Working with clients and looking back at myself in the past, and also considering the society we live in (modern and busy world, and in Switzerland, where having fun is almost considered a sin), there is an increasing sense of duty and responsibility. First duty, then comes pleasure.
Even if growing up in Sicily for me meant having a lot of fun and naps and easiness, the culture is impregnated with guilt and sense of duty too. First, you study then you have pleasure/fun. Otherwise, you don't deserve it. It is like fun is the consequence of something good and responsible we have done.
I wonder what would happen if we started considering putting FUN as a conditio sine qua non and start acting like we not only deserve it, but we also have to use it in order to function properly when we work.
This is what I tell myself, and tell my clients too. Imagine you have two animals. They are equally important to you, and they have both to be fed in order to function. And, not strangely at all, if we use up all the food to feed one animal, the other one will starve. We wouldn't be able to let either of them starving, it is just against our principles. Therefore, FEE THE TWO OF THEM.
Animal one: your work-life, your parental duties, your studies and whatever deserves your attention to be moved forward and to make you earn money/satisfaction/ambition, you name it. Animal two: everything else. Some people think they should not take up a course in knitting or acting, or a foreign language, "because it does not make sense with my current business". I understand you want to pursue goals by doing things that bring you closer to the objectives.
However, by not doing something you like only for logical reasons, we repress a part of who we are. We owe it to ourselves to do stuff we like, that is fun. If this thing coincides with our working situation and helps us feeding the 2 animals at the same time, very well. Otherwise, also very well! You need 2 animals to survive. Fun and self-care enhance our ability to trust the world, our creativity and decrease stress. So, why not?
I give you a very practical example. I read MANY coaching reviews, psychology books, metaphorical books, health, nutrition, holistic coaching, meta-medicine. Sometimes, I just want to read this useless magazine called "Hello", with all the gossip and the stories about celebrities. Do you know why? It makes me feel grounded. I don't want to be in life only on a one-sided perspective. I want to switch off my brain. I want to learn new things.
I want to imagine stupid stuff happening, and laugh about it. I want to go and dance salsa with the kids of the school next door because they give me hope. Hope that the world is not only a giant iPhone. Has this something to do with building my business? For me, totally! Why? it gives me energy, perspective, self-care (I promote it to my clients, if I did not use it I'd be incoherent) and new ideas to bring to the coaching business.
So, start today! Feed the two animals and feel proud of it.
YOU DESERVE IT! And if someone criticizes you... #STAYASSERTIVE!