Did you know that laughter is essential for a healthy and productive workplace? If you didn’t, you do now. No matter what industry you’re in—sales, service, education, whatever—using humor as a strategy at the beginning, middle and end of the day will improve morale, increase efficiency and help you create lifelong relationships for success. In other words, laughter is a powerful force to help you stay motivated personally and professionally.
Related: 4 Ways to Laugh More
If you think you can’t find laughter as soon as you wake up, you’re just not looking. Try looking at yourself first thing in the morning. Don’t even get dressed. As soon as you wake up, look in a full-length mirror and say, “Well, I’m ready to go to work just the way I am!” I bet it will at least put a smile on your face.
Humor is everywhere. You just have to take the initiative every day to get in sync with your “Humor Being” and observe. It’s what I call “observing and developing your humor insights.” It simply means observing the funny stuff that is around you.
If you’re married, believe me there is humor there. In fact, I believe that a sense of humor is a major component to a successful marriage. But some people say the key to a successful marriage is to understand your partner. Are you kidding me? Understand your partner? Whether you are a man or a woman, you will never be able to understand your partner. The only thing that you have to understand about your partner is that there are things about them that you will never understand. If you can understand that, then you will have better understanding. Do you understand?
I’ve been married to my wife for 26 years. Until this day, I can’t understand why I have to get in trouble for dreams that she has. Allow me to elaborate.
I wake up in the morning, look at my wife and say, “Good morning.” Her response to me is, “Don’t you good morning me!”
“What’s wrong?” I ask.
She says, “I just had a dream that you had an affair with another woman!”
Guys, believe me, your response should never be, “Really? What did she look like? I just want to know if it’s the same dream I’ve been having.”
Use your imagination. Observe your kids, especially as you start your day. They are without a doubt the funniest people on earth. Watch how they grow up to be just like you.
Related: 4 Things You Can Learn From Your Child
My son thinks he’s a comedian. When he was in grade school, he was always making people laugh, including the teachers. But he didn’t know when to turn it off. This started to become a problem. One day I came home and said, “How was school today?” Without missing a beat, he said, “Good crowd! Good crowd!”
Trying to hold back my laughter, I said, “Don’t get smart with me.”
He looked right at me and said, “Don’t worry, Pop. I don’t want to confuse you.”
I take these funny occurrences with me to the workplace. It’s these types of observations that help you develop your humor insights. This is how you tap into your laughter reservoir and how to get your humor genes circulating. This is what puts you into a good mood.
Hold on to that very special something that made you laugh and take it with you throughout the day.
Doesn’t it make sense to create this feel-good state of mind at the beginning of the day? Hold on to that very special something that made you laugh and take it with you throughout the day. It’s so very simple and the benefits are priceless.
The greatest benefit that comes from observing and developing your humor insights is that you eventually begin to view your challenges and problems from a vantage point, rather than a disadvantage, and that is a major key toward motivation.
Related: The Secret to Staying Motivated Is Simpler Than You Think
