Joy or Excitement?
In early June, I ventured to Philadelphia to attend a day-long seminar with Julio Olalla, founder of the Newfield Network, which is the organization where I did my coach training. Philadelphia was experiencing the remnants of a hurricane so I turned on the TV to check the weather forecast for the day. Instead, the news was highlighting how the movie Fast and Furious 6 opened at 120 million over Memorial Day, stronger than all of the previous Fast and Furious movies. Then, they interviewed a business man who has a successful franchise in 34 US cities where he charges people a fee to ride in a fast car like a Ferrari for 10 minutes. He said people crave excitement! I find these facts intriguing and disturbing….. Is that what people are craving for in life - 10 minutes of excitement?While I am briskly walking to my seminar, I thought that I too love excitement because some of my most memorable moments have come from intense competition as a tennis player. Who doesn’t like or need some excitement in their lives?As I am sipping my morning cup of tea, Julio begins his lecture. He is talking about how in our world today, JOY is low on the priority list and EXCITEMENT has replaced it. The problem with excitement is that there is never enough! You can never be satisfied. I felt like Julio is talking to me. My first reaction is that joy sounds nice but why is it important for those of us who are ambitious?Fast forward to early July and Wimbledon 2013, the tennis Grand Slam held in England, and I am watching my favorite tennis player, Serena Williams, play an up-and-coming 23 year old German player, Sabine Lisicki. Immediately the match grabs my attention because Sabine is in a very intense and tight match with Serena on center court at Wimbledon and instead of grunting and scowling, Sabine is smiling, laughing, and enjoying herself. She looks like she is playing her best tennis and having a good time doing it too. Chris Evert, former 18-time Grand Slam winner and commenter for ESPN on the match - mentioned that Sabine is known for her general happy mood during matches. The other ESPN commentator is marveled by Sabine’s attitude as she just smiles and laughs even though Serena is hitting punishing shot after punishing shot. He asks Chris – what is up with her? Chris responds that she is enjoying the challenge and is happy to be playing on center court at Wimbledon.It seems to me that Sabine’s attitude represents a joyful AND confident approach to fierce competition. During Sabine's match with Serena, she appeared relaxed and focused. Her relaxed state allowed her to play her best game and not get discouraged when Serena served another 125 mile an hour serve. Instead, Sabine was able to come back from being down 3-0 in the third and defining set to beat Serena Williams, the #1 player in the world. Sabine’s joyful journey to her first Wimbledon final has inspired me to believe that it is possible to achieve great things with a joyful approach. The idea that an upbeat attitude can help you be more relaxed, confident, and bring your best self to whatever you do is very empowering and transformational. Sabine’s results provides evidence that a more joyful approach trumps the serious and constant pushing the ball up the hill approach that many of us perfectionist types believe works.As the summer comes to a close, I am exploring how to bring a more joyful approach to my business and life. To help me get there, I am recommending the 2003 NYTimes best seller book, Joy Diet by Martha Beck. The book is based on Martha’s work as a life coach and shares the best ideas that have helped her clients lead more cheerful and fulfilling lives. I read this book years ago and am reading again a chapter at a time. I am at Chapter two - which focuses on identifying your desires - so who knows where this journey may lead me!Let me know where this joyful journey takes you... I look forward to hearing it!