Robin Shear joins us on the podcast to talk all about joy. She is a joy coach that focuses on helping people find their passion and happiness in the work place. From figuring out what your passions are too having refreshing moments during the day, it is so important to find what makes you happy and driven in your every day life.

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Full transcription below:

[00:00:00] Robin: [00:00:00] But if I'm not feeling like myself, I'm just not really on my game and feeling like my whole normal stuff. I'll take a look at my list of joys. And I'll see, gosh, I haven't moved in a week. I'm sitting at my desk eight hours a day, 12 hours a day and not doing anything. Of course, this is why I feel like this.

 

Keerstyn: [00:00:36] welcome to the podcast, Robin. I really excited that you're here today to talk a little bit more about what you do. Can you just give us a brief intro of how you got involved in your work and what you do now for your clients?

Robin: [00:00:49] Hi Kiersten. It's so much fun to be here. brief intro basically 

Keerstyn: [00:00:53] goes like 

Robin: [00:00:53] this. I'm one of those people who would just can't quite fit you're out what I want to be when I grow up. And no, I have changed [00:01:00] careers many times and totally loved each of my callings. And. I got to a point where I realized I've been coaching all along unofficially and several people pointed that out and said, you really ought to check this out.

And finally, the time came when I thought, okay, maybe I should listen to these folks. And I'm so glad that I did, because it really was, allows me to just do what was natural, but in a more constructive way, and just really reach people wherever they are and help them, figure out. What do they want?

let's just slow down a little bit and dream and let's throw some fun into the mix. I feel know the world is just a really demanding, really difficult place and we don't slow down often enough just to dream and have fun and play. So my focus is really joy and helping people live more joyfully while they're doing all this great stuff that they want to do.

Keerstyn: [00:01:55] Yeah, absolutely. What are some of those. Problems that your [00:02:00] clients come to you with that they, obviously they might be overworked or they might not be enjoying their career anymore, but what are some of those bigger issues they, end up having that you help them 

Robin: [00:02:11] navigate through? Yeah. you definitely named some big ones.

I work with a lot of people who are very driven. these are people who are all about accomplishing things and doing wonderful things that contribute to the wellbeing of so many others. But what is the common denominator with my clients as they pour into everyone else and do it.

Gladly, willingly, but they don't pour into themselves. they just really, they have a very active to do list and they are never on it, or if they are on their own to do list or at the very bottom. And so often they're, they're ignoring the fact that they have needs too. And that it's, it's their responsibility to meet their needs.

Also just feels good to meet their needs there. So about everybody else. [00:03:00] So a lot of people are burned out. a lot of people really are disconnected with the people that matter the most to them because they are so driven. I have a lot of parents in my network who are very involved in their kids' lives.

they're committed to doing all these things for their kids, but they don't even know them. Because they're so busy serving them. They don't slow down to connect with them. So that's a really common denominator. Yeah. Yeah. 

Keerstyn: [00:03:27] It sounds a lot like even a manager to employee relationship in terms 

Robin: [00:03:31] of 

Keerstyn: [00:03:32] you, you're serving them and you're helping them grow, but then the relationship aspect is just missing.

So that. that often makes so many issues down the road and, bigger problems than what we have believed for sure. 

Robin: [00:03:47] You're still like Kiersten. And think, employers, they do the best that they can, they go to school and they, they implement all these fantastic strategies and those are all well and good.

But what you said, I think really hits the nail on the head. [00:04:00] We want to be known. We want to be in relationship and, we want to feel like our contributions matter and that people get who we are and. I don't think that a lot of managers really appreciate the beauty and just knowing the people on their team on a personal level.

you don't have to hang out with them and yeah. Do life every day after work, but just to know what matters. So the people on your team and who are they as individuals outside of what they're contributing to your organization, those folks who feel known and who feel valued and who feel a sense of joy and happiness at work.

