All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.

Proverb

New Year’s Resolutions.  Annual Performance Goals.  Strategic Planning.  Vision Boards.  Yes, it’s that time of the year again where individuals and businesses set out with the best intentions to improve themselves and to grow.  According to researcher Richard Wiseman 88% of all those who set resolutions fail.  Plus, in all honesty, how often do performance goals, strategic plans or vision boards get looked at once they’re created?  Goal setting and planning in itself can be a wonderful tool to implement initiatives and change.  However, it is not the driver and will not consistently motivate individuals to follow through.

Plus, adding to the already full “to do list” plate of life and work isn’t refueling leaders’ batteries.  In an article titled 8 Things Top Women Won’t Do in 2013 by Little Pink Book, I found the following won’t do’s to be very telling of what corporate leaders are experiencing:

“I won’t give all my time away to my job,” declares Jackie Parker, President, Newell Rubbermaid Foundation.

“I will not apologize for bringing emotions into the workplace. When you check your heart at the door, you lose your capacity for greatness,” insists Lisa Earle McLeod author of Selling with Noble Purpose.

As the proverb goes “All Work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.”  Instead of focusing on establishing resolutions and creating goals, give your time away to fun, play and a cause, which allows you to bring your heart into the workplace.  Work, work and more work will definitely never allow you to master your own life’s meaning and purpose.  And, obviously, just play, play, play won’t pay the bills.  However, when you’re able to charge your battery with play and purpose in and outside of work, you’ll definitely notice a shift in your own leadership capabilities.

However, to avoid the failure rate of those New Year’s resolutions, it’s best to take simple steps to start integrating fun and purpose into your life and work.  Sometimes, it starts out with just scheduling an hour a week on your calendar to commit to play time.  Fun and play time can be as simple as:

• Unplugging all electronics and just listening to music or reading instead.
• Cooking a wonderful home-cooked meal.
• Playing a sport with friends.
• Joining a band.
• Taking an art class.
• Buying a sketch book and doodling.
• Writing the book you always wanted to write.
• Watching a funny movie and laughing your heart out.
• Committing to a cause and taking action toward promoting it.
• Taking a lunch break and spending time on your play project.
• Planting the garden you always dreamed of.
• Going to a park during lunch and feeding the birds.

You’ll find that even an hour a week committed to play and purpose will give you so much more energy and joy that you’ll be contagious and rub off on your team.  And this energy boost will most certainly positively impact productivity without having to go through cumbersome strategic planning efforts to look at ways to improve performance.

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