Sign up to receive (free) my Thriving Forward Guide delivered by email as a 5-part series.
My bi-weekly newsletter: Find Your Forward: The newsletter to move you forward when you are stuck, facing a crossroads, or adapting to a fast-changing world. No matter where you are, there is always a way forward.
Humans are born to be playful. It is embedded in our soul by nature. However, when we grow old, it is easy to get lost in the weeds and forget our senses of playfulness. Although at that point, our spirit of playfulness and inventiveness are not visible enough, they have not faded away. All we need to do is find them and wake them up. My guest today strives to help others discover new horizons that they did not know they had. By having his dream job at a radio station at the age of 26, today, he is an educator, keynote speaker, sales trainer, web designer, radio on-air personality, karaoke host, game show host, and DJ. He is an award-winning speaker, entertaining over 2,000 audiences. Also, he is the Global Head of Content at Sandler Training. Not only that, he hosts two podcasts: How to Succeed & Playful Humans and is the co-author of LinkedIn The Sandler Way. Mike Montague, an extraordinary character, joins with today’s episode to remind us of the necessity of diving into the playfulness hidden inside our soul.
Show Notes
Play and Have Fun– Mike explains that being playful is about re-engaging with life and remembering that we were born to be lively humans.
Be Happy Now – Your whole life lies at present. So if you want to be happy, do it right at this moment. Do not wait for your retirement to enjoy your life.
Be Free – We receive the best things in the world with no force. For example, we can neither force fun nor love. In the same way, we cannot pressure someone to be creative or innovative. Set yourself free.
Shift Your Attitude – Mike explains the necessity of giving ourselves the permission to fail, experiment, and not get hung up on the outcome. He emphasizes that it might be challenging but not impossible.
Do not Rush - If you give your brain some space, it will work for you on the issues you got. Mike points out the significance of not rushing and not expecting an answer right back sometimes. It will come to you when it is the right time. An easy path will show itself when things do work themselves out.
Cheat – As Mike says, most successful people enjoy their work. Success does not always have to be complicated. We trick ourselves by saying that success is challenging.
You Are You - You also do not have to worry about how other people judge your fun. There is no single way to play and have fun. You do not have to do what other people do.
Your Way of Success - Sometimes, it is not your hard work that brings you a win, but the thing you enjoy. Since it is enjoyable, we tend to avoid those things rather than leaning into them. Instead, Mike asks the listeners to go for it because those things are easy for you and give you energy.
Connet with Mike Montague
Website: mikemontague.com
Website: playfulhumans.com/
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/mikedmontague/
Community
PodMatch - Podcast Guest Interviews : facebook.com/groups/podmatchgroup
PodMatch Community: community.podmatch.com/
Mentioned in the Episode
Podcasts
Playful Humans - People Who Play for a Living podcast.playfulhumans.com/
How to Succeed Podcast: howtosucceed.libsyn.com/
eBook
LinkedIn the Sandler Way: sandler.com/resources/sandler-books/linkedin-book/
The Go-Giver: A Little Story About a Powerful Business Idea: goodreads.com/book/show/1873060.The_Go_Giver?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=e0ayX5f86M&rank=1
Bobbi's Takeaways
I hope that you enjoyed Mike’s energy and that you took away some good pieces of value from that conversation. Here are my three insights for thriving:
There is no ONE right away. The truth is that there are a lot of ways that can work. One of the things that I’ve always thought about is that if I can only see ONE answer, then I’m not looking hard enough – and that could lead me to make a poor choice.
Don’t wait to enjoy your life. Really be present in the moment; the small moments as well as the big moments. But engage with the moment.
The play has many benefits: it fosters creativity, connection, culture, and confidence. Some of my best memories from childhood revolve around making up games with my friends. We weren’t worried about if we were doing it right; we were just having fun. How can we reconnect back to that spirit?