Those are the people who are going to stick with you for the long run. Those are the people who are not going to turn over or call in sick. Those are the people who are going to be productive and really excited to contribute. There's a lot of good. And knowing your team. Yeah, 

Keerstyn: [00:04:52] absolutely. What are some of those, Things that you help people get through.

So obviously they come to you with they're burnt out. They're [00:05:00] not investing in themselves. They're not building relationships with their people. What are some of the strategies that you walk them through in terms of getting back to those relationships and investing in yourself and having emotions are, deeper within 

Robin: [00:05:18] kind of thing.

it's such a good question. I think it really has to start with, does this person even understand what joy is? are we confusing, happiness and joy? Which so often is the case. they both make us feel so great. But happiness tends to be very short term and it goes away when the circumstances change.

And what I want to do is cultivate a sense of joy that is lasting, that can withstand whatever garbage life is going to bring, because it's going to happen, right? If you want perfection, you're going to have to wait until later we, this is a broken world and we need to know how to be resilient within this world that we live in.

And I really want my clients from the very beginning to know. What [00:06:00] joy is. And then what brings them joy on a personal level. Cool. And then this is so fascinating because everyone I talked to has such a different list, such a different bunch of answers, and I love the mystery of it. And.

Sometimes, my clients have no idea. They come to me, they are so committed to everybody else. And if I ask them what brings you joy, they cannot answer the question. And so that's what I'm there for, to really help coach them into a place of it's okay. To dream a little. and it's okay to think about yourself sometimes for the very first time, they tend to show up with guilt and it's so interesting because.

No guilt is the emotion that goes hand and hand with wrong. Doing. And there is nothing wrong with slowing things down and meeting your needs. There's nothing to be ashamed of, nothing to feel guilty about. So we do a lot of work around that, and then we really take a look at the different areas of a [00:07:00] person's life, on a scale of one to 10, how would you rate the joy level of your career?

Say, do you jump out of bed just so happy that you get to do what you do. Would you do it for free because you love it so much? Or what about the joy level of your growth and learning? so many of us, when we're in school, we're all about learning. And then when we get into our jobs, we forget.

Yeah, how great it feels to learn just for the fun of it. Things that actually, we want learn, right? Not the stuff at school makes you learn, like what are you learning about? How was that making you the best version of yourself? What number would you say? you would give for that.

And if I asked you that question, what would you say Kiersten? 

Keerstyn: [00:07:40] Yeah, that's a hard one. I would probably be at an eight or nine right now, but obviously it's a seven or a five because, things are thrown at, employees and managers and leaders. And that's the hard part of, and like you said, it's happiness versus joy.

I was going to ask you what your definition of joy [00:08:00] is. Specifically. 

Robin: [00:08:02] Yeah, that's a great question. And everyone has a different definition and I'll have to tell you, I do not agree with Webster's definition and that's okay. they may be right. And I could be aware of Facebook. What I have found is that joy to me is this inner effervescence for life.

it is a, it's a state of being, it's not a reaction to. What comes at us in life. It's not circumstantial. It's just how we do life. It's how we see things. And joy is lasting and it's a rich, beautiful part of how to do life. I know that I went all over the place with that definition.

How would you define joy? Have you ever thought about it? Yeah, 

Keerstyn: [00:08:50] that's a hard one. I would agree with you in some of those ways. I think that it's a bigger happiness obviously is short term and [00:09:00] it can also be longterm though. And I think that is exactly what joy is in terms 

Robin: [00:09:03] of 

Keerstyn: [00:09:04] consistently being excited and motivated and finding happiness and pretty much everything that you do.

for sure. that's a very interesting definition that I'm glad that you said that. 

Robin: [00:09:18] because I do, 

Keerstyn: [00:09:19] I think that people really struggle with knowing exactly what that actually means. yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. So if someone were to come to you just like struggling to find happiness and what they do, 

Robin: [00:09:34] and, 

Keerstyn: [00:09:35] Just struggling to find joy and like just being drained by pretty much everything in their life, what would be the first thing that you would recommend them to do?

