Laughter is critical to make life and work enjoyable. If we’re not laughing and having fun, what’s the point? No seriously, what is the point? You’re not going to be on your deathbed wishing you had sent one more email, I promise you that. But you may be wishing you had had one more laugh or meaningful experience with a friend, family member, or cherished one. It’s such a small thing that has a huge impact on how we feel…and we all know that how we feel affects how we behave.
When I was looking for my “lobster” (for all my Friends Fanatics, you know what I mean…your forever partner in life), the #1 criteria I was looking for was someone who made me laugh. (Lucky me I found that person in spades!) I knew that to make it through the ups n downs of any relationship, we’d need to have lots and lots of laughter. At work, my business partner and head coach are two of my best friends, and guess what…we laugh all the time. At each other, with each other, about ourselves.
Then my college roommate sent me her new Substack called Laughing Matters. We didn’t know each other before being paired together in a dorm…her, me and my other roomie LaWanda. We were thick as thieves right outta the gate. Lisa St. Lou was a music major and LaWanda and I loved rap music (thank you Snoop Dogg) and we would make her sing cuss words in her beautiful opera voice. It was magical, and hilarious.
I will forever remember those moments and whenever the 3 of us talk, we are always transported back to those early days. Laughter is the truly the shortest distance between two people.
So encourage it in the office…find ways to connect and laugh as often as possible. You’ll find it becomes the glue that gets you through hard times as a team and helps you to understand and trust one another. Without trust, there’s no healthy conflict…without conflict, no commitment. Without commitment, no accountability. Without accountability, no results. (Thank you, Patrick Lencioni). So see, laughter is a key to realizing the results you desire, and building the culture you deserve 🙂
So go ahead, check out Lisa St. Lou’s Laughing Matters blog.
I hope you find as much joy in it as I do.
Here’s to laughing your way through work today.
