I’m all about work hard play hard this month. Inspired by my trip to Miami with that very theme, I’ve thought a lot about how to implement it as a way of life.
It starts with being intentional about how I invest time and resources in my business. The contribution I make to my community. And having a meaningful personal life (which includes maintaining my healthy hottie status😉).
To do this requires two important traits.
The first is a willingness to do the uncomfortable thing since it beats the future discomfort of not achieving my goals.
Because while I love what I do, I don’t love everything I do.
Sometimes I finish a third conversation with someone who says “no” to coaching and I question my value.
Or a subscriber flags my blog post as “spam” in her inbox and I feel unappreciated. And a bit peeved.
Or I need to make a phone call to someone who’s not happy with me.
The key is I don’t avoid the discomfort of working through these tough situations with false forms of “play.”
Like, watching Friends reruns well past lunchtime when I felt like “I deserve a break” (it wasn’t that long ago…).
The antics of Monica, Joey and the rest brought temporary pleasure. BUT, I was avoiding the discomfort of work (and the act of avoiding was also uncomfortable), and then I was uncomfortable later when the work wasn’t done! Triple whammy.
Have you done that? Escape into false pleasure is settling for less, when what we really deserve is so much more!
The second crucial skill is focusing on what’s in front of me. Even writing this post I briefly distracted myself by brewing another cup of coffee and returning some emails.
I do this by planning my day ahead of time and honoring it. Which means I don’t use laundry to procrastinate. I don’t spend time scrolling through funny cat reels when I’ve scheduled work.
As my distraction above indicates, I’m not perfect at it. But I don’t tell myself I’ve “blown it” when I slip up. I get curious and plan for how to do better next time.
The way we build integrity with ourselves is doing what we said we’d do. The more we do it, the better we get at it.
What about play?
Play is easy when I plan my calendar, focus on what’s in front of me, and open up to discomfort. And, this is critical, I schedule “me” time, play time. I am not an afterthought.
Ultimately, work hard play hard is balancing a small number of key priorities and intentionally pursuing them. Discomfort and all.
