Games are fun.
They’re imaginative.
They take us to different lands.
Temporarily suspending the reality of what’s going in your life right now, pretending to be a different version of ourselves, envisioning what might be, can allow us to see a new path in our own day-to-day.
So, let’s play a game, shall we?
Okay, great!
Does this sound familiar to you?
6:30am
It’s Monday morning and you’re on auto-pilot, because that’s one way of numbing the pain of the job that just isn’t the right fit for you. You didn’t sleep so well last night as the Sunday blues really got to you, so you stayed up late as you felt you deserved a bit more time for yourself.
Another day, where you feel down because you spent some of your weekend scrolling through job ads and as usual that didn’t lead anywhere. You wish you’d spent more time outdoors or more time with your family or friends.
You hit snooze several times on the alarm, just the way you always do, until it’s really not possible to hit snooze anymore without turning up noticeably late for work.
At the local deli, you grab a white bagel with bacon. You know that you should be eating whole30/plant-based/paleo/vegan, but as your day’s going to be so boring, maybe a bacon bagel can count as a highlight?
On the journey to work, you listen to an audiobook to try to while the time away, but you notice that you’re feeling jealous of the characters in the story.
Their lives seem so exciting compared to yours, and as far as work choices, they seem to have it all figured out. Gaah!
You look around at the other people traveling to work and think about what their jobs might be and whether they’re happy in them.
Surely there’s more to life than this endless monotonous routine?
There must be some people doing work they love, but you can’t think of that many.
Yes, your dentist always looks happy, but maybe that’s more due to the fact that her teeth are excessively white and she’s doing her best to advertise good dental hygiene.
When you think of how to make a change, you don’t really know what to do.
Someone smart like you should have this all figured out by now, right?
Now, let’s have a little fun and imagine a different start to a day in your life, one where you’re doing work you love.
6:30am
You no longer hit snooze on the alarm as you’re excited about the day ahead.
You spring out of bed and take your time over a healthy breakfast to ponder the latest successes you’ve been having at work and the project that you’re really looking forward to getting into.
Today you’re so enthusiastic about the day ahead that you could probably teach Hal Elrod a thing or two about how to have a great day!
On the way to work, you feel unaffected by the crowd and zone out while enjoying your latest audio book.
At work, you feel like you can be YOU. You don’t need a mask or to play games to get recognition. You’re recognized and rewarded for your work and it feels fantastic.
You know what your skills are and it’s amazing to get to use them day-to-day in your work. When you smile at your boss, it’s because you mean it; you’re totally happy to be there.
If you continued down this imaginary path, what else might be different in your life?
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