Work Hard - Play Harder
You'll probably remember the old Mars Bar adverts - "Work, Rest and Play" - a standard Mars Bar containing nearly 300 calories was good for you when playing sports or just generally being active.
Sadly I believe this message has been lost as time has become far scarcer for so many, we are continually trying to achieve more in less time and everything has to be completed faster.
It's no wonder the levels of stress, depression and anxiety are so high.
Fact: we need to work, pay the bills, and put food on the table.
Fact: we need to rest, to sleep, to recharge and rebuild.
Fact: we need to laugh, smile, have fun and play.
Without a level of balance in our lives we will wake up older, poorer, grumpier with very little to share or celebrate in our lives.
I have the privilege to often work with young adults aged between 12 and 22 years and their energy, enthusiasm and belief that they can make a difference is intoxicating - it's one of the reasons I say that it is a privilege to work with them.
I'm not saying that every group is willing to learn and wants to be in the room, far from it, but even within the more challenging groups from harder backgrounds there are young adults that categorically believe they can make an impact.
Doing what, is quite often the question they need help answering.
When I talk with my own children I never tell them that they will have to work 90 hours a week, burn themselves out by the time they are 40 years old (or even younger) and have very little fun along the way.
As with all parents, uncles and aunties or teachers the message is always that children can do whatever they put their minds to and if they are in love what with they do they will never work a day in their lives.
So, if that is the case why do so many adults ignore their own best advice that they give to the younger generation and allow themselves to burnout, fall apart and forget how to enjoy life? Many gurus within the world of self-improvement and self-progression talk about "Work smarter, not harder" and similar such catchy headlines.
I'm a realist - when at work we need to be real achievers and as many of you know I believe we can work far less than we currently do just by being truly focussed when at work.
Consider when is the most productive time for most working people during the year - it's invariably the afternoon before you go on holiday, nothing gets in the way and everything that is important is completed delegated or postponed! There is no FAFFing About.
The area where we tend to focus on poorly is organising and having fun - our PLAYTIME.
We buy a car or a holiday and spend hours researching the Internet for the best prices and options, but when it comes to organising fun we tend to leave it to the last minute, forget or become distracted by something more 'urgent' that crops up at that time.
So now it's up to you to increase your levels of PLAYTIME over the next few months.
Consider some of the following and please come back to me with your own suggestions, ideas and success stories.
Date night - when did you and your partner last go out together? How regularly do you manage this? Take up a new sport, go back to an old sport, coach a sport you've always loved, learn to become a coach.
Enroll in some evening classes ie.
cookery, languages, flower arranging, Smartphone classes.
Set a physical, fitness, weight or personal challenge, commit money and a buddy to it so you can't quit.
Get to the cinema, theatre, restaurant, or concert.
Join an amateur dramatic society, singing club, art appreciation society.
Have a monthly get together, dinner party or excursion with a different theme.
All of these take effort to make happen, sometimes you will not have the energy, budget or desire to make it happen - however I promise you that come the end of the year you will be laughing, smiling, more energised and happier because you have a new list of memories and stories to tell and discuss with others.
I know you're going to work hard, let's see if you can play harder as well.
Sadly I believe this message has been lost as time has become far scarcer for so many, we are continually trying to achieve more in less time and everything has to be completed faster.
It's no wonder the levels of stress, depression and anxiety are so high.
Fact: we need to work, pay the bills, and put food on the table.
Fact: we need to rest, to sleep, to recharge and rebuild.
Fact: we need to laugh, smile, have fun and play.
Without a level of balance in our lives we will wake up older, poorer, grumpier with very little to share or celebrate in our lives.
I have the privilege to often work with young adults aged between 12 and 22 years and their energy, enthusiasm and belief that they can make a difference is intoxicating - it's one of the reasons I say that it is a privilege to work with them.
I'm not saying that every group is willing to learn and wants to be in the room, far from it, but even within the more challenging groups from harder backgrounds there are young adults that categorically believe they can make an impact.
Doing what, is quite often the question they need help answering.
When I talk with my own children I never tell them that they will have to work 90 hours a week, burn themselves out by the time they are 40 years old (or even younger) and have very little fun along the way.
As with all parents, uncles and aunties or teachers the message is always that children can do whatever they put their minds to and if they are in love what with they do they will never work a day in their lives.
So, if that is the case why do so many adults ignore their own best advice that they give to the younger generation and allow themselves to burnout, fall apart and forget how to enjoy life? Many gurus within the world of self-improvement and self-progression talk about "Work smarter, not harder" and similar such catchy headlines.
I'm a realist - when at work we need to be real achievers and as many of you know I believe we can work far less than we currently do just by being truly focussed when at work.
Consider when is the most productive time for most working people during the year - it's invariably the afternoon before you go on holiday, nothing gets in the way and everything that is important is completed delegated or postponed! There is no FAFFing About.
The area where we tend to focus on poorly is organising and having fun - our PLAYTIME.
We buy a car or a holiday and spend hours researching the Internet for the best prices and options, but when it comes to organising fun we tend to leave it to the last minute, forget or become distracted by something more 'urgent' that crops up at that time.
So now it's up to you to increase your levels of PLAYTIME over the next few months.
Consider some of the following and please come back to me with your own suggestions, ideas and success stories.
Date night - when did you and your partner last go out together? How regularly do you manage this? Take up a new sport, go back to an old sport, coach a sport you've always loved, learn to become a coach.
Enroll in some evening classes ie.
cookery, languages, flower arranging, Smartphone classes.
Set a physical, fitness, weight or personal challenge, commit money and a buddy to it so you can't quit.
Get to the cinema, theatre, restaurant, or concert.
Join an amateur dramatic society, singing club, art appreciation society.
Have a monthly get together, dinner party or excursion with a different theme.
All of these take effort to make happen, sometimes you will not have the energy, budget or desire to make it happen - however I promise you that come the end of the year you will be laughing, smiling, more energised and happier because you have a new list of memories and stories to tell and discuss with others.
I know you're going to work hard, let's see if you can play harder as well.
