Three Secrets for Making the Most of Any
Tough Situation

Two weeks ago we discussed the Fun Commandment,
Play the Tough Rooms Too. This week we'll
go a bit more in depth regarding how to
make the most of your decision to follow
this Commandment in your daily life.

When I was practicing medicine full time I
had a very comfortable routine: I left my
Shelby County farm and returned home to it
at approximately the same time each day of
the week. My office schedule, medical
school teaching rotation, and rounds
schedule were uniform, week in and week
out.

You know what I'm talking about.

When I started doing the national Comedy
Caravan tour, however, in 1990 and began
speaking publicly as The Laugh Doctor, I
was suddenly thrown into deep, cold water. My
comfortable, long-cultivated routine was
turned upside down and shaken until my car
keys fell out! And, of course, I was the
only one I could blame for my shake up.

Although I had plenty of initial doubts
about the wisdom of my decisions, they were
ultimately the best moves I've ever made
professionally. I went from a long career
of a well-worn, paint-by-numbers script to
playing the tough rooms. And, due to these
experiences, I've learned to play the tough
rooms on a regular basis because it so
readily brings out excellence in me.

And it will for you too once you learn the
secrets of taking full advantage of playing
the tough rooms. While I don't advocate
you shake your world up every month, I know
that a decision to take on challenging
people and situations, as they arise, will
pay big dividends for you.

The keys to making the most of these
situations are:

1. Practice patience, mostly with
yourself. Remember one of my other Fun
Commandments, Embrace Your Defeats, because
you will surely not perform as well in your
new environment. Don't set your
expectations too high and, in turn, don't
beat up on yourself for falling short. Remember
- you're playing a tough room and,
like a comedian performing after a eulogy,
sometimes even your best efforts will
result in mere survival.

2. Enjoy the game. The result is not where
the lessons come from, the process is. The
muscle flexing at the end of your workout
isn't what builds your body, it's the
weight lifting you just did that allowed
you to flex them in the first place! Playing
the tough rooms is like spiritual
and mental weight lifting; don't focus on
admiring yourself in the mirror, focus on
the workout itself because that is where
your growth occurs!

3. Keep your eye on the prize. While the
people in the tough room you are facing
will surely forget you and your performance
rather quickly, you will benefit for a
lifetime from the new tools and skills
you'll practice. If you are always in the
same situations, you'll always use the same
skill sets. Being thrown into unfamiliar
territory allows you to use skills and
techniques which have grown rusty (or which
have never been used at all). This is
invaluable to a successful person like you.

Playing tough rooms can sometimes feel like
taking a dose of bitter medicine. But it
is a powerful medicine indeed! And, like any
dose of medicine, the pain is only
temporary.

The long term benefits of playing tough
rooms, when they arise, is a sharpened
humor nature and a keener sense of fun. You'll
be more adept at getting your fun
where you find it, rather than waiting for
a certain accomplishment or achievement to
pass. Bottom line, you'll have more energy
because you'll be having more fun.

And more energy always means more health
and more success. Please let me know how
you're using yours.

Your Attention Please!
Cori Young is a friend of ours; a member of
our Humor Being Network, Cori even has an
article published on our website (it's a
great article about science proving the
usefulness of love in child development). I'd
like you to visit Cori's website and
check out some really cool, fun stuff which
will help you be even healthier and happier than
you are now. Visit her today and take some
time to look into her great wallcharts - I
love 'em!

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