Leisure is As Important As Work

I have been asked a number of times over the years, "Do you have a big hairy audacious goal(BHAG), a goal so big that others might think it is totally outrageous?

Having professionally observed human behaviour in leisure for almost 40 years, my BHAG has long been:

As many people in the world as possible to realize and apply the fact that leisure is as important as work in maximizing one's personal growth, development and potential.

I sense it isn't as outrageous a goal as it was when I first established Work Leisure International in 2003.

What is 'leisure'? First, it is not simply 'free time'. Leisure is a positive state of mind, produced from enjoying any freely-chosen interest - physical, mental, or spiritual - pursued purely for its intrinsic benefits, that makes you feel good about yourself.

For those who say their work is their leisure, no matter how much you enjoy your work it is driven by economic demands. While I love my work, my main leisure interest is singing (see http://www.workleisure.com/resources/ChoirArticle.html). The benefits that singing has given to my total wellbeing, work productivity, stress management, work/life harmony and self esteem are positively incalculable.

It also demonstrates why I believe in work life harmony rather than work life balance. It's not a matter of how much time you give to leisure but the effects of a passionate leisure interest. A short time each week of experiencing this sort of interest can drive the rest of the week.

For generations now, the traditional work ethic has driven human development. Managers saw leisure as a waste of good productive effort and even a competitor to work. Five major factors have altered that attitude:
1) the social revolution of recent decades,
2) the new workforce generated by that revolution, who work to live rather than live for work,
3) rising burnout as a result of prolonged excessive business stress and pressure,
4) the change from centralized knowledge in the hands of top management to decentralized knowledge and expertise across the organisation/the globe, and
5) the disappearance of the principle of the employer providing "a job for life".

People now make their own minds up about the nature of work and leisure. Leisure is again back in vogue as a valued feature of life.

I call it the new Life Ethic, accentuating the fact that work and leisure are both important in maximizing personal growth and potential.

Everything I do in my business is geared to pursuing my Big Hairy Audacious Goal.

If you think this is a great Goal, you can help by sharing this message with others in your network.

Connecting With Others

I’m presently reading “Anywhere” a book probing the fact that soon anybody and anything,anywhere in the world, can be connected through a variety of wire-less media. The potential is beyond our comprehension.

It’s exciting, challenging, and not a little scary, just thinking about it. We all crave connection with others. While we may be an island unto ourselves, that island can be a very lonely place.

But systems are just that – systems. It’s all a matter of staying in control. Only you can decide what you enjoy and what makes you feel good about yourself. Sharing mutual interests with others can deepen that sense of enjoyment. Systems give you choice options to help you find the right people.

But the right to choose remains your most powerful weapon, one you should never surrender, least of all to a system.

Enjoy Doing Nothing

We all look forward to doing nothing over the coming holidays. Lazing around and taking it easy will soon be all the go. It’s the time of year when we respect, value and enjoy doing nothing, to refresh and refuel our mental energy.

Why then does ‘doing nothing’ get such bad press for the rest of the year? – “time-wasting, irresponsible, slacking off, non-achieving and counter-productive”? If a car was refueled once a year, it would be
useless for most of the year. People’s mental energy needs are far more complex.

For most of us ‘doing nothing’ actually means doing something we love, simply because we enjoy it. You will have in mind all sorts of enjoyable interests to pursue during your holidays. Such interests are vital throughout the year if we want to sustain our mental energy.

Make sure you enjoy ‘doing nothing’ in the coming weeks. But remember, over the rest of the year you will always do something better if sometimes you do nothing.

Wishing you a mentally-relaxing holiday season and the sustained energy to thrive in 2010,

This message may be freely distributed through your network

Creating Positive Human Behaviour

You are privy to getting some inside information on a different slant I am taking with my lifestyle mentoring business: Work Leisure International - go to http://www.workleisure.com. My theme of growth and maximizing potential through enjoying being your authentic self is perhaps better understood when considered in terms of the way we achieve positive human behaviour - at work, at home, or at play:

1. The Brain processes information gained from selected available data
2. Energy - physical and mental - drives this process
3. Products of this energy include heightened self esteem, creativity, enthusiasm, commitment, skill development, innovation and, last but not least, increased productivity
4. The outcome of this is growth - personal and corporate
   

Integral to the process are enjoyable emotions, good feelings and hopes (expectations of future benefits).

My trigger for building positive (rather than negative) human behaviour is through injecting what I call "The Enjoyment Factor". Compare the productivity levels of a project you enjoyed and one you didn't enjoy. When you lose yourself in an interest you love, you find yourself - the authentic you comes alive. Focusing on any interest you passionately enjoy - even for a few minutes - creates a positive ripple effect through the whole of the four stages listed above.

Do you relate to the process?

If you are going through a bad time you might perhaps see the process in reverse - your growth slowing, productivity dropping, mental energy down and experiencing sluggish processing of information.

Your comments on the above would be greatly welcomed and read with interest.