***How To Create Playful Financial Success In Your Business

I was staring into the faces of the two colleagues who had become dear friends of mine, after spending the last several days together. 

I was bemoaning to them (through the tears streaming down my face),  “I’m so frustrated that parts of my work feel like such a chore!  I know I’m making a significant difference  – but I’m frustrated that I’m working so hard and exerting so much effort. 

I feel like I’ve gotten off track with my integrity.

That was when they encouraged me to allow myself to really embrace my playful and creative nature.  Sure, I love to use my creativity and I’m passionate about encouraging others to access their creativity. 

My mind flashed back to all the past fun and exciting gatherings that I had created for my friends and husband.  I have so many memories of these creative times---hosting a “Bring Your Best Dressed Spud Halloween Party,” where friends dressed up potatoes and we handed out prizes for the best dressed spud. 
This party left all of us rolling on the floor amongst our peels and howls of laughter; the countless “artist retreats” that my husband and I would go on, renting forest service cabins in the beautiful mountains.  My husband would write new songs with his guitar. 

I would work on my drawings and illustrations for my greeting card designs (one of my former occupations before discovering my life’s calling as a business coach empowering entrepreneurs to break through 6-figures while working 4 days a week (or less!)

And then there was the full moon rafting trip late last summer where we rafted down the river in the company of good friends and the larger-than-life harvest moon. 

Sure, I have a playful side, but integrating playfulness into my business and financial life was completely foreign to me!

Okay, yes it’s obvious to anyone who knows me well that I clearly have a creative and playful side.  “But come on,” I thought, “There’s a difference between play and work, they’re pretty much on opposite ends of the spectrum.”

In his book, Free Play, Stephen Nachmanovitch writes about the sheer joy of playing.  He describes play as a state of mind where we focus on the process - the sheer joy of play, and not the destination or end result.

He encourages us to recognize that the act of play in and of itself is the destination.  When we play we have nothing to gain and nothing to lose because we have no expectations. 

Is this why, when we were younger, our days seemed to stretch out endlessly before us, as opposed to our lives as adults, where we rush frenetically through the day, and each year rushes by faster and faster, like a runaway train beyond our control? 

Is it because we’re so focused on the end result and getting somewhere that we’re not even truly present in the task at hand? 

How many of us rush around like the rabbit character in the Winnie the Pooh books?  Rabbit was always in such a hurry to be somewhere, that he would sign his letters, Back soon, Rabbit.  So Pooh always called him Back-Soon-Rabbit. 

I realized that coaching sessions with my clients always feels like pure joy to me.  I love listening to them and connecting with them
. 
After talking to my colleagues, I found myself filled with inspiration and confidence. After all, I had nothing to lose with this “playful work” concept.

Often, after I finish my coaching days, I’ll sit in my living room on my couch looking out at the mountains, feeling the energy and joy of my connections from the day. But the details of my work, that was another thing entirely.  Ugh!

Before I began working I would say out loud, “Okay, I’m setting the intention to play, have fun and be creative today at work.  I trust that this can be a fun process.  I set the intention to notice when my work isn’t fun and then to ask myself in the moment how I can change what I’m doing to make it more fun and playful.”

Believe it or not, crazy fun things starting happening!  It was amazing.  While working on an outline for a writing proposal I noticed my left brain kicking in, and the taskmaster in me saying that I needed to do more research and think more about my proposal before sending it off. 

Because I had set the intention in advance to notice when I didn’t feel like I was playing or having fun, I was aware that my neck began to tighten in the moment. After noticing the tension in my body I told myself, “Well, I feel like I’ve done enough writing on this proposal.

This no longer feels fun and playful, and my sense is that I don’t need a huge amount of detail in my proposal.

It’s good enough as it is.”  And with that I hit the send button on my computer.  Just one week later I received an email congratulating me that my story had been accepted in Jack Canfield’s and Mark Victor Hansen’s Chicken Soup for The Soul book, “Tough Times for Tough People”.  I laughed.  Was it really possible for work to be this easy and playful?

I’m starting to notice if I’m integrating the spirit of play into my work.  It’s been a lot more fulfilling, and results have been occurring with greater ease and fulfillment. It has been an incredible experience.  I feel like a modern day alchemist who once had a stack of straw that has now been turned into a pile of gold.

Take Action Now!

Where could you benefit from setting the intention to integrate a more playful spirit into your work?
Where are you currently feeling stress and tension in your work or life?  Is it around your finances?  Building your career?  Making a transition into a new job? 

Getting work projects completed on time without feeling too stressed or freaked out?  Running errands?  Wherever it is, clearly identify it.

And then before starting that particular activity, state your intention out loud to be playful and have fun.   Notice when the activity no longer feels playful in the moment and then ask yourself what you can do to make it playful.   And remember, lighten up and have fun.  The true spirit of play is about the process and not the end result.