10 Tips to live + work better

The Good Life + Work Project 10 tips to live + work better

Three years ago, I read, Think Like an Artist, a book that helped to connect a lot of my creative dots and provided the creative spark for the Good Life + Work project. 

Rereading the book recently, it took me back to one of my first consulting projects, and a piece of art hanging on a boardroom wall, entitled How to Work Better (Fischli & Weiss); like any good creative, I stole the concept, using it to disrupt my thinking on life and work. 

What follows owes its creative inspiration to the work of Gompertz (2015), and I encourage you to read his book. 

The Good Life + Work Project's ten tips to live + work better 

Good Life + Work Project | 10 Tips to Live + Work Better

1. Do more of what you love every day

2. Know the opportunity

3. Learn to listen

4. Learn to ask good questions

5. Distinguish sense from nonsense

6. Shape change: learn to unlearn

7. Be trusting & trustworthy

8. Say it simple

9. Be passionate

10. Smile

The Good Life + Work Project's ten tips to live + work by

• Do more of what you love: Once you discover what you love to be, everyday life can become a source of stimulation.

• Know the opportunity: Spend too much time on the fine detail, and you will get lost, but if you only think about the big picture you won't create or connect to anything.

• Listen: Life needs you to pay attention to prompts, to listen to your feelings and instincts and those of others.

• Ask questions: Questioning does not make life more difficult. Rather it brings an opportunity for clarity and brevity and purity to your direction.

• Sense & nonsense: Ideas that are born out of ignorance are invariably weak and most often useless.

• Shape change: Your mind should always stand ajar, ready to welcome new experience. (Emily Dickinson, adapted)

• Trust: To live life to the full, you have to continually be jumping off cliffs and developing your wings on the way down. (Kurt Vonnegut, adapted)

• Say it simple: As is so often the case in life and work, simplification is the answer

• Be passionate: To love life, you have to be passionate about something.

• Smile: One tiny dab of colour can radically change the appearance of the darkest of days.

Insights: be aware of the opportuities created by your limitations

As a leader or manager, you need to be aware of the skills you need to motivate and develop a high-performing team.

To help, we have designed an Insight Space to help discover and develop opportunities in your skillset.

We also show you how to use awareness and understanding of who you are, and what brings you a good life, to improve engagement, productivity, engagement, wellbeing and creativity as part of our Good Workshops programme. Get in touch if you would like to know more.

Dr David Griffiths & Julie Hayward