My body is so sore as I type these lines. And I blame Beyoncé.

Let’s rewind a bit.

About 8 years ago, I was walking on the Bund in Shanghai with colleagues. As we were chitchatting, I was asked:

Colleague: “Gen, what do you do when you don’t work?”

Me: “What do you mean when I don’t work?”

Colleague: “I mean, what are your hobbies outside of work?”

Me: ” ……..eating and showering……sleeping, sometimes?”

I was confused. I didn’t have a life outside of work – work was my life. It was my identity. I was stressed, anxious and exhausted – though I absolutely LOVED my job!

What I didn’t know then is that investing all of my efforts in performing without being my own person outside of work was a great disservice to myself.

Fast forward a few years: today my body sores because I am recovering from learning the choreography for Crazy in Love by Beyoncé (and lovin’ it!). I still LOVE my job – yet dancing doesn’t have anything to do with it. I now allow myself to play.

Play reduces stress and increases your feeling of fulfillment. It’s fun, it’s challenging, it’s strategic. It fuels you to perform better in your life.

If you are there thinking: “You look like you have a lot of free time. I don’t.”

I get it!

Here is the thing: Infusing activities that you love in your life is not something that happens after everything else is done, after everybody else’s requests are fulfilled, and only maybe if you have time left. It is something you plan in your calendar, from you to you.

Play allows you to stretch your creativity, exercise your problem solving skills and just be yourself, in a low risk environment.

If you are stuck, wondering what to do next, stressed: allow yourself to stop & play.

1- Choose something that you always wanted to try or that you have left on the backburner for too long. Today with the magic of Youtube, there are tutorials for about anything you can imagine. (even for dancing like Beyoncé)

2- Schedule it.

Make time on your own or take a class! Beware: this is not frivolous. Eliminate all distractions, this time is classified as research & development for your growth.

3- Say goodbye to perfection and focus on the process.

Do you think that I nail that dance? Nahh and I don’t expect to.

I do it because I love the process (and also to pursue my mission of rocking the dance floor at every wedding I attend).

This is a great exercise to let go of perfectionism, practice to fail and get back up, and express yourself freely without rules. Practice to let go and be yourself through play, and your confidence will expand on your whole life.

What do you say, come out and play?

With truckloads of love,

Geneviève Pépin

Coach for the ambitious woman