As I write this I am 7 hours into another 12 hour long haul flight and as usual the cabin staff have commented that I am still ‘working’!
This is a funny one, because I don’t see work as ‘work’ and for me it’s always been play. If I choose to do something surely it makes sense to either only do something that I love or if there isn’t love there in the first place then bring love to it.
But then if I bring love to it is it really work? In my experience, it’s really not. We have an overriding ethos in our businesses and that is that ‘work is play with a purpose’. It is a non-negotiable position that ‘work’ MUST be play but driven by a compelling purpose.
The WHY we do what we do, and the passion we have for that is key and the Quadrant 1 part is the where we access the WHY. If we are really involved in our application of intention and totally passionate about what we are doing, then it’s not a struggle. Having to drag us out of the office at the end the day with more energy surging through us than when we started with would be a good indicator that we love what we do and that we have done a great job. In this scenario, you know that you’ve been investing your life in something worthwhile. It should never be ‘Oh my gosh, I can’t wait for that last person to walk out of here at 8 o’clock tonight’ it’s more like ‘Oh no, there’s no one else to serve today – what a shame’.
People extol the virtues of a 4 or 5 hour work week but I think that this is BS. If you are passionate about something, then you will want to invest your life in it 100%. In my book, this means that you will do a zero hour work week.
This also means that there is no sacrificing now for the ‘fun’ time in the future or even the annual holiday. If you are on holiday all the time you can simply relocate the ‘play’ location and do what you love to wherever you wish to ‘play’.
The Quadrant 1 big picture perspective is a critical component of being an effective human being. It’s important to play ON your play just as its important to play IN your play. Playing ON your play means that you get your ‘play’ schedule for the year sorted so that you have time where you play outside of your normal playground. This enables a ‘helicopter view’ of your usual activities and enables insightful and often profound distinctions to be made.
For me this consists of planning times every year where I remove myself form the familiar for a month or so and go skiing, sailing or just hanging out in a foreign country. I will spend a little bit of time each day playing IN our businesses, but essentially it’s a time of reconnecting and looking from the above/down, redesigning, and looking at what is possible from here.
Being passionate about what you do, and doing it 24/7 is, for me, a great producer of a fulfilling life but it doesn’t mean working yourself to the bone.
Every three months take time off to shake up the habits that can develop into ruts. Your stage in life and your ability to plan for and finance the exercise will determine how long you will take off and what you would do but regardless of how grand your alternate playground is it is imperative that you shake the state of play.
Definitely give yourself opportunities to travel because when you immerse yourself in different cultures (even if it’s a camping ground 100kms from home, your brain will rewire with the different environment and you get to bring that richness back to your home culture and you will see things differently and play your game differently.
Playing with purpose isn’t a cost, it always pays dividends. You will benefit profoundly by letting your Quadrant 1 play. Your mind expands, your relationships expand and your bank account expands.
