When your career matters to you it’s a serious business.
Earnest commitment to your aspirations and plans being part of the mix.
Yet when your aspirations or plans change or they are thrown up in the air, there are times when being overly serious can actually stand in your way.
In order to imagine a new future for yourself; explore new possibilities; generate new ideas or ways to move forward, it’s tapping in to your more playful side which makes the difference.
Re-acquainting yourself with your inner child and purposefully being more playful helps to reduce your sense of risk. After all anything is possible in pretend world.
Idea generation also happens more effectively and freely when you’re more relaxed and uninhibited.
The time for your inner critic and all that ‘how?’ malarkey can come later when you’re making choices and formulating cunning plans.
To help you tap into and nuture your playful side, here are some tips and activities…
- Stop what you are doing, turn away from your screen and stare out of the window. Let your mind wander. Daydream. Imagine an elephant just flew past the window. Visualise it in your mind’s eye; its appearance, its personality, its destination.
- Think about one current aspect of your life that may be causing you stress and turn it into something absurd and silly. Turn it into a character, turn it into a comedy sketch, write it a letter telling it that it’s fired…
- Give yourself permission, time and space to imagine, be silly and have fun. Start with 5 minutes a day. Make laughter and silliness an important part of your day.
So next time you want to or have to re-set aspirations or re-adjust plans, tap into your inner child and embrace your playful side.
You never know what you might discover about yourself and what you want next.
Career Energiser 
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