Short and sweet for you today, have you ever heard of the FISH philosophy? Trust me, it’ll change the way you see things. Four easy steps:

Play

When it comes to approaching anything, especially in our society, we can either choose for it to be work or we can choose for it to be a bit of play. This comes from the Seattle Pike Place Market where they make a bit of a game out of selling and preparing fish for people. Instead of regular vendors and yelling about their fish, they joke around with customers, offer samples, and quite literally throw the fish around from one person to the next as a way to keep things energetic.

Not only does this remind you every day to remember to have a little fun, but it also says that you can make everything a bit of fun if you want it to be. Find a way to Play.

Make Their Day

Sure, every person you meet is just another person to walk through your life in one day. Especially when selling things, it’s easy to overlook the fact that you get a chance to really see every single one of those people. So talk to them, every one of them. Ask them how their day is and mean it, see why they came in the first place.

You have the opportunity to make someone’s day every time you speak to them. Why not use it? It doesn’t take a whole lot– as humans, we’re pretty simple. All we want is to be genuinely acknowledged. If you can do that, I think you just might make someone’s day.

Choose Your Attitude

Now this one is important because there are a whole lot of things in our lives that we don’t want to do. From working and paying taxes to bills and studying, we’re busy people. We never really stop moving. You can easily get stuck in this pattern of doing it all or going through the motions day by day without really paying any attention to it.

But if you have to do it, every single day, can’t you also choose to be positive or be the kind of person people don’t mind being around while you do? You have to choose your attitude, despite how much sleep you got or who’s in a fight with who… Attitude is everything because it starts with you. So choose yours first. The rest takes care of itself.

Be there

Lastly, you’ve got to be there. As someone who is constantly moving and rarely takes a break in my schedule, I sometimes forget that I’m supposed to be 100% there in everything I’m doing. With the students I’m mentoring, I can’t teach them properly or guide them well if I’m not paying attention to what’s going on. At work, I can’t ask a customer how their day is or tell them good luck on a midterm if I’m not present enough to remember to do so.

You’ve got to be there, for all of it. We only get one life and there’s a clock counting down somewhere just to remind all of us to not forget it.

So be there to live your life every single day. Find a way to play in everything you do, make someone’s day while you’re at it, and just be there. Okay?

Okay. Because every day I’m getting older and even though my life is pretty fast paced, I have to remember these things too. It wouldn’t be a life worth living without it.

That’s the FISH philosophy. I hope you liked it.