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Hey there! Hope that you had an amazing weekend, and that you invested some time in personal care. That could mean just relaxing, but even better if it included doing an activity that you love to do. That is by far the best way to recharge yourself and keep a positive outlook on life.

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Now, as you prepare for the work week in front of you, I encourage you to consider how you can bring some of that positive energy into your work. What might you do to make work more fun? Don’t take yourself too seriously and watch what happens.

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We all need to produce work. After all, that is what we get paid to do. And often, we resist doing the work. We stress about it, worrying that we can’t possibly get it all done. The administrative minutia drags us down. We just can’t face another meeting that doesn’t even seem to have a point to it. And as soon as we bring this type of energy to our work, we get unhappy. We stop enjoying ourselves. The work becomes an all-out struggle.

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So we end up producing work that is sub-par. Our heart is not in it. The thing is, if you are producing work that you just are not “into”, everyone can see it. Your boss will know. The clients see it. You are setting yourself up for long-term career stagnation. And worse – your opinion of yourself drops. You are not even aware, but you lose a bit of self-confidence. You become slightly jaded, feeling resentful towards your work.

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And that is dangerous. Because once you start to resent doing the work that you are paid to do, you enter into a negative feedback loop. If you aren’t careful, burn-out awaits you. (been there, done that, got the t-shirt)

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The secret to avoiding this is to have fun with the work that you are doing.

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You likely have a lot more control over your work than you think you do. People often complain that they hate their work. That is really not helpful though. If you are a knowledge worker, you almost certainly can shape how you work to a certain extent. Maybe you can’t do it exactly how you would want to, but you don’t always have to follow the status quo.

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Mix it up! Have some fun with it. Injecting a bit of your personality into your work will allow you to have a lot more fun with it.

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And – the minute you start to have fun with a project, the quality of the work skyrockets. And people will notice. You will get better results, and then have more and more opportunities to repeat the process. Your sense of well-being at work goes up, all while you’re getting better results. Win-win.

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The number one secret to maximizing the quality of your work while minimizing your efforts is to have fun doing it. You cannot underestimate the power of doing this. You will resist doing so, as we are culturally conditioned to do so. “Work is not supposed to be fun!” people will say. But you DO have a choice, and you get to suffer the consequences of that choice – or to reap the benefits. It is really up to you.

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Choose wisely!

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Need help figuring out how to inject more of your unique personality and strengths into your work? Ready to take your career to the next level? Want help on figuring out how to transition to something new?

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I’ve got you! Book your FREE 1-on-1 career coaching call today.

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Quotation that I have been pondering

I love this one. It relates to the idea of bringing your unique personality to what you do. Too many of us strive to “fit in”, and in doing that, we actually give up our competitive advantage.

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Journal Prompt

One of my favourite activities to do is to close my eyes and just imagine my future. I allow myself to dream; what might be possible for me? How will I spend my time? What contributions will I be making? What will I do for fun? What will my relationships look like?

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Investing time in imagining and envisioning a potential future is the best way to figure out what goals you should set and work on. And it is also a great way to re-energize yourself. So this week’s journal prompt is:

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Have a great week!

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Tim

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