You Need To Be Useless.

I've been handing out some weird assignments to my coaching clients lately.

One person had the “homework” of buying the Harry Potter LEGO set he'd had his eye on for months.

I encouraged another to follow her gut instinct that what she really needed was a week alone at the beach, with only fiction books to read.

A therapist I work with was forbidden to fill any cancellations with more client-sessions; any last-minute openings automatically meant a fun trip to her favorite coffee shop.

Wait. Isn't a coach supposed to just hand their people a bunch of solutions for making more money?

Don't get me wrong: I love helping my clients make money.

However:

If someone is experiencing burnout, all the business-growth strategies in the world will be useless.

It'll be like an athlete with an over-use injury attempting to solve the problem by working out harder.

Nope.

While some of my coachees have homework instructing them to do more, take risks, network with people they're intimidated by, hit “publish” on that article or video, etc…

Others get the homework of pursuing rest and playfulness.

And here's the thing:

It works.

It's a different kind of risk to set things down, say no to more requests, and do something that feels… useless for a while.

I always acknowledge to clients that it's a leap of faith to trust the process that their mojo will, in fact, return.

But it's so fun to see them later, smiling, laughing, and bubbling over with new ideas for their business, excited to grow and pursue their purpose again. (Which, incidentally, ends up… making them more money).

I recently thought of this clip from Parks and Recreation; I hope you'll take a few minutes to enjoy it.

(p.s. if you're too stressed to “waste” five minutes, you're dangerously close to being a Ben, and might need more Donna/Tom energy):

If you're all burnt and crispy around the edges from overwork, overgiving, over-multitasking, etc., it might be time to find your metaphorical-batman-suit.

It doesn't have to involve a lot of money, time, or planning.

It can be as simple as scheduling some “goof off” time, whether it's 10 minutes or 10 days.

(And even if you have lots of energy and motivation right now, you still need to carve out time for regular rest and play as a preventative).

Remember, it's not just more money that matters; your time and energy are important, too.

What are you going to do to be playful (or even a little lazy)? Let me know in the comments.