In order to reach your full potential in life, you must draw on your fun side as well as your pragmatic side. Don’t get too serious about achieving success. It will block your true talents. You are not a machine. You’re a multi- faceted person, and one of the most beautiful aspects of your personality probably (hopefully) includes a little playfulness.
Think back to an assignment you did on Day 67. You started to construct a list of people you admire. Now is a great time to add to that list. Write down three or four additional people who you would like to emulate. Take some time to list all of the appealing aspects of their personalities. Are they fun people to be around? Are they inspiring? Are they smart? Do they have endless energy to accomplish the impossible? Do they seem at ease or comfortable in their own skin? Do others feel good when they are around them?
Highly successful people are rarely one-dimensional. They have a great combo of drive and frivolity in their lives, and it comes through not only in their ideas and innovations, but also in their ability to turn their dreams into reality. Successful people also share a knack of striking a great balance between necessity and play. They are almost annoyingly relaxed, and that might be because they’re happy. They enjoy life every day. They didn’t wait for the big payoff before they had a little fun. They realized early on that play is an important ingredient to success.
Practice your own success today by striking a balance between necessity and play
.
133
Here is a great secret: play is an approach to action. That is one of the reasons why it is so important to success. The pressures of real life can paralyze you with fear, but play almost never causes that reaction. When you play, you couldn’t care less about the outcome. It’s not real life. It doesn’t count. You can screw up as much as you want and experiment with all sorts of ideas, because you’re just messing around.
The content of your play is not all that important, either. It’s not a project you plan to turn in to your boss; it’s not a test; it’s not even something you will hold onto past the present moment. The immediacy of play is very liberating to your mind and body. You have the sense that you will not be held accountable for whatever happens, so you are willing to take a few more risks.
Play is an event that takes place almost exclusively in the present. Have you ever planned out every detail of how you will play? No. That makes no sense. Part of the idea of play is that it’s unpredictable. You’re just goofing around. The results are anyone’s guess.
Your assignment today is to play. You can do anything you want. Go to a playground and swing on the swings; sit down and draw or color; play a sport with some friends; take in a movie; or get out a board game and invite a few people over. Just go with whatever you feel like doing. After your playtime is over, think about how play is an approach to action and consider ways that play can help you when you get stuck in real life.
134
What about the guilt factor? You can’t really take time out to play, can you? You’ve got lots of important adult things to do. What kind of guilt would you feel if you stopped working and sat on a swing for a half hour? That would be ridiculous and a waste of thirty minutes.
Stop those nasty little voices in your head that are admonishing you for taking time to play. It is not a waste of time. In fact, the opposite is true. Play is essential. Look at the evidence Stevanne Auerbach gives in the quote above.
Play has many advantages:
It reduces stress.
It improves the quality of life.
It increases creativity.
Seriously, who wouldn’t want that? Those are all important ingredients for a healthy, happy, and successful life. Do you feel guilty about play because it’s enjoyable? Well, here’s a news flash: you don’t have to suffer mightily in order to win success. Enjoy the ride! Not all of your tasks along the way will be difficult. If you are following your passion in life, most of the journey will be pleasurable. Get out there and play!
135
