Bringing joy back into your business with a little gamification

Running your own business isn’t always fun. Sometimes it’s just... a lot. The admin. The never-ending to-do lists. The pressure to be everywhere and do everything. But what if things could feel a little lighter again? A little more playful?

That’s where gamification comes in.

Before you picture gold stars and badges for the sake of it – hold on. I’m talking about simple, intentional ways to bring back a sense of progress, celebration, and even joy to your work.

Why gamification isn’t just for apps and big brands

Gamification is just a fancy word for using game-like elements – points, rewards, challenges, progress tracking – to make something more engaging. It’s been around forever, and no, you don’t need an app to use it.

In Your Digital Garden, we use:

🧭 Monthly quests