Robin: [00:09:44] the first thing, and this would work very well for anybody listening today is really just to give thought to. As an individual, what brings joy to you and using the definition that I gave, something that's lasting, right? So [00:10:00] let's not rely on things that a hurricane could roll in and wipe out.

Let's look at the things that are still going to be present. So these are usually. Deeper more contemplated types of things. So I, I can get you started. So it might be something like gratitude, a pandemic can roll in and gratitude can not be taken from you. So finding things that you're thankful for actively and expressing gratitude might be a real driver for you.

A real source of joy. Another one. Might be movement, which I'm saying from personal experience, when my body's in motion, I'm a different human and whether it's hitting a punching bag or riding my bike 40 miles, or, just dancing in the kitchen with my cat, but just moving, it just.

It feels good to feel good. And movement is something that really brings joy or relationships. we've talked about the beauty of relationships and these can be, you could pour effort into the really relationships of the people that are in your family. You [00:11:00] can really connect with people that are brand new to you and find commonality.

Find some kind of shared experience that, makes you a lot less different. There's so much goodness in that, it's not, helping someone to just get started, begins with what floats your boat and what are you doing about it? because I can sit here and say all day, that movement makes me feel great.

But if I'm not feeling like myself, I'm just not really on my game and feeling like my whole normal stuff. I'll take a look at my list of joys. And I'll see, gosh, I haven't moved in a week. I'm sitting at my desk eight hours a day, 12 hours a day and not doing anything. Of course, this is why I feel like this.

So having a list, adding to it as things come up and they will and making it visible. Put it on your phone, make it your, like your lock screen so that every time your phone, like you see, Oh gosh, these are the things that bring me joy. And I haven't done anything about any of these [00:12:00] things. I need to write my grandma a letter or whatever it is, but just being mindful of it and making space for these things.

That's the first place. Yeah, 

Keerstyn: [00:12:10] absolutely. that's key, honestly. And I know that I even forget about some of these things like moving or I'm going on a run or cooking or whatever it is. It's hard, especially with this work from home, lifestyle, that's pretty much impacted the entire world. I know that.

it's hard to be able to shift your mind from working to your home life. And what does that all look like and how do we, embrace that and still be joyful and have gratitude around that? 

What are some of the things that you have specifically been telling people during this COVID-19 time and working from home and adjusting at rapid fire, so to speak?

Obviously they might be very similar to what you just said, but, we have to adjust somehow. So 

Robin: [00:12:58] you're right. And that's such a great [00:13:00] question. And the first thing that I ask people to do is when is the last time you played. Yeah, because think about this, we have gone from like full speed at, an office or a setting somewhere to full speed at home.

And the level of adjustment we have had to make to do that successfully is absolutely tremendous. And it required so much more, I think, than many of us realized. And we didn't. So often leave time to play. And I'm a child at heart, I'm not childish, but I am very childlike. And this idea of seeing life through this lens of awe and wonder, Oh, it's not going anywhere.

I might be middle-aged and have kids in my twenties, but I am like so into playing and I would encourage anybody to be like that. And the word that resonates with me that I've used with all these people who are working from home. Is recess. do you remember what it was like to be in elementary school and during one more history [00:14:00] lesson, watching the clock, just waiting for them or ring, and we just grab our coats and run outside as fast as we could.

Why are we not doing that now? Yeah, the mans that we're under with COVID-19 are so tremendous. If you can set an alarm, that's only five minutes long, it will do wonders for your soul. Go outside and play for five minutes or do something in your house for five minutes. Do it every day for a week. And I guarantee you're going to have a different outlook on the rest of your day.

And you're going to look forward to that bell going off just like an elementary school. Yeah, 

Keerstyn: [00:14:41] absolutely. That's such a great idea too. And just to put a break in your work, I know that I've found that sometimes it's just 

Home and work have become one big blob and it's hard to separate yourself. And so that's a great idea to be able to just set time aside to, [00:15:00] play literally or go in your yard or go on a walk around your neighborhood or whatever it might be just to get your mind outside of, your workflow and, Just to refresh yourself for even five minutes or 30 seriously or 

Robin: [00:15:15] 30 right.

