A friend was telling me a story about her childhood. She changed schools often and found it hard to make new friends. Everything was different at every school and she never knew how to fit in. At recess, the kids played games. She didn’t understand the rules or feel comfortable enough to join in.
However, there was one game that was open to all ages and cliques: Crack the Whip.
If you don’t know about Crack the Whip, I found this video on YouTube (but you might turn the audio down. There’s a lot of screaming!)
Whenever she watched Crack the Whip, she would go from feeling a bit blue to feeling so happy. Seeing other kids having fun with no agenda, just pure joy, changed her outlook for the rest of the day. Some days she felt brave enough to grab on to the end of the line and be whipped around. Other days she just watched and smiled and felt good about the world for a while.
The brain is funny that way.
Seeing other people, even strangers, having fun, laughing and enjoying each others’ company can uplift you. Have you ever been at a restaurant where someone at a table next to you gets the giggles, and then the whole table starts laughing? You don’t even know what they’re laughing about, but you can’t help but smile.
Sometimes the opposite is true:
We can’t control how things go at work or how someone on the other end of the phone line responds to us. If we’re not careful we get pulled into feelings of frustration, hopelessness or indignation.
In the sales profession, we just can’t go down that rabbit hole.
Instead – you need to find ways to pull yourself up and OUT. To help, I have a playlist for myself called Songs that make me SMILE:
- Mahna, Mahna – Cake
- What I Got – Sublime
- Mystery Dance (live) – Elvis Costello
- Turn It Up – Save Ferris
- Happy – Pharrell Williams
- I Ain’t Drunk – Mel Brown and the Homewreckers
- Mr. Bad Example (live) Warren Zevon
- Ain’t Nothing Wrong With That – Robert Randolph & the Family Band
- Drink Whiskey and Shut Up – Brian Setzer
- Bad Reputation – Joan Jet
- Do the Romp – Chris Duarte Group
- Missionary Man – Eurythmics
- Chemical Wire – fiREHOSE
- Brian Wilson – Barenaked Ladies
- Ninth Ward Calling – MarchFourth Marching Band
We all have our own songs that can change our attitude. Let me know what kinds of songs get you smiling and dancing!
Climbing out of a funk or dealing with the blues can be daunting. I can relate.
Instead of wallowing in it… why not listen to 9 minutes 35 seconds of Cory Henry & the Funk Apostles let the power of our funny brains uplift you.
Cheers,
Lynn
P.S. If your sales team has gotten into a rut of negative thinking or “learned helplessness,” I can help. Click reply and let’s set up a time to talk about how to empower your team.