It seems like only yesterday that I was making plans for Q1 and now it’s year end. The details of each day fade over time and it’s easy to overlook meaningful moments and accomplishments. So, I’m taking time to intentionally reflect on a theme I’ve experience this year in the hope that it sparks something that inspires you.
In recent years the Lord has been prompting me to choose a word or phrase to focus on for the year. In 2022 he whispered, “Your word this year is fun. Not joy, fun. As you have fun you will experience joy. But your focus is to be on having more fun. Start using “fun” as a filter in your decision making. If you believe something will be fun, say yes to it. If it doesn’t feel like it will be fun, say no.”
It was quite the jolt to my serious, professional self to think that I needed to have more fun in my life. Yet, of course, God was right. I felt a hopeful anticipation that it was truly going to be a different year, in a good, fun way. After all, how can having more fun not be, well, fun?
Early in January I started applying the “fun-filter” when making both business and personal decisions. To my surprise, it enabled me to make decisions more quickly and without doubts. I’d think, “Will this be fun?” and if the answer was no, I didn’t engage. If the answer was yes, I moved forward.
Somehow it became much easier to see those things that would drag me down as well as those that were life-giving and uplifting. Here are some examples of decisions I made based on my new fun-filter:
- I stopped saying yes in order to please someone else.
- I said no to activities that occur during “family time”.
- I said no to prospects that demonstrated they’d be impossible to please.
- I said yes to having more game nights with friends.
- I said yes to things that stretched my learning.
- I hired a writing coach and learned how much fun writing can be.
- I took a day-long art lesson to learn a massively fun art medium (alcohol ink).
The end-result of my fun-filtered year is that I have enjoyed myself more than I can remember since the carefree summer-vacation days of childhood. What the Lord had said came true: I found great joy amid having fun.
I sit here now thinking that I don’t want the fun I found this year to end. And I realize it doesn’t have to. Whatever my focus becomes for 2023, I’ll be adding it to my new-found “fun” mode — which came on the heels of my 2021 phrase “new wineskin”. But that’s a story for another day.
Reflection: I never would have picked “fun” as my focus for the year. It was only through prayer that it was revealed. I challenge you sit quietly with the Lord and ask him what he wants you to focus on in this coming year. He will surely show you, just as he did for me.
P.S. Looking for a group of like-minded business-people who are learning how to sell like Jesus would? Consider attending Group Sales Coaching as my guest.