30 would be so much better, but I didn't think anybody would agree to it. I'd be so happy if they did things right, but just play accomplish nothing. I think that's the thing, whatever. Whatever that period of time looks like for you. You know what feels good? Do that, but do not accomplish anything, intentionally stop accomplishing stuff.

I think we are like nose to the grindstone all the time. Now that we're at home. And like you said, it is. So hard to separate our work life from our personal life. and that is so necessary. We could go on all day about how necessary that is. But if you've got this little five minute window to accomplish nothing, [00:16:00] Your nose better not be to the grindstone during those five minutes, the grindstone doesn't exist.

What is it put on Bruno Mars in the kitchen, or, take your dog for a quick walk or do jumping jacks, or just lay down and look at the clouds and get lost in how incredibly amazing they are. And they've been there all along. And what a gift you've given yourself, just noticing that they exist.

Yeah, 

Keerstyn: [00:16:25] absolutely. That's such a good idea. Do you have a story about how someone has really just shifted their mindset has come to you with this just drained mind. 

Robin: [00:16:37] What'd you like to share that old man? Come on. How long do you have? Okay, so one of my, one of my clients is working out in Silicon Valley and, being that all my coaching is online.

And as on zoom, like I have the blessing of knowing people in so many times zones. And so I'm in the East coast and she's in the West coast. And. she [00:17:00] is she's in the software world. she's in the space of where health and software come together and it is a very active space. Let's put it like that.

She will never get her to do list checked off. it is just an average, very intense state of being, and, she is taken a toll. There is no question. And she is also working from home. And she has had a real difficult time separating work and home and downtime and play time. And what she has discovered is that here she is.

And in my opinion, one of the most beautiful parts of the United States working so hard, she hasn't even appreciated the fact that there is an ocean. Just blocks from her home. And so she has begun to recognize that being in the presence of the ocean without even being in the water, just being near, it does things for her.

And so she's began to schedule time. Yeah. Just to go and [00:18:00] be on the shore, soak up all that goes with being near the water. And she's taken up surfing, which is its side now. And just having a complete blast, learning how to surf and I'm hearing all these great stories of all the fun that she's having. But what was really interesting was, when we first started to work together, All she could talk about with how burdened she was, how little time she had, all this stuff on her plate, which we can all relate to.

And this concept of me saying take recess was just like, Oh my gosh, I don't have five minutes, but. When she began to try and she began to walk to the ocean and it was like a five minute commitment. She recognized that just doing that made her so much more productive and focused when she got back into home and she got back into doing and software development.

She had so much more to give because she had refilled her joy bucket. She had an empty. Joy bucket. It was all about work. And suddenly she's putting these beach experiences under the [00:19:00] joy bucket and she's realizing, wow, this is like the fuel that I needed. And yeah, the time that she didn't have suddenly became very much so available and these breaks got a little bit longer and a little bit more frequent and she's still got all of her work done.

And then some, because there's research on this and it's so interesting. They say that people who are joyful at work are 12%. More productive. And at first I looked at that and I thought 12%, like I would've thought it would have been so much higher, but then when I was thinking about, okay, if the average person does, let's say 50 tasks in a day, which I'm sure is really on the low side, but for easy math, 12%, you're talking six more things that you're getting done.

So on an average Wednesday, if you normally do 50 things and you're joyful, you have just gotten six of Thursday's things done before Thursday even gets here, simply because you're focusing on joy. Yeah, 

Keerstyn: [00:19:59] that's [00:20:00] huge, especially 

Robin: [00:20:01] for the 

Keerstyn: [00:20:02] employee engagement perspective of things. you're way more engaged obviously, and you're excited again.

