The Power of Doing Serious Work While Having Fun

Posted in The Weekly on March 25, 2025 by Cliff Goldmacher

In my long career as a songwriter, I’ve come to learn that I do my best work - even on the most serious songs - while having fun. Granted, as a full-time creative, it would seem that fun is baked into the process but, early on in my career, I struggled mightily to make my songs “perfect” and, sadly, fun was not really part of that process. As a result, my songs suffered. The lesson I learned - almost by accident - was that the more fun I had while writing, the better my songs became. I firmly believe that this same principle applies in any context. If you’re enjoying yourself, your work will improve. Below are a few reasons why I believe this to be true.

We enter into a state of flow
Being relaxed and enjoying ourselves is the perfect way into a flow state. When we’re in flow, the outside world drops away, we lose track of time and become completely immersed in our work. It’s no surprise that great things are accomplished when we’re not distracted or uncomfortable but, rather, completely focused on the task at hand. That being said, we can’t simply put ourselves into this state. Having fun or “playing” creates the kind of activation energy we need to get beyond the countless other things vying for our attention.

Our best work can’t be forced
To quote Mike Tyson, “There’s nothing more dangerous than a happy boxer.” At first glance, there’s very little that appears “happy” or “fun” about a boxing match from the perspective of the combatants. However, what Mike Tyson means is that when he was happy in his life that translated to how relaxed and focused he was in the ring. And, as you might imagine, Mike Tyson at the peak of his boxing execution would be a pretty terrifying experience for his competitors. In other words, instead of trying to force quality results in our work, taking the time to relax and have fun will allow those results to happen naturally.

We benefit greatly from collaboration
I owe my entire songwriting career to great collaborations. It wasn’t until I began working with other songwriters who brought different skills to the table that I was able to relax and play to my strengths. Early on, I tried to do it all alone or - worse yet - tried to strong-arm my way through co-writes. The results were, predictably, uninspired at best. We’ve all been told about the virtues of collaboration for diverse perspectives and shared effort but there’s definitely more to it. When a collaboration is fun, everyone can bring the best version of themselves to the table. This doesn’t mean there isn’t serious work being accomplished, it simply means that work is being done in a relaxed and joyful environment. And why shouldn’t it be this way? Who says we have to suffer to do great work?

Conclusion
In my innovation and creativity programs with organizations, participants consistently say how surprised they are that they actually had fun problem-solving and exploring important goals and objectives. To that point, I’ve made it my mission to demonstrate to smart, high-achieving people that they can do serious and essential work while genuinely enjoying themselves along the way.

Bio
Cliff Goldmacher is a GRAMMY-recognized, #1 hit songwriter, music producer and author with recording studios in Nashville, TN and Middle River, MD. Through his studios, Cliff provides songwriters outside of Nashville with virtual, live access to Nashville’s best session musicians and studio vocalists for their songwriting demos. Find out more. You can also download Cliff’s FREE tip sheet “A Dozen Quick Fixes To Instantly Improve Your Songs.”