Grow your business and keep your sense of humour at the same time

by Karen Wessels, co-founder of SnappSales and VA Connect

There’s an age old expression that goes “Laughter is the best medicine”. You’ve probably heard this expression a hundred times, if not more, in your lifetime. I enjoy a mischievous sense of humour and I get a great kick out of laughing. If you know me or have been in my company for more than 5 minutes, you’ll experience exactly what I mean.

Have you lost your sense of humour? I hope not. I believe if you don’t laugh you’ll cry. And this is true in business situations where things can go haywire - when your day hasn’t gone according to plan; when you have a very unhappy client to deal with; where staff aren’t following instructions; or the printers misunderstood your requirements with the result that you need to wait an additional 3 days for your business cards. The list goes on. 

There really is a whole lot of meaning behind laughter being the best medicine. Laughter can increase the release of endorphins, that feel good chemical, and these endorphins promotes a general feeling of well-being. Plus, laughter increases the level of immune cells and infection-fighting antibodies, which improves your resistance to disease and is therefore one of the best medicines around. And it’s completely natural!

So what happens if you are having a really bad day, things have gone pear-shaped and beyond your control, how do you recover from that?

Here’s a few tips to help you keep your sense of humour:

1. Smile and breathe: A smile is contagious and is a great way to force any negative feelings out. Taking a deep calming breath when it really feels like things have gone for a loop will help with restoring some sanity and balance to the situation. Do these two things before reacting, otherwise, you know, you are going to overreact and possibly regret what you’re going to say next.
2. Find the humour in the situation: This is a tough one for sure. Especially if you are at boiling point. However, with practice you’ll learn to see the funny side of most things, lighten up and laugh about it.
3. Play like a child would: Children are great examples of being care-free, enjoying life and laughing often. If you keep your playful side alive throughout adulthood, because who said adults may not have fun, it won’t be such a hard task to keep the situation light-hearted.
4. Surround yourself with positive people and affirmations: Make sure your inner circle is only filled with positive people. The effects of being surrounded daily by these kinds of people will easily rub off on you. Plus, you will have access to positive affirmations throughout the day, whether it’s a friend that always has a good joke ready or positive sayings saved on your phone’s background.

Bringing it together

At the end of the day life is filled with choices and we get to choose whether we want to see the humour in a situation or not. Laughter or a sense of humour for that matter may not come easily to most, however, with practice it can be developed.

Keep laughing, keep smiling!

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Karen Wessels is the co-founder and COO of VA Connect, a South African virtual assistant platform that provides outsourced administrative support; and is also the co-founder of SnappSales, a company that generates quality sales leads for its clients. Prior to establishing both her companies, Karen spent over 10 years in different sales, marketing & admin support roles. This experience has equipped her with the invaluable skills required to run her two successful business ventures. Follow Karen on her Personal Website | Twitter | Facebook | Google+

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