The New Year is in full swing—woohoo!

Along with our best wishes for an efficient, profitable, streamlined 2016, we want to extend what we consider a very important piece of advice … one we’re confident will transform the way you do things and create unimaginable results.

Here we go:

You know how it’s been kind of a trend over the past couple of years for people to begin the New Year by choosing a single word that will serve as kind of a compass over the course of the next 12 months?

You may be nodding your head, thinking of words like: focus, determination, perseverance, planning, organization … and all of these are great!

What if you were to consider a different word, one that may feel a bit foreign at first …

FUN.

That’s right. FUN!

Yes, planning is good. Getting organized in advance is critical. Strategy and execution matter.

At the same time, FUN should be a cornerstone in your business plan. It should be a critical partner to focus.

You know we have a story to illustrate our point. 😉

During our last big promotion, there was one day when certain components of our plan weren’t working exactly as we anticipated. I (Melinda) was in a tizzy.

Yes, the Queen of Efficiency was super-frustrated, and the more I worked on the problem, the messier it got.

I called Kate to dump my charge about the situation, hoping that by clearing out the frustration, I’d be able to focus. Of course, it didn’t work.

I admit, the fun factor was nowhere in my mind in my efforts to sort the situation out, and fast.

The next thing I know, Kate was knocking on my door.

I opened the door, and there she was, smiling, from behind a huge bouquet of flowers. Immediately, a huge smile spread across my face.

Kate came in and led me in a dance break. (Not kidding … we danced around the room like kids!)

Instantly, I began to feel so much better, even though the frustrating situation hadn’t yet changed. I felt lighter and calmer. As we danced, I felt more confident in my capacity to address the non-working components of our plan.

Being on the receiving end of Kate’s kindness—and experiencing the gratitude that came with it—gave me the idea to send all of our promoting partners a bouquet of flowers too, to thank them for helping us realize our vision this year.

Kate and I received Facebook messages, texts, and emails that included pictures of our partners with the flowers. We read stories about the positive impact our special deliveries had on their day. They reported big smiles, along with feeling lighter, happier, calmer and more focused as a result of receiving the flowers.

In the moment when Kate brought me the flowers, something very scientific, physical, and biological happened. Kate’s smile triggered my smile. The dance break (even though, at first, I wasn’t in a fun frame of mind) released a chemical called nitric oxide, which resulted in increased levels of feel-good chemicals like serotonin and beta endorphins.

High levels of nitric oxide, in turn, provided me with increased blood flow to my entire body and internal organs.

Here’s the really cool thing: whereas working harder produces adrenaline that can damage and deplete your body, fun and pleasure fuel you and allow you to tap into creativity in bigger ways, see situations from a new perspective, and develop a greater number of potential solutions!

Again, focus is critical … but it works best when it’s partnered with fun.

Don’t confuse perfectionism with professionalism – you (and your business) don’t need to be “perfect.”

Pay equal attention to focus (strategy, organization, planning, and execution) as you do to fun, and see how it changes your 2016!

Maybe right now you’re wondering HOW, with everything you do in your business, can you add the fun factor?

Think about content creation, client support, creating marketing material, launching promotions, engaging in marketing activities and so on. How can you add in the FUN FACTOR?

I have one more story for you today: I was recently at a JV summit with 112 of our colleagues, and the moderator asked for one piece of wisdom that lead to the level of growth we’ve experienced year after year.

I found myself getting onstage and sharing the story about Kate and the flowers. After I finished speaking, one of the gals in the room—who is already quite successful and is planning to generate 6 figures in her business—approached me to tell me how much she appreciated hearing my story.

She had always operated on the belief that in order to create significant success, you have to simply work hard. She was so grateful to hear my “ray of sunshine” story at that moment. It gave her new hope that she could create the success of which she dreams, in a way that felt natural … in a way that would allow her to enjoy the process, along the way.

I believe you can do the same.

Which is why, as we head full swing into 2016, Kate and I would like to encourage you to focus on FUN, and on everything it can do for your business.

We have a feeling you’re going to like it!

As always, we’d love to hear about how this works out for you, so please feel free to drop us a line on our Facebook page.

Here’s to a Happy and FUN New Year!