation? What if you did that? Just give it a second.” He got back on a phone call and he’s like, “Wow! Dude, totally different, totally different outlook. In fact, when I’d look at a playful situation with a problem …” which is around his macros in his diet, he actually spawns a creative idea for his business. That’s what I want to leave you with today. Just remember, when you’re stiff and you can feel it within your body, I want you to loosen up, take a couple of deep breaths and get playful with it. That’s the key today, have some fun, monkey around, and be a child.
All right, that’s it for me today. As always, go to authorofyourownstory.com where you can get the latest tips, trips, and techniques delivered right to your inbox. I highly encourage you to do this. We spend a lot of time delivering valuable content that we hope will allow you to take another step on your journey. Go out and inspire someone today by being the Author of Your Own Story.
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