Bose Akadiri is the author of the new book The Stay Joyful Method: Using Joy as a Tool to Rise, Lead, and Redefine Success. She is a motivational speaker and corporate trainer, and is the CEO of Goal and Grind LLC.
Q: What inspired you to write The Stay Joyful Method?
A: I’d seen the impact of my work with teams and wanted to create something that would be accessible to people who didn’t work at a company bringing me into work with their team.
Accessibility to knowledge is important to me, which is why I’ve also worked to ensure my book is available at libraries. Everyone deserves to hear that they not only deserve joy but also learn how to use joy as their greatest tool in life.
Q: How would you define joy?
A: I define joy as a tool that we each have within us and we can tap into our individual joy. Joy is not the same for each person, which is one of the most beautiful things in life.
In order to define your joy, spend quiet time with yourself and do a brain dump of everything that comes to mind which brings you joy. Consider a project that you reflect on fondly from time to time. Think about the last time you laughed so hard your stomach hurt.
As you grow, your joy does as well. It is fluid in that what brings you joy can shift overtime. Joy is your driving force in difficult times to keep going, as you know what’s on the other side of the hard work. To the opposite, joy is your motivation to stop something that’s not aligned before you go too far in the wrong direction.
Q: Who do you see as the perfect audience for your book?
A: My book was written for the person who is ready for a mindset shift to lead with their heart as much as their mind without caring what others think of them.
My readers want more from life than living in fear or being constricted by living inside an easily defined box. They’re excited to create a lifestyle for themselves that will amplify their joy in the four key areas of life (personal, professional, health, and financial).
Q: What impact has it had on you to write this book, and what do you hope readers take away from it?
A: Writing a book is the hardest thing I’ve ever done and also the most rewarding. I hope that readers not only feel inspired by The Stay Joyful Method but that they feel compelled to act on their joy, seek out their joy, and find power in using their joy as a decision-making compass.
Q: What are you working on now?
A: I continue to write as that brings me joy! For five-plus years prior to working on my book, I wrote almost every morning. I knew I’d author at least three books but I didn’t know which one would come first.
Now that my first book has been published, I’m doing three things.
First, I’m listening to readers and how they are receiving The Stay Joyful Method. I’m very intrigued by what people tell me their takeaways are and the impact it’s having on their lives.
Second, I’m focusing on my clients and their teams’ needs to ensure the impact of leading with joy continues.
Third, I’m enjoying doing fireside chats and interviews. Hearing the questions folks have about The Stay Joyful Method brings me an immense amount of joy as I get to see it through their eyes.
Q: Anything else we should know?
A: Life is too short not to enjoy it. The world around us contains an abundance of expectations for us, but that world doesn’t even know us…not on a deeply personal level, anyway.
You get to choose how you live, who you live with, and the work that supports your life. So why not choose to live with joy? You can live with people who bring you joy and attain a job that you enjoy. It might not happen all at once, but the starting point is you making time to define what brings you joy.
--Interview with Deborah Kalb
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