“I began to realize how important it was to be an enthusiast in life.”
~Roald Dahl

It’s snowing outside. Snowing hard. It’s another snow day and my son literally shouted with joy when he woke up and found out. He is an enthusiast, at least for some things!

Watching his excitement, and the fervor with which he invites five friends over to play snow football, reminds me that enthusiasm really does matter. We seem to have so much enthusiasm when we’re young, especially for things like snow days and no school, but we seem to let our enthusiasm wane as we grow older. I think we need to reverse that trend.

We recently posted about recognition and offering praise, and received a comment from a reader that read, “The motivational power of recognition is widely known, but not widely practiced.” That is very true about motivation – and it’s true of enthusiasm as well. No one questions the positive power of enthusiasm, but how often do we bring enthusiastic energy to the workplace? Perhaps if we started being enthusiasts at work – for our team, our colleagues, our projects, and all the work well done – we’d get even better results from nearly everyone and everything around us.

If we found, and voiced, our excitement perhaps we’d get other people more excited. Perhaps we’d be even more excited ourselves. If we led with enthusiasm, spoke with enthusiasm, and listened with enthusiasm, maybe we’d not only have a better time at work, but also be more successful. And help others be more successful as well.

And perhaps our home lives can also benefit from a bit more enthusiasm. Sometimes we seem to take those we live with for granted, and we forget to appreciate all that we have. Perhaps if we (okay, if I) allowed ourselves a bit more excitement for our daily lives, our daily lives would seem less mundane and more exciting.

I think I’m going to be an enthusiast in my work and my life. I think I’m going to start with a shout of “Yea” for the snow day. Or at least for the beauty of the snow.

How do you express your enthusiasm?
Please leave a comment.

If you enjoyed this post, you can read more like it in our book, The Power of Thoughtful Leadership: 101 Minutes To Being the Leader You Want To Be, available on Amazon.


For support in becoming more of an enthusiast, contact Robyn at rmcleod@chatsworthconsulting.com.

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