1444: I Was A Zombie And Addicted To Netflix by Stella Grizont of Woopaah on Career Success

[00:00:00] [SPEAKER_00]: This is Optimal Work Daily. I Was A Zombie And Addicted To Netflix by Stella Grizont of woopaah.com.

[00:00:10] [SPEAKER_00]: With all this talk of being happier at work over at workhappinessmethod.com,

[00:00:15] [SPEAKER_00]: I thought I'd share with you some personal inspiration, my own misery at work. Prior

[00:00:20] [SPEAKER_00]: to launching Woopaah, I spent nearly 10 years in brand strategy. I was paid to listen to

[00:00:29] [SPEAKER_00]: sell to them. I didn't find that very meaningful, but I learned a ton. To be precise,

[00:00:35] [SPEAKER_00]: I learned a lot about being miserable at work. I've had many moments of crying in the ladies' room,

[00:00:40] [SPEAKER_00]: feeling lost and confused, which have inspired the kind of trainings you've been hearing about

[00:00:45] [SPEAKER_00]: in the workhappiness method. So, I got myself out of there. If I couldn't be happy,

[00:00:49] [SPEAKER_00]: I didn't want to be there. I decided to dedicate my hard-won business skills to helping

[00:00:54] [SPEAKER_00]: women entrepreneurs, and I coached over 1200 women entrepreneurs in designing the career

[00:00:59] [SPEAKER_00]: and life of their dreams. While this work was extremely meaningful, I got burned out and

[00:01:05] [SPEAKER_00]: realized, hmm, passion alone isn't enough. That's when I decided to go back to school

[00:01:10] [SPEAKER_00]: to study the science of happiness and launch Woopaah. In my first year of business,

[00:01:15] [SPEAKER_00]: I had amazing clients, was excited to be working for myself and generated a ton of buzz,

[00:01:20] [SPEAKER_00]: and I felt like I had found my purpose, helping people be happier at work and living better lives.

[00:01:26] [SPEAKER_00]: Sounds pretty good, right? But the behind-the-scenes truth wasn't so pretty.

[00:01:30] [SPEAKER_00]: You see, I developed a huge Netflix addiction. I mean, when I wasn't working,

[00:01:35] [SPEAKER_00]: I was on the couch watching marathons of Frasier and 30 Rock. Seriously, I became a

[00:01:39] [SPEAKER_00]: zombie. Why? Well, in hindsight, I can see it was because I didn't want to admit something

[00:01:44] [SPEAKER_00]: myself. I didn't want to hear what my heart was telling me. You see, when I launched Woopaah,

[00:01:50] [SPEAKER_00]: in addition to consulting, training and coaching, our main offering was immersive play experiences

[00:01:55] [SPEAKER_00]: for teams. We literally had people splash around in paint and scream in the back of

[00:02:00] [SPEAKER_00]: moving trucks to let out their stress. I 100% believed in the idea. The experiences truly

[00:02:06] [SPEAKER_00]: transformed people. But I dreaded doing them. I hated lugging buckets of paint across

[00:02:11] [SPEAKER_00]: Manhattan and driving 16-foot moving trucks around the city. I loved the impact of the work.

[00:02:17] [SPEAKER_00]: I loved helping people. It truly felt aligned with my purpose, but I didn't enjoy the process

[00:02:22] [SPEAKER_00]: in which I was achieving my results. That's when I learned that how you do your work is

[00:02:27] [SPEAKER_00]: just as important as the reason you're doing it. Just like your passion isn't enough,

[00:02:32] [SPEAKER_00]: your personal mission, aka your purpose, isn't enough either. Here I was, a happiness expert

[00:02:38] [SPEAKER_00]: and a woman who coached 1200 entrepreneurs on how to build thriving businesses,

[00:02:42] [SPEAKER_00]: but I had stopped going after new clients and repeatedly let go of amazing business

[00:02:47] [SPEAKER_00]: opportunities because I preferred to watch Netflix. What gives? Why was I so stuck?

[00:02:53] [SPEAKER_00]: What was the thing I didn't want to admit to myself? Here's the deal.

[00:02:57] [SPEAKER_00]: I was afraid of letting go of my vision of success. You see, I invested over three years

[00:03:03] [SPEAKER_00]: savings in developing these immersive play experiences. I had a big vision for how we

[00:03:08] [SPEAKER_00]: were going to change the world. I told everyone about it. I took risk after risk in launching

[00:03:13] [SPEAKER_00]: this company. It wasn't just my time, money and energy. It was also my reputation on the line.

[00:03:19] [SPEAKER_00]: I was making myself miserable because I thought I had to make it work. But somewhere in that

[00:03:24] [SPEAKER_00]: foggy land between depression and numbness, I had a realization. I knew something had to change.

