Have you ever spent any time watching kids play? You should, even if you have to borrow them from the neighbors for a few hours. Kids tend to make a game out of just about anything, playing with toys, the boxes that they come in or anything found lying around, not to mention the great imagination it takes to fly like a superhero draped in nothing but a towel. Smiles, laughter, being engaged with others and truly enjoying themselves, we can all learn something very important from their example that will help us live longer, happier and healthier lives.
The most important difference between the age groups is that unlike all of us so much smarter adults, they actually stop or change an activity when it is no longer fun. B`cuz why? B`cuz it has lost its appeal, its ability to be intellectually stimulating or because something with the potential to be even more interesting has attracted their attention.
I don’t know about you, but I speak to people daily who are dissatisfied with their jobs, careers, relationships or other major elements in their lives that they no longer consider to be fun. Some are downright angry with their present circumstances, yet they do nothing about it. Unlike a child, who is smart enough to take the actions necessary to change their circumstances, the unhappy adults continue doing the same thing day in and day out hoping that their circumstances will change. I believe that this behavior is a working definition of insanity.
Some other interesting statistics:
• Various studies suggest that more than 55% of all working people are ‘career disturbed’.
• Over 42% of marriages end in divorce [down from almost 50% a few years ago]
• At least 47% of battered spouses are assaulted more than once by staying in the relationship hoping things will get better.
• More than 66% of businesses don’t produce the results the owner(s) really want.
• Stress is one of the most easily corrected factors in heart disease and stroke.
If something in your life is making you nuts, DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT! Don’t become an angry statistic; you are too good for that. Set a goal, with a timeline, to find a new job, talk to your spouse about issues, train for a new career or take the steps necessary to make your business better. Whatever it is, just do something about it rather than continue to be unhappy. B`cuz life is too short and B`cuz you’re worth it!
This topic is close to my heart. I was unhappy with the way my business and my life were going. There were too many 14 hour days and not enough time to think and enjoy. So after reading a great book and taking many of the comments to heart, I made a change on April 25, 2005 that continues today. I reset my priorities, established my own set of guiding principles and re-focused how I would proceed through the world for the second half of my life. I haven’t perfected all of them yet, but I’m making progress rather than just griping about them and that’s what counts…doing something.
That thought process and personal change became a document I carry with me to this day to remind myself of the way I want to live my life and was the genesis for my slogan and mantra “Do business on your own terms!”®
What about you…what changes do you want to make? Don’t put it off, get started…TODAY!
Bob Holdsworth is the founder of The Holdsworth Group. He is a successful entrepreneur and a marketing and business growth consultant who specializes in getting his clients and their businesses UN-stuck .If you want to learn how to “Do business on your own terms!®, you want to talk to Bob. He is also the author of several nationally published articles, a sought after speaker, a veteran paramedic, a very happily married husband, the dad of two awesome twin boys, a dangerous golfer, avid reader, and is severely allergic to neckties.
Bob can be reached at bob@holdsworth.com
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