And. you're passionate about your work because you actually feel refreshed and rejuvenated and that's so important to remember. And I think that, especially now, we haven't forgetting that. Yeah. Quite often. I know I have, yeah. The first three months was like, alright, I need to go do this. and even if it's scheduling it on your calendar, like a work task, 

Robin: [00:20:32] I think that's 

Keerstyn: [00:20:33] a important step to take in order to make sure that it actually happens.

And that. you're actually making a commitment to it. if that's the right stuff to take for you. Absolutely. That's awesome. I'm so glad to hear that she is now thriving and is. 

Robin: [00:20:50] Way 

Keerstyn: [00:20:50] more joyful and, taking up surfing and doing all these fun things and 

Robin: [00:20:56] still getting her job done and loving it. I think it's making her more [00:21:00] resilient and I really think that's what it's about.

the demands don't go anywhere, you know that we still have to do all this stuff. we have more to do it with, we can jump into it with, enthusiasm and, optimism, as opposed to just feeling like we're just dragging tail through the day. It makes such a huge difference and she added yoga.

That's another thing. The scroll was too busy to take five minutes as added surfing beach walks and yoga and is just killing life. Yeah, 

Keerstyn: [00:21:28] I believe it. I believe that for sure. That's awesome. I'm so glad to hear that. And I'm so glad to hear that. she was able to make those steps in the right direction to be able to invest in herself and her mental health and her wellbeing.

Absolutely. That's awesome. 

Robin: [00:21:43] Cool. Little bit goes a long way. 

Keerstyn: [00:21:45] Yes, absolutely. If, so Robin, if people want to invest in their own life, through you, what are some good ways to, either reach out to you or, get connected to you? 

Robin: [00:21:58] Yeah, I so appreciate you [00:22:00] asking I'm working on all kinds of fun things.

It's all part of my world domination plan, and just want to take the world over with joy one person at a time. So 

Keerstyn: [00:22:08] the 

Robin: [00:22:09] best way to get in on that, there are a couple of things. my website, yeah. Is probably the easiest resource. It is joy to the world, coaching that come. And when people go to joy to the world, coaching.com, if they hang out for a little while, This magical box will appear that will invite them into my free Facebook group.

And that's a place where I interact daily with the members of this group and it's private. And what I love about it is that we've got almost 500 people from around the world who post in the group, what brings them joy today, what they noticed, what they're thankful for. And. It is just so contagious.

Like when I read that a guy in India, I had a beautiful conversation with another person on the street. I'm so blessed by that. And I want to go meet people on his street. You cannot help, but just get sucked [00:23:00] into it and focus on living more joyfully. if they go on my website, they'll get invited into that.

They will also get a couple of posts a month. I've got a blog that I write, That's free. And so a one, one form gets you both the Facebook group and the posts. I'm on LinkedIn. They can connect with me there. I've got courses that I'm developing, a year long program that I'm in the process of putting together.

I just want to make it easy for people. So got lots of coaching programs, but yeah, I just want to know people. Yeah. I want to pour joy into them because I know that they're not going to keep it to themselves. They're going to pour it into other people. Awesome. 

Keerstyn: [00:23:36] I am going to go join that Facebook group and do that.

the show notes have the access to that and where to go from there. 

Robin: [00:23:44] so yeah. Awesome. 

Keerstyn: [00:23:45] Do you have any final thoughts Robin, before we, depart for the day? 

Robin: [00:23:49] I think my final thought is to just really encourage people to take a look at this day. You've got this day, you're listening right now.

Take a look at the day that's before [00:24:00] you and ask yourself, when will I play today? Okay, what am I going to do with my five? It's a recess. Put that thing on your phone serve you. You will not regret it. It's an easy one. 

Keerstyn: [00:24:16] Awesome. Cool. thank you so much for all of your knowledge around joy and how we can start investing in our personal selves and professional selves in order to be more productive, but also, the merger I fall.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank 

Robin: [00:24:30] you for having me. I love being with you today and I just wish you all the best with your podcast. I love what you're doing. I'm still thankful that you're doing what you're doing. Kiersten.