| Being Too Serious Can
Ruin Your Success
Are you having fun? Do you get a thrill
from your work? Do you enjoy waking up each morning?
Myths about work can hurt your progress. "Work is not supposed to be fun." "You must buckle
down and get serious."
Perhaps the biggest myth of all:
"People will think I’m important if I act seriously." Yet
getting serious creates problems: stress, worry, anxiety, emotional
pain, drudgery and failure.
Resolving problems by getting more
serious is like fixing a computer with a hammer. The harder you try, the
worse the problem becomes.
"When life becomes serious, a man
becomes less cause and greater effect. If life gets really serious, his
value drops to practically zero. Driving a car can become such serious
business that one can wreck the car. Running a business can become so
serious as to make it fail. There is a direct connection between
insanity and seriousness." "It is only when an individual
progresses in life to a point where much seriousness is attached to
things that he begins to have a hard time. The ancient Italian really
knew what he was about when he considered that the only psychotherapy
was laughter." — L. Ron
Hubbard
12 Ways to Lighten Up
Approaching your life with a non-serious
attitude gives you a clearheaded view of difficulties and the energy to
deal with them. Problems are easier to solve, people are more
cooperative and you feel more relaxed. You probably live longer and more
successfully, as well.
Try these ideas until you find one
that lightens you up.
1.
Deliberately turn a molehill into a mountain. Make a big deal out of a
little problem. "I would feel much better if these papers were
stacked exactly like this! Not like that! Like this! Not this!
This!"
2.
Ask yourself, "Is getting serious about this situation really going
to improve it?"
3.
Focusing on the positives. "What is right about this situation?" "What else
is right?" "What else?"
4.
Consider a complete, major change. For example, go back to school, move
to the ocean, start a new career.
5.
Ask yourself, "When I’m on my deathbed, will I be glad I was so
serious about _______?"
6.
A challenging game is much better than no game at all. So consider
losing all aspects of the problem. Examples: You feel serious about
family problems. You ask yourself, "Well, what if I had no family
at all?" You feel serious about your investments. You ask yourself,
"What if I had no money to invest?"
7.
The size of your problem may match the size of your game. So get a
bigger game. For example, if you get uptight about paper clips being in
the wrong drawer, your game size is tiny. Double your amount of
responsibility. Set some huge goals. Succeed by thinking much, much bigger.
8.
Stop trying to solve the problem that is making you so serious. Certain
types of problems solve themselves if you leave them alone. Your problem
may be one of those.
9.
Compare what you are doing to other careers. Imagine being a septic tank
drainer or a tax collector.
10.
Make everyone around you lighten up.
11.
Look at bizarre solutions. What is the craziest way you could solve your
problem? What solution, if it worked, would make you laugh out loud?
12.
Act stupid for a minute. Let down your hair. Stop being so darn
important for a while. Be a goof! |
