Conquer Your Inner Critic through Play with Jeff Harry

While play sounds like the thing we have Kindergarteners do for their social skills, it is actually a surprisingly fun and simple way for adults to improve creativity and productivity. That’s why episode 56 of The Positively Living Podcast is about conquering your inner critic through play!

Today we’re talking about a surprisingly fun and simple way to improve your creativity and productivity. The answer is play. And while play sounds like the thing you need to have Kindergartners do for their social skills, I promise you we need it as adults and entrepreneurs, now more than ever. My guest Jeff Harry helps us understand why and what to do about it..

Jeff combines positive psychology and play to help teams and organizations navigate difficult conversations and assist individuals in addressing their biggest challenges through embracing a play-oriented approach to work. For his work, Jeff was selected by BambooHR & Engagedly as one of the Top 100 HR Influencers of 2020 and has been featured in the NY Times, Mashable, Upworthy, & Shondaland. Jeff has worked with Google, Microsoft, Southwest Airlines, Adobe, the NFL, Amazon, and Facebook, helping their staff to infuse more play into the day-to-day.

I discovered Jeff through funny videos he shares on social media. He wears a pink troll wig in many of them and uses silly skits and lip syncing to share profound messages. I found out today that it’s his way of having fun and priming his own productivity for the day, which is so fitting for our discussion and this show. Jeff helps us uncover what play does to our brains to open up creativity and release perfectionism. We touch upon many of the topics covered on the podcast including Toxic Positivity, Trauma, Authenticity, Fear, Change, and Humor.

I’ll link to those episodes in the show notes and encourage you to listen to those as a foundation for our chat. We cover a lot of ground in this one so be sure to listen for 1) how your brain responds to play — Jeff drops some amazing science, per my request — 2) a funny and effective way to deal with your inner critic, It’s not only hysterical – it really works! You have to try it! and 3) a three-step process to rediscover your play. Now let’s join Jeff. This is gonna be a good one!

You can truly heal the world through play so it’s time to ask yourself if you are ready to show up for yourself and do that thing that makes you come most alive. (And if you are, we are here cheering you on!)

Thank you for listening! Be sure to tune in to all the episodes to receive tons of practical tips to create space for what really matters in your life.

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