Thanks to OCEAN Newsletter for sharing this article with us. You can find the original article here on Entrepreneur Asia Pacific.

— by Aytekin Tank

When he isn’t busy working on the company that changed the internet forever, Google co-founder Sergey Brin has some interesting hobbies: ultimate frisbee, springboard diving, and flying trapeze, to name a few.

The internet entrepreneur encourages his team to take up fun, physical activities, too. He’s reportedly led Google employees on bonding events at the Circus Center, a training facility in San Francisco where students learn high-adrenaline hobbies like—you guessed it—flying trapeze.

Circus sports might seem to have nothing to do with Brin’s day job, but as it turns out, they could be boosting crucial career skills. Because not only are hobbies fun ways to pass the time, they also increase our productivity, creativity, memory and mood.

But we’ve reached a point where hobbies have a bad rap—the antithesis to the grind, aka, what it takes to succeed in business. That’s why it’s important to remind ourselves of the benefits of leisure activities, as well as how to find new hobbies (if we don’t have enough already).

First, a quick look at the state of our work-fun balance.

We’re more overworked than ever, but why?

In a 1957 essay for the New York Times, Erik Barnouw observed that “the increasingly automatic nature of many jobs, coupled with the shortening workweek [leads] workers to look not to work but to leisure for satisfaction, meaning and expression.”

As work became easier, leisure became more important, a trend that would presumably continue. But since Barnouw’s article, the nature of work has shifted—from a necessity to passion—and the result is more hours at the office.

The Atlantic writer Derek Thompson explains:

“Rich, college-educated people—especially men—work more than they did many decades ago. They are reared from their teenage years to make their passion their career and, if they don’t have a calling, told not to yield until they find one.”

Instead of basking in the free time that technology has provided, some people are working longer and harder because, in their view, their work defines them.

At the same time, burnout is surging higher than ever. A recent Gallup survey of 7,500 full-time employees found that 23 percent reported feeling burned out at work very often or always, and 63 percent said they experience it sometimes.

The World Health Organization (WHO) even added burnout to its International Classification of Diseases, IDC-11,  describing it as a syndrome “resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed…”

On a higher level, burnout is taking a toll on the workforce. One study found that 95 percent of human resources leaders agreed that burnout is sabotaging retention. And Harvard Business School researchers estimated that workplace stress costs $125 to $190 billion annually—that’s 5 to 8 percent of national spending on health care.

Here’s where hobbies come in—because spending time with non-work activities that we enjoy can be the antidote to burnout and stress, plus afford us a variety of other business-related benefits. 

How your hobby can help your hustle

1. Inspiration

Every summer, I spend a few weeks on my family’s olive farm in Turkey for the annual harvest. Olive picking has no relation to my company JotForm, and nonetheless, I’ve gotten some of my best ideas during or just after my time away.

That’s because non-work activities can inspire us to look at familiar things in new ways. Consider the moon: prior to Galileo, the common thinking was that the moon’s surface was smooth. But because of Galileo’s experience with painting, where he learned how to represent 3D objects on a flat canvas, he recognized that the shadows on the moon’s face indicated that its surface was rough and mountainous.

The most innovative ideas come from gathering a wide range of perspectives and knowledge, beyond the four corners of our daily job functions.

2. Productivity

Hobbies can also increase our productivity through their restorative effect. Explains Carol Kaufman, founder and director of Harvard Medical School’s Institute of Coaching, “When you’re really engaged in a hobby you love, you lose a sense of time and enter what’s called a flow state, and that restores your mind and energy.”

By making time for fun and allowing ourselves to recover from the demands of our jobs, we return supercharged, with a renewed sense of motivation.

3. Performance

Leisure activities can have a positive impact on the critical aspects of our job performance, too. For example, reading books stimulates the brain area associated with language and intelligence. Doodling can improve memory by 29 percent.

San Francisco State University organizational psychologist Kevin Eschleman, whose research focuses on the psychological effects of creative, non-work activities, has found  that creative pursuits have a direct effect on factors such as problem-solving and helping others while on the job.

Physical activities boost our job performance also. Neuroscience research has shown that cardiovascular exercise, like jogging and biking, improves cognition and mental performance.

4. Mood

Hobbies are foolproof mood boosters. Because when you’re really engaged in an activity, you enter the flow state, which raises the levels of neurotransmitters in your brain—chemicals like endorphins, norepinephrine and dopamine that regulate your mood and relieve stress.

And as we all know, happier employees are better employees. Research by Shawn Achor, author of The Happiness Advantage, shows that happy employees are 20 percent more productive. Happier salespeople, in particular, increase sales by 37 percent.

