I’ve been reminded a couple of times recently about the importance of bringing fun and creativity into addressing one’s challenges.
The first was by a coaching student in a class I serve as an assistant trainer for, the second was with one of my artistic clients, and the third occurred as part of a coaching clinic scenario I was participating in recently.
In each situation, the client was in a stuck place, bogged down by the weightiness of the decisions and choices ahead of him/her, and unable to identify the next step that would help them move forward.
In the first and third situations the coach introduced the element of fun, asking questions such as: What might help make this project fun for you? Or, what would introducing an element of fun do here? For the artistic client who was contemplating change in life, but not knowing where or how to start: I asked, “How do you begin creating when presented with a blank canvas?” She immediately knew what to do to get unstuck.
Slightly different questions that all accomplished the same thing – introducing an element of fun and creativity, which in turn help shift the client’s perspective and kickstart the change process.
What might you do to introduce an element of fun and creativity to help you get past being stuck?
Love this idea! How often we are paralyzed and then, just as Mary Poppins says, “in every job that is to be done there is an element of fun, and snap the jobs a game.”
Finding new perspectives can be all about finding the fun!
Thanks for stopping by Ellen. Love the Mary Poppins reference. ; ) Fun sure can make the process easier.
I often find the “fun factor” to BE the key to moving ahead. It helps both with being stuck and also energizes us for routine or less desirable tasks. “Fun” means different things for each of us. A few things I use with clients are playing music, which might also include singing and dancing along (both of us,) adding color to a space, introducing collections or special objects to a space, adding fresh flowers and energizing scents, and laughing…lots of laughing.
Linda, I appreciate you sharing that “fun” is different for different people. Love how your suggestions appeal to so many different senses and modalities!