Lesson 32: Never stop playing.

Author's note: I am a compulsive advice-giver-always have been.  When my own son was in high school, he wasn't interested in his old man's advice so I wrote it down in the hope that he might change his mind one day.  What follows is one piece of that advice.  I trust it applies to all of us, regardless of age.

Anyone without a sense of humor is at the mercy of everyone else.

—William Rotsler

It hardly needs to be said that human beings would rather have fun than suffer through endless hours of drudgery and sorrow. The way you go through life—enjoying it, detesting it, or anything in between—is mostly a matter of attitude. And we’ve clearly established that you have the capacity to choose your attitude.

Still don’t believe that? Consider the story of the Pike Place Fish Market in downtown Seattle, Washington. You may have had a job or two that you considered to be unglamorous—flipping burgers, mowing lawns, waiting tables, bagging groceries—but try being a fishmonger.

At Pike Place Fish Market, the workers get up at four in the morning and make their way down to the fish dock to meet the commercial fishing boats as they arrive with their catch. They prepare the cold, smelly fish and arrange them for display in the market—which, although covered, is open to the air. They open at 6:00 am and sell raw fish to various customers.

The work is hard and the conditions are often tough because of the cold, damp weather in the Pacific Northwest. When the long day is over, the workers are tired, cold, and sore, and they stink to high heaven. You’d expect that most of them hate their jobs, and you wouldn’t blame them if they did.

But the employees of Pike Place Fish love their jobs—and far from spending their workdays in drudgery, they literally have a blast from beginning to end. They joke with customers, throw fish at each other as if they were footballs, and laugh at themselves and each other from morning to night. The market is a beehive of activity and laughter; people come from all over the world to visit Pike Place Fish Market.

This little company has gained fame because its employees enjoy working at jobs that most people would hate. Their secret? In 1986, owner John Yokoyama and his team made a decision to have fun and to be great with people—and they’ve been doing it ever since. That fun is infectious: it rubs off on customers, who return it back to the workers. It becomes a self-sustaining cycle.

 You’re never too old to have fun—and whatever job you have, it can be fun if you choose to make it so.

Lesson 31: Set goals.

Author's note: I am a compulsive advice-giver-always have been.  When my own son was in high school, he wasn't interested in his old man's advice so I wrote it down in the hope that he might change his mind one day.  What follows is one piece of that advice.  I trust it applies to all of us, regardless of age.

 

Without goals, and plans to reach them, you are like a ship that has set sail with no destination.

—Fitzhugh Dodson

You’re lucky to be reading this, actually. You’re about to learn about one of the great secrets to success: goals. Although goals are vital to success, most people never give them a thought. So let’s take a moment to think about them.

You set goals every day, whether you realize it or not. In its simplest form, a goal is just a decision to do something. “I’m going to get out of bed, take a shower, have breakfast, and go to work.”

There—you’ve just set four goals. In no more than a couple of hours, you will have accomplished them all. And while you’re carrying them out, you’re setting new goals. “I think I’ll stop and get gas. And when I get to work, I need to finish that thing I didn’t get to yesterday.” And so it goes, every hour of every day.

Now let’s just carry that same concept a little farther—maybe a lot farther. The kind of goals we’re talking about now are conscious, measurable, long-term goals.

When you were a full-time student, you probably saw little need for those long-term goals. As a kid, your goals were pretty much set for you by your parents, teachers, and school routine: get through the school year with good grades, have a fun summer, and go back to school the next year with the same goals. The process was so universal, simple, and repetitive that you likely gave it no thought at all.

The days of having your goals set by others are gone for good. From now on, you must set your own goals—and you need to start thinking much, much bigger than you have up to now.

Think of it as if you were taking a road trip. First, you decide where you want to go—your destination. Then you look at the various routes available and decide which one to take.

The destination is the goal. The route is your strategy for achieving the goal. It doesn’t matter what the destination is or how far away it is; once you have settled on the destination—the goal—you know you’ll eventually arrive. The actions you take between now and then will determine your success in getting there.

Decide now to be a goal setter. Your future depends on it.

Lesson 30: Enthusiasm is infectious.

Author's note: I am a compulsive advice-giver-always have been.  When my own son was in high school, he wasn't interested in his old man's advice so I wrote it down in the hope that he might change his mind one day.  What follows is one piece of that advice.  I trust it applies to all of us, regardless of age.

Nothing is easy to the unwilling.

—Thomas Fuller

It’s true: nothing is easy to the unwilling. In fact, one might say that nothing worthwhile is ever easy. Life ain’t for sissies, as they say.

But why would you want to make it any harder than it has to be? Why not do everything possible to make it easier and more enjoyable? Life is a great, fun adventure—and if you treat it that way, you’ll lighten the burden for yourself and those around you.

Take the late Steve Irwin, Australia’s famed “Crocodile Hunter,” as an example. He was so enthusiastic about his work that you couldn’t help becoming interested yourself. Irwin knew the secret value of enthusiasm.

There’s no denying that people are drawn to enthusiasm. It’s true that some people are enthusiastic to the point of being annoying, but that’s not the person I’m talking about. I’m talking about the person who gets excited about doing worthwhile tasks, who throws herself into every assignment with energy and a smile on her face.

We’ve all known enthusiastic people, and we often wonder how they do it. Each of us has things that excite our own enthusiasm, but those are usually subjects or areas that hold a special interest for us. How can some people seem to be interested in almost everything?

The answer is simple: they decide to be interested, and in doing so, they decide to be enthusiastic. Enthusiastic people not only do a better job, but they inspire those around them to do better as well. Enthusiasm is a self-chosen trait that makes work easier and makes you more valuable to others.

Obviously, you’ll find it easier to be enthusiastic about some jobs and subjects than others. And some days it will be hard to work up enthusiasm for anything. Do it anyway—it’s worth the effort.

Don’t fall into the trap of thinking that enthusiasm is for suck-ups. That’s a juvenile attitude that only hurts you. You’re not a juvenile anymore, and you can’t afford to think like one. Enthusiasm can make your life easier, more fun, and more rewarding—both financially and otherwise. And as a bonus, your enthusiasm will also benefit everyone around you. Try it—you’ll like it!