By now, hopefully, the benefits of hobbies are inspiring you to carve out some free time in your schedule. The only thing left is deciding which hobbies to take up.

Tips for choosing a new hobby

Start small—that is, when you were small. Rediscovering the activities we enjoyed as children is an easy way to choose a hobby. It also increases the likelihood that we’re doing something for the sake of doing it, rather than because of the potential benefits.

As a child, I looked forward to olive-picking every year, and that’s why I still make time for it as an adult. Whether it’s harvesting or video games, coloring or tennis, engaging in your childhood hobbies will make you happy today.

Explained Dr. S. Ausim Azizi, chairman of the department of neurology at Temple University’s School of Medicine in Philadelphia, “When people do things that make them feel good, like a hobby, it activates an area of the brain called the nucleus accumbens that controls how we feel about life.”

Or, try an activity that taps into a completely new part of your brain. If you work with numbers and spreadsheets, consider studying a new language. If you’re constantly meeting with people, consider something that demands focused solo time, like knitting. This “cross-training” will increase your mental agility.

And make sure you select an activity that you genuinely enjoy, as that will help you get into a flow state. Ask yourself, when was the last time you were so engrossed in something that you forgot to eat? That’s the kind of activity that leads to flow.

It’s not easy to carve out time for a hobby. Doing something solely for fun may even make us feel guilty. But it’s precisely this type of non-work activity that can actually help us on the job. With restored energy and a broader perspective, we’re better equipped to hustle hard and innovate.

Find a new pastime that you love — and don’t knock the flying trapeze until you try it.

——

[Photo credit to Joseph Greve on Unsplash]

Thanks to OCEAN Newsletter for sharing this article with us. You can find the original article here on Medium.

— by Anders Cahill

“I’m a dweller of the threshold and I’m waiting at the door, and I’m standing in the darkness, I don’t want to wait no more.”

— Van Morrison

My daughter is five months old today. Five months ago, breath by laboring breath, she crossed from her mother’s womb into the bright lit world.

My nephew also turned fifteen today. He stands as tall as any man, one leg still in the wide expanse of childhood, the other stepping tentatively into the heady, hormonal kingdom of teenagers.

And I left my job today. After more than two years, I crossed from the safety net of a steady paycheck to the question mark of life on my own terms.

So, yeah, it‘s a big day for our family 🙂

“In the universe, there are things that are known, and things that are unknown, and in between them, there are doors.”

― William Blake

All these milestones have me thinking about thresholds. Those places and spaces and moments where life changes; sometimes so dramatically we have no choice but to reconfigure our selves; other times so quietly that, if we’re not paying attention, we miss the moment all together.

Much as we might try to avoid or ignore those big ones, they come for us all. The end of a relationship. The loss of a loved one. The illness that lays us low.

They’re not all scary, of course. They can be blessedly joyful too. The day my wife and I got married was one of the most beautiful days I’ve ever lived. And the moment my daughter came into the world is almost indescribable, as close as I’ve ever come to truly understanding the miracle of nature, a billion years of life, adapting, evolving, reproducing, so that a baby girl might be born in the midst of a snow storm in the early days of March 2018.

“I have a thing for doors. I always think of them as a threshold to something new.”

— Jada Pinkett Smith

Threshold moments like these, if we take the time to honor them and make sense of them, give us perspective on who we are and where we came from, and they offer clues about where we’re going next, whether we’re ready or not.

I think its those quiet transitions — the ones we have to make sure we pay attention to lest we miss them — that prepare us for the big ones. What makes a birthday different than any other day? The simple fact that we choose to stop and honor the moment. Counting from the minute of your birth, the earth has just completed another circuit around the great golden star that is our sun. And you are still alive. Still here. Still breathing.

Honoring your birthday is to honor the fact that you are here at all, when you just as easily might not have been. It is a threshold we cross year after year after year, until we cross it one last time, passing beyond the veil of knowing to whatever comes next.

If you think about it, this is true of every day we live. As Mahatma Gandhi purportedly said, “Each night, when I go to sleep, I die. And the next morning, when I wake up, I am reborn.” A threshold crossed in dreaming so that we may wake again anew.

“If peace comes from seeing the whole, then misery stems from a loss of perspective.”

— Mark Nepo

What we give our attention to grows in meaning and import. What we take for granted dwindles into the background, unnoticed, unmeasured, meaningless. The challenge today, perhaps more than at any point in human history, is the sheer glut of information we’re swimming in. There is so much to take in, so much else to take for granted. Newsfeeds and television screens and movie scenes. Errant tweets and violent screeds and crowded streets. Great works of art and grumpy cat memes, all vying for our time and attention, wondrous, terrifying, comical, insatiable, perpetual. Moment piling on top of moment, every single one staking a claim to meaning and importance.

