Work is Fun

Some of the most energetic and enthusiastic people that I associate with in business see what they are doing as fun. ‘I’m paid to do this?’ is a question often posed by such people.

Their need to have fun is fundamental to their motivation for being in business. In fact, to them, work seems effortless, and they even describe their work as play.

‘If my business isn’t fun anymore, I know its time for me to get out,’ a business friend of mine recently said to me.

Fun in business, in my experience, comes through exploring the new. That is, meeting new people, gaining fresh insights and new ideas. It is a product of being curious and always striving to learn something different and applying it to see if it works. Building a business is a very creative activity, indeed.

Having fun in business is also about being authentic, that is, being natural and being yourself. It is not something that can be put on in an artificial sense, but must come out of a genuine sense of wonder and joy.

Business is a very serious undertaking and demands rigor of thought and disciplined action. At the same time, business is about not taking yourself too seriously and seeing work as a worthwhile, enjoyable, productive and meaningful activity.