Humor and Higher Self in Business

Humor and Your Higher Self: The Secret Weapon Every Business Leader Needs

Let’s talk humor and higher self in business, First, a question. When was the last time you had a good laugh at work? Not a polite chuckle during a Zoom call or a quick smirk at a colleague’s joke, but a genuine, belly-shaking laugh that made you forget about quarterly reports, performance reviews, and that mountain of emails waiting in your inbox?

If you’re struggling to remember, you’re not alone. Somewhere along the line, we bought into the myth that business success requires a serious face, a buttoned-up demeanor, and the personality of a spreadsheet. We’ve convinced ourselves that laughter is unprofessional and that accessing our higher self means meditating in silence while wearing expensive athleisure.

Here’s the truth: your higher self has a sense of humor. In fact, I’d argue that humor is one of the fastest shortcuts to accessing the wisdom, creativity, and authentic power that already exists within you.

What Do We Mean by Your “Higher Self”?

Before we dive deeper, let’s get clear on what we’re talking about. Your higher self isn’t some mystical entity floating around in the cosmos waiting for you to burn the right incense. It’s not about religion or spirituality in the traditional sense, although it can certainly complement those aspects of your life if they’re important to you.

Your higher self is the best version of you. It’s the part of you that sees challenges as opportunities, treats setbacks as setup for comebacks, and understands that your attitude determines your altitude in business and in life. Think of it as the version of you that isn’t controlled by fear, stress, or the opinions of others. It’s you operating at your peak potential, with clarity, confidence, and yes, a healthy dose of humor.

The Business Case for Humor

I spent years as a nationally headlining comedian before I became a Hall of Fame speaker working with companies like American Express, Marriott, and even the CIA. And let me tell you, the boardroom and the comedy club have more in common than you might think.

In both environments, you need to read the room, think on your feet, handle pressure with grace, and connect with people authentically. The difference is that comedians understand something that most business leaders don’t: humor isn’t a distraction from the work. It IS the work.

Research backs this up. Studies show that teams with leaders who use appropriate humor have higher engagement levels, better problem-solving abilities, and increased productivity. Humor reduces stress hormones like cortisol while boosting feel-good chemicals like endorphins and dopamine. When your brain is relaxed and happy, it performs better. Period.

But here’s where it gets really interesting. Humor doesn’t just make you more effective at your job. It connects you to your higher self in ways that traditional success strategies simply can’t.

Humor and Higher Self in Business: How Humor Unlocks Your Higher Self

Think about the last time you laughed so hard that tears rolled down your face. In that moment, were you worried about what other people thought of you? Were you stressed about hitting your sales targets? Were you replaying that awkward conversation with your boss?

Of course not. You were completely present. Totally authentic. Fully alive.

That’s your higher self showing up.

Humor creates space between you and your circumstances. It gives you perspective. When you can find something funny about a situation, even a challenging one, you’re no longer trapped inside it. You’re above it, looking down with clarity and wisdom.

Let me share a personal example. Early in my corporate speaking career, I was presenting to a group of executives at a Fortune 500 company. About twenty minutes into my presentation, the entire audio-visual system crashed. The microphone died. The PowerPoint disappeared. Total technical meltdown.

I had two choices. I could panic, apologize profusely, and let the situation derail my presentation and my reputation. Or I could access my higher self and find the humor in the moment.

I looked at the audience and said, “Well, I guess this is what they mean by ‘unplugged’ performance. MTV has nothing on me right now.” The room erupted in laughter. The tension dissolved. We continued the presentation without AV, and it ended up being one of the most memorable and effective presentations I’ve ever given.

That moment taught me something crucial: your higher self doesn’t need perfect circumstances to shine. In fact, it often shows up most powerfully when things don’t go according to plan.

The Mindset Shift That Changes Everything

Here’s what most business leaders get wrong about success. They think the formula is: Work hard + Stay serious + Follow the rules = Success and fulfillment.

But that formula is incomplete. It leaves out the most important ingredient: joy.

Your higher self knows that joy isn’t a reward you get after you succeed. It’s the fuel that drives success in the first place. And humor is one of the most reliable ways to access that joy, regardless of your circumstances.

This requires a fundamental mindset shift. Instead of thinking, “I’ll be happy when I land that account, get that promotion, or hit that revenue target,” your higher self asks, “How can I bring joy and humor to this very moment, exactly as it is?”

This isn’t about being fake or putting on a happy face when you’re genuinely struggling. It’s about developing the ability to find light in the darkness, to spot the absurdity in stressful situations, and to laugh at yourself when you take things too seriously.

Humor and Higher Self in Business: Practical Ways to Use Humor to Access Your Higher Self

So how do you actually do this? How do you integrate humor into your professional life in a way that enhances your leadership rather than undermining it?

Start with Self-Awareness

Your higher self requires honesty, and humor thrives on truth. Start paying attention to the stories you tell yourself about your work, your challenges, and your abilities. Many of these stories are completely ridiculous when you really examine them.

Do you tell yourself you’re “not good at presentations”? That’s a story. Do you believe that one bad quarter defines your career? That’s a story. Your higher self can look at these narratives with a sense of humor and ask, “Is this actually true, or am I just making things harder than they need to be?”

Practice Finding the Absurd

Every frustrating situation contains an element of absurdity if you’re willing to look for it. Got stuck in traffic on your way to an important meeting? The universe apparently thought you needed more time to listen to bad radio commercials. Dealt with an impossible client? They’re basically a character from a sitcom that writes itself.

This doesn’t mean you’re not taking your responsibilities seriously. It means you’re refusing to take yourself so seriously that you lose perspective.

More Practical Ways

Share Humor Strategically

As a leader, your humor can be a powerful tool for building culture, diffusing tension, and creating connection. But it needs to be appropriate and inclusive. The best humor in business settings is self-deprecating or situational, never at someone else’s expense.

When you can laugh at your own mistakes or find levity in challenging circumstances, you give your team permission to do the same. This creates psychological safety, which is essential for innovation and high performance.

Use Humor as a Reset Button

When you feel yourself getting stressed, overwhelmed, or disconnected from your higher self, humor can bring you back to center. I keep a collection of comedy clips, funny memes, and stories that never fail to make me laugh. When I’m having one of those days where everything feels heavy, I take five minutes to reset my mindset with laughter.

It might sound simplistic, but the science is clear: laughter physiologically changes your state. It interrupts stress patterns and creates space for your higher self to emerge.

The Higher Self Doesn’t Sweat the Small Stuff (And It’s All Small Stuff)

Here’s something I learned from both comedy and business: your higher self has impeccable timing. It knows when to push and when to pause. When to speak up and when to listen. When to be serious and when to crack a joke that breaks through tension and creates breakthrough moments.

But you can only access that wisdom when you’re not drowning in stress, fear, and the need to control every outcome. Humor lifts you above the chaos and gives you the perspective to see what really matters.

Most of what we stress about in business isn’t actually life or death. We forget this. We treat every deadline like a crisis and every setback like a catastrophe. Your higher self knows better. It understands that even when things don’t go according to plan, you have the creativity, resilience, and resourcefulness to find a way forward.

And sometimes, the way forward starts with a good laugh.

Leading From Your Higher Self

The business world needs leaders who operate from their higher selves now more than ever. We’re facing unprecedented challenges: rapid technological change, workforce transformations, economic uncertainty, and constant disruption.

The leaders who will thrive in this environment aren’t the ones who have all the answers or maintain perfect control. They’re the ones who can stay centered, creative, and connected to their authentic power regardless of external circumstances.

These are the leaders who understand that humor isn’t unprofessional—it’s essential. It’s what keeps teams engaged during difficult transitions, sparks creative solutions when traditional approaches fail, and makes you the kind of leader people actually want to follow.

When you lead from your higher self, you inspire others to do the same. You create cultures where people bring their whole selves to work, not just the buttoned-up, serious version they think they’re supposed to be. And when people feel free to be authentic, to laugh, to find joy in their work, that’s when magic happens.

Humor and Higher Self in Business: Your Mindset Writes the Story of Your Life

I always say that your mindset is everything. It’s a set of thoughts, beliefs, feelings, and attitudes that shape how you view your business, your world, and yourself. It influences how you behave and determines the actions you take in any situation. And the actions you take always lead to a particular outcome.

In other words, your mindset writes the story of your life.

So let me ask you: What kind of story are you writing right now? Is it a tragedy where everything is hard and nothing goes your way? Is it a drama where you’re constantly fighting against impossible odds? Or is it a story where you’re the hero who faces challenges with courage, creativity, and yes, a sense of humor?

Your higher self knows that you get to choose. And one of the most powerful choices you can make is to find the humor, the lightness, and the joy in your journey, regardless of your circumstances.

The WOW Factor

I’ve had the privilege of working with everyone from the CIA to American Express, from Marriott Hotels to countless other organizations across the globe. And you know what the most successful people and teams have in common? They’ve learned to shift their mindset from “Woe is me” to “WOW is me.”

That shift doesn’t happen through positive thinking alone. It happens when you connect with your higher self, the part of you that sees possibilities instead of problems, opportunities instead of obstacles, and humor instead of horror in every situation.

Your higher self is always available to you. It doesn’t require a retreat, a certification, or a complete life overhaul. It just requires your willingness to stop taking everything so seriously and start taking yourself lightly.

What Success is Supposed to Be About

Because here’s the beautiful truth: when you access your higher self through humor, you don’t just become more successful in business. You become more fully alive. You experience more joy, more connection, more creativity, and more fulfillment.

And isn’t that what success is really supposed to be about?

So the next time you’re facing a challenge at work, before you stress out or spiral into worst-case scenarios, pause. Take a breath. Find the humor in the situation. Access your higher self. And watch what becomes possible when you approach your business and your life with laughter, lightness, and the unwavering belief that you have everything you need to succeed, regardless of your circumstances.

Your mindset is everything. Make it a good one. Make it a fun one. And watch how quickly your story transforms from ordinary to extraordinary.

Now get out there and give ’em something to WOW about!

About Steve Rizzo: The Mindset Adjuster, Steve is a personal development expert, Mindset Keynote Speaker, former comedian, and best-selling author. A Hall of Fame Speaker Inductee—among fewer than 200 worldwide since 1977—he’s dedicated to unlocking your happiest self.