But if every moment means the same as every other, do they mean anything at all?

“The teacher who is indeed wise does not bid you to enter the house of his wisdom but rather leads you to the threshold of your mind.”

— Khalil Gibran

Threshold moments grant us those fleeting glimpses of perspective we so desperately need to locate our selves in the midst of this deluge. The milestones we choose to mark on the road from birth to death tell the story of our life. They are the chapters and the verses, the quiet pauses and the dramatic peaks. They knit a sense of wholeness, of one overarching story, out of the countless disparate moments that make a life.

Religion, for all its failings, understands this. At its best, religion offers us the sacred gift of ritual. Of reflection. Of silence and ceremony and sanctuary. A reminder that we can be so much more then just skin and blood and bones.

But you don’t need to adhere to any particular faith to benefit from this wisdom. Arnold Van Gennep, a French anthropolgist and keen observer of human behaviour, studied ritual ceremonies from cultures across the world. In his landmark book Rites of Passage, he saw that the cultural milestones of human life differ only in the details. They are, in essence, universal.

“Life itself means to separate and to be reunited, to change form and condition, to die and to be reborn. It is to act and to cease, to wait and to rest, and then to begin acting again, but in a different way. And there are always new thresholds to cross: the threshold of summer and winter, of season or a year, of a month, of a night; the thresholds of birth, adolescence, maturity and old age; the threshold of death and that of the afterlife — for those who believe in it.”

― Arnold van Gennep

Take a breath.

Right now, at this very moment, whether you know it or not, you are standing at a threshold.

A doorway, right nearby, just out of sight. All you need to do is turn and walk through it.

The rest of your life is waiting on the other side.

——

[Photo credit to Joshua Sortino on Unsplash]

Merry Christmas from the Faith Driven Entrepreneur team! This week, we’d like to celebrate a couple things with you as Christmas is just around the corner.

First, Jon Collins was a recent guest on our podcast, and he shared some insightful things about devoting to God’s Word daily. If you haven’t heard it, here’s a link to his episode.

We also want to share with you the Bible Project Films about Christmas. Watch the Gospel of Luke’s story about the birth of Jesus below!

We’re looking forward to reflecting more on what God has done for us this year, and hearing about what God has done for you. We wish you a Christmas that is merry, restful, and fruitful!

We continue to count down the Top 100 Books for Faith Driven Entrepreneurs with…

Why Business Matters to God

by Jeff Van Duzer

You knew we weren’t going to be able to stop at 50, right?

Jeff Van Duzer grew up thinking business was the source of much damage and evil in the world, the work of greedy capitalists polluting the environment. Thirty years later he was dean of a business school.

In the course of that remarkable transformation, Van Duzer found cause for both hope and concern. He discovered many business people achieving a great deal of good for society as well as a lot of illegal and unethical behavior.

This book explores the nature and meaning of doing business and finds it calls for much more than most think. Van Duzer presents a profoundly Christian approach that integrates biblical studies with the disciplines of business and economics. Looking beyond the place of ethical principles and the character of the individual, Van Duzer displays a vision of business that contributes to the very purposes of God.

Click on the book cover to check out the Reviews and Purchase at Amazon

This content was originally published here by Phys.org.

— by Terry Goodrich (Baylor University)

Belief in the “Prosperity Gospel”—that God financially blesses faithful followers—does not turn individuals into successful entrepreneurs. But prosperity beliefs can fuel values linked to entrepreneurial thinking, such as power and achievement, according to a Baylor University study.

However, researchers found no direct relationship between prosperity beliefs and willingness to take risks, and little connection to recognizing opportunities. Risk-taking and identifying opportunities are typical traits of entrepreneurs, according to the national study.

“As revealed in our findings, a belief that God will provide financial benefit to the faithful is not enough to push someone to launch a business,” said lead author Kevin D. Dougherty, Ph.D., associate professor of sociology in Baylor’s College of Arts & Sciences. “The relationship between prosperity beliefs and starting a business is indirect and inconsistent.”

The study—”Prosperity Beliefs and Value Orientations: Fueling or Suppressing Entrepreneurial Activity”—is published in the Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion.

For the study, researchers analyzed data from a nationally representative survey of 1,066 working adults. Their goal was to connect prosperity beliefs, human values, entrepreneurial attitudes and entrepreneurial action. They found that values—both by themselves and in conjunction with religious beliefs—are important predictors of how and whether individuals might launch a business.

Participants responded to a three-item scale to measure beliefs that faith and faithful behavior lead to success at work and in business. The items included: “God promises that those who live out their faith will receive financial success;” “Believers who succeed in business are evidence of God’s promised blessing;” and “I believe faithful believers in God receive real financial benefits in this life.”

Participants also responded to questions relating to The Theory of Basic Human Values, which recognizes such universal values as openness to change, achievement, security, power and benevolence.

In general, “entrepreneurs tend to think differently than non-entrepreneurs, prizing achievement and self-direction while downplaying tradition and conformity,” said co-author Mitchell J. Neubert, Ph.D., professor of management in Baylor’s Hankamer School of Business.

Value orientations of self-enhancement and openness to change are associated with recognizing opportunities and taking risks—entrepreneurial behaviors that correlate with creating new businesses. While prosperity beliefs by themselves show little direct impact on entrepreneurship, they do influence the impact of values and attitudes related to creating a business. Prosperity beliefs can strengthen the relationship between self-enhancement values and opportunity recognition, but they seem to reduce the relationship between openness to change and willingness to take risks.

Another significant finding pertains to gender. Men and women who accept prosperity beliefs are no different in their willingness to take risks or start businesses, said co-author Jerry Z. Park, Ph.D., associate professor of sociology in Baylor’s College of Arts & Sciences. In general, risk-taking and business startups are more common among men.

The study also shows that education and experience are key predictors of entrepreneurship, but those resources may be difficult to acquire for some prosperity believers because of social and economic circumstances.

While individuals in that group have hope, it seems contingent on divine action rather than human action, Neubert said.

“Can prosperity preachers Joel Osteen and T.D. Jakes save the U.S. economy? Probably not. But nor are they damning it,” Dougherty said. “The type of positive, self-help gospel they preach can enhance specific value orientations that are related to entrepreneurial thinking and entrepreneurial behavior.”

Do you live in a city like Dallas or Houston where the prosperity gospel has a particularly strong hold? Get rooted in the truth by joining one of our Faith Driven Entrepreneur Groups. Starting soon!

——

[Special thanks to Phys.org for the cover photo]

This content was originally published here by Two Ten Magazine, the Marketplace Ministry Magazine presenting Purpose, Perspective & Perseverance.

— by Dr. Paul White

John was struggling with how to handle a difficult situation with a key vendor for the company. He went to his supervisor, Stephanie, and asked her advice on what he should do. Rather than telling him what to do, or even giving her direct input, Stephanie replied, “John, let me tell you a story…” She went on to tell a story about an experience she had early in her career and the consequences of her decision over the years.

When she was done, she paused and waited. After a few seconds of silence, John smiled and said: “Got it. Thanks.” He stood up and left the room, even though Stephanie hadn’t directly answered his question.

Most business leaders focus on data and factual information. Sales, expense reports, customer satisfaction ratings, and financial statements. As most leaders learn, accurate data is important for making good decisions. But throughout history and across cultures, communicating facts has not been the most utilized method for developing leadership qualities.

Stories have been used more than any other form of verbal expression to communicate foundational life lessons. If you read the Greek philosophers, the wisdom literature from Asia, and the literature across the centuries designed to teach guiding principles for life—the “authors” used stories grounded in daily life rather than just stating the principle (or making lists of them, as most business books and articles do today). Even Christ communicated spiritual truths repeatedly through stories and metaphors instead of just giving the principles directly.

As a psychologist who has specialized for over 25 years in exploring how people learn best, I can confidently tell you there are numerous excellent reasons why effective leaders utilize stories in their communication with their team members.

But before I give you the reasons directly, let me quickly show you the power of stories for communicating life principles effectively and the incredible staying power they have in our lives.

1. Do you remember the children’s story, The Little Engine That Could? What was the phrase that he repeated to himself over and over to help him achieve his goal? What is the main point of this story? How many years ago did you hear this story?

2. What about Aesop’s fable about the tortoise and the hare? Briefly, in your mind, outline the gist of the story. What is the main principle this story communicates?

3. How about the Back to the Future series of movies where Marty McFly and Dr. Emmett Brown are constantly trying to correct changes that occurred in the “space-time continuum?” What key life principle are these stories communicating (indirectly, but powerfully) to the viewer?

Why Stories Are So Powerful

Stories involve different parts of our brain, which makes learning (and remembering) more effective. Stories obviously involve words, but stories also bring up visual images and pictures in our mind. Also, the most effective stories involve emotionally charged situations: challenges, risks and adventure. These situations then evoke emotional responses that we either feel personally through identification, or remember similar feelings of fear, anxiety, frustration, anger, and determination. A little bit of humor, or irony, adds another element to the mix that triggers another part of our brain.

Stories are non-threatening, which keep people from not putting up their defenses. Stories are usually framed in the context of someone else (either the storyteller themself, or the fictional characters of the story). Since the story is not about me and usually communicated in an informal style for the purpose of entertainment, then most listeners start out with an “open” mindset.

We often identify with one or more of the characters, and we can easily relate their experiences and reactions to our daily lives. If a reader (or listener) has no personal connection with any of the characters in the story, then the person will probably not be very interested in the story, or it will have little instructional value to them, since it will have little personal relevance for them. (Think about a story from another culture or time period where you really don’t understand what is going on.)

We see other characters that represent people in our lives (which gives us insight into them and why we react to them the way we do.) Some stories have characters with whom we don’t personally relate, but they remind us of others in our lives. The characters’ reactions often then provide us insights into those in our daily lives—why they do what they do—or showing us the strengths associated with character qualities that we may find irritating.

We are able to learn from others’ experiences (in contrast to having to go through the full experience ourselves) and can observe different options for handling challenging situations and people. One of the core benefits of stories is that they allow us to learn from others vicariously, rather than learning how to handle difficult situations by having to experience them all ourselves. Additionally, we are able to hear how someone else may handle a situation than we would ourselves and see how their choices “play out,” without having to personally experience the consequences.

Some difficult messages can be communicated indirectly through stories, and are less offensive than when stated directly. By their nature, stories communicate messages indirectly, which allows some “hard truths” or even potentially offensive messages to be sent to the audience that wouldn’t be acceptable if the same message were stated directly. Stereotypes of generations or various personality types are typical examples. Mark Twain, and even Jesus were quite effective using stories in this manner.

Stories are easier to remember and communicate to others than facts and principles. Because of their use of imagery, the flow of the storyline, identification with the characters, and the involvement of our emotions, we are able to remember the gist of a story more easily than remembering pure factual information. Additionally, we are able to quickly tell the main points of a story and the lesson it teaches in a way that is easily understood by others.

Tips for Telling Stories

Some people are natural storytellers—they just “do it.” People listen to them, laugh, and enjoy hearing their stories. For the rest of us, we need to work at it a bit. Otherwise, our stories seem to fall flat, with little impact on our listeners, and sometimes there is just an awkward silence when we finish. So here are some tips for learning to tell effective stories.

Where to Get Your Stories

There are several sources for stories but the best one is your life. You’ve gone through some situations that were challenging, hair-raising, and funny. You were there, so it is easy for you to remember. Some personal experiences and the stories that flow from that have to do with direct life experience. You were there, felt the feelings, know what the dangers were and how you felt when you got through the situation. Other experiences are more indirect. You were there, but it was someone else going through the situation, and you watched what happened (Think about your parents while you were growing up, situations with your children, trips with friends, etc.).

A second treasure trove of stories are those told by others. This can include stories told by friends and family, stories told by authors in books, or the situations created and demonstrated in movies and TV shows (by the way, movies are the modern cultural equivalent of orally told stories in past cultures). YouTube videos also provide good visual short stories. Note that trying to retell a story you’ve heard told by a friend can be difficult to tell effectively to others (especially if you only heard it once).

Practical Suggestions

When telling a story, start by giving the context and setting (the “setup”) for what happens in the story. This is critical. Some people start into a story without giving the listeners any clues about the background of the story or what the overall context is. Next, share the main character’s perspective on what is going on—how did they see the situation? What were they feeling? This heightens the interest and energy level. Then, make sure you get the sequence right. Not much “kills” a story more quickly than the storyteller having to go back and correct themselves (“No, that’s not right.”) about what happened and when. Clearly describing the challenge or dilemma (along with the person’s feeling response) is the next critical step.

Make sure your listeners know what the problem is that the character is facing, and their emotional response to the situation. Tell what decision was made or the action chosen, and then describe the result and its on impact you and the others in the situation. Sometimes listeners miss an important part of the story or the context and need to be told exactly what happened and why it was important. If needed, tell the lesson you learned. In many stories, this is obvious, but sometimes the lesson you learned is important to delineate.

Watch and observe effective leaders and influencers. They often are excellent at communicating through stories. Think about life experiences that have impacted you, and start to tell stories to teach important lessons to those you are leading.

——

[Special thanks to Two Ten Mag for the cover photo]