[00:03:29] [SPEAKER_00]: So I employed a rigorous process of self-reflection, which I'm actually going to be teaching later this

[00:03:35] [SPEAKER_00]: fall in an eight week workshop. Then I hired a coach because I knew I needed to have support and

[00:03:40] [SPEAKER_00]: be held accountable in order to make this change. I wasn't going to be able to let this

[00:03:44] [SPEAKER_00]: go alone. I gave myself time to mourn my vision because even though I was miserable,

[00:03:50] [SPEAKER_00]: it was still hard to let that vision go. And I employed the strategies I teach my clients.

[00:03:54] [SPEAKER_00]: Now I am happier than ever. My revenues are up 300% over last year. I have more flexibility in

[00:04:01] [SPEAKER_00]: my schedule than ever. My husband and I host dinners with our friends several nights a week.

[00:04:05] [SPEAKER_00]: So my sense of community is richer than ever. And there's a picture from last week here in the

[00:04:10] [SPEAKER_00]: post. I have a great workout routine and I feel like I'm taking good care of my body.

[00:04:15] [SPEAKER_00]: I regularly am inspired by my clients and say out loud, I'm so grateful to get paid to do

[00:04:21] [SPEAKER_00]: what I do. I am flourishing in a deep way. I share my story to show you that being happy at work

[00:04:27] [SPEAKER_00]: isn't something that just happens. Our path to finding the work and life that make us happy

[00:04:32] [SPEAKER_00]: isn't always direct, and it doesn't always end up looking like what we thought it would.

[00:04:36] [SPEAKER_00]: Being happy takes courageously looking inward and asking yourself,

[00:04:40] [SPEAKER_00]: what do I really want? And then you have to be willing to change your mind and accept yourself

[00:04:45] [SPEAKER_00]: no matter where you are. You just listened to the post titled I was a zombie and addicted

[00:04:54] [SPEAKER_00]: to Netflix by Stella Grisant of WUPA.com. This show is sponsored by BetterHelp. We're all

[00:05:02] [SPEAKER_00]: marveled at how quickly kids learn and that sense of wonderment they have while doing it,

[00:05:06] [SPEAKER_00]: but as adults sometimes we lose that curiosity. Well if there's something you've been wanting

[00:05:11] [SPEAKER_00]: to learn know that therapy can help you reconnect with your sense of wonder because

[00:05:16] [SPEAKER_00]: your back to school era can come at any age. And make no mistake, therapy is for everyone.

[00:05:22] [SPEAKER_00]: Whether or not you've been through significant trauma, therapy can be a great tool for setting

[00:05:26] [SPEAKER_00]: boundaries, learning new skills and ultimately becoming the best version of yourself. If you're

[00:05:31] [SPEAKER_00]: thinking of starting therapy give BetterHelp a try. It's entirely online designed to be

[00:05:36] [SPEAKER_00]: convenient, flexible and suited to your schedule. Just fill out a brief questionnaire

[00:05:41] [SPEAKER_00]: to get matched with a licensed therapist and switch therapists anytime for no additional charge.

[00:05:47] [SPEAKER_00]: Rediscover your curiosity with BetterHelp. Visit BetterHelp.com slash work daily today

[00:05:52] [SPEAKER_00]: to get 10% off your first month. That's BetterHelp.com slash work daily.

[00:06:00] [SPEAKER_00]: And hey I want to thank Stella so much for letting us read her content here

[00:06:04] [SPEAKER_00]: and let me tell you a little bit about her. As a speaker and executive coach,

[00:06:07] [SPEAKER_00]: Stella Grazant works with overachievers who are seeking deeper career fulfillment

[00:06:12] [SPEAKER_00]: and with organizations who are dedicated to elevating the well-being of their employees.

[00:06:17] [SPEAKER_00]: In the last 12 years, Stella has coached over 1300 individuals in 17 countries. Some of Stella's

[00:06:23] [SPEAKER_00]: corporate clients include Google, Johnson & Johnson and more. Her unique approach to being

[00:06:29] [SPEAKER_00]: happier and more engaged on the job has been featured on MSNBC, The Today Show, ABC

[00:06:34] [SPEAKER_00]: and she regularly contributes to Forbes as well. Education-wise, Stella studied economics at

[00:06:40] [SPEAKER_00]: Columbia University and was also one of the first 150 people to earn a master's in Applied

[00:06:46] [SPEAKER_00]: Positive Psychology aka the Science of Happiness from the University of Pennsylvania. She now

[00:06:51] [SPEAKER_00]: lives in New Jersey with her husband and toddler who continue to teach her what life is

[00:06:56] [SPEAKER_00]: all about. Come by WPAA.com for a lot more about Stella and a lot more content. By the

[00:07:02] [SPEAKER_00]: way, that's spelled W-O-O-P-A-A-H and I've got that linked in this episode's description for you.

[00:07:09] [SPEAKER_00]: So that's going to do it for today. I thank you again for listening and of course ask you

[00:07:12] [SPEAKER_00]: to subscribe if you got a second. Hope you have a great start to your weekend

[00:07:16] [SPEAKER_00]: and I'll be back with you tomorrow where your optimal life awaits.