Do you colour outside the lines?

As adults we can get so bogged down in how ‘stressed about doing things perfectly’ or ‘busy’ we are - for most of us, the last thing on our minds is thinking about how we can do things differently!

The thing is, we know it’s important for kids to try different things – different toys, different activities, different foods, but it is actually even more important for adults to try different approaches. This is because, often one of the reasons we may be so anxious and wound up in the first place, is because we get stuck in our ways - as George Bernard Shaw famously said, 

"We don’t stop playing because we grow old, we grow old because we stop playing"

While our current beliefs, behaviours and mind-sets may be useful in some ways, they are certainly comforting and familiar - they often stop us from growing, adapting and unlocking our potential. Sadly, they can be the main cause of a lot of our anxiety, lack of energy and our feeling of being stuck and wonky

An often unknown solution for this feeling of being stuck and feeling sad - is Being Playful!

Being Playful helps us replace worry and anxiety with curiosity and passion

Look around and you will see a lot us have a bad habit of worrying. The thing is, we think worrying is a normal - even healthy response - to our volatile world. Actually, this is not the case. We can swap this restricting habit of worrying with releasing beliefs, behaviours and mind-sets - we call them Releasing practices. It is not easy - it takes self-awareness, self-regulation and regular practice - but it is doable. We know, because we have done it!

Being Playful also increases the amount of options we have 

This is because, when we are playful we can see things in a different light - we see things from new perspectives. When we create a regular practice of looking at things from new perspectives, we are able to make new connections, we are more innovative – we can colour outside the lines. We also can see possibilities we missed previously, because we are no longer stuck looking through the same old lens, being restricted by colouring inside the lines. We see the world with fresh eyes

This gives us more hope and optimism and can also build our confidence, so we can live life with more of a flourish!

Being Playful helps us develop a more holistic sense of who we are - we are more than doing today's tasks perfectly

Being Playful is often the first step to trying out new roles, new hobbies, new passions and even new projects at work. This helps us live a more balanced life and can lead to new opportunities both at work and at home

A lot of us live our lives stuck with, “all our eggs in one basket” - we pour all our energy into one area of our life - stuck doing the same tasks, in the same way, every day!

This means when unexpected change comes along, unless we are able to adapt quickly, it affects our whole sense of self

It’s always worth testing and retesting whether the way we restrict ourselves and ‘colour inside the lines’ is helpful for us and is valid for us today, in the present

Giving ourselves permission to have a play and ‘colour outside the lines’ is a way to free us up to be more childlike, to enjoy being different, doing things differently

Being Playful means we are more resilient, able to adapt to change more quickly, and create a more holistic sense of who we are - at home, at work, in our whole life - as a partner, a parent, a team-player, a friend, a leader, an enthusiast for a particular sport or hobby. Look at children and you will see they do this naturally, they try new skills, they make up games, they join new teams, they try out a lot of stuff to see what will make them laugh the hardest, and have the most fun. They colour outside the lines!

In today's uncertain world - who doesn't want to adapt quickly to change, regain curiosity, determination and wonder and quite simply - have more laughter and fun in their lives?

If you would like to discover more about how you can colour outside the lines and Be Playful we have an Upskill (our name for a course/masterclass) to help you do just that – you can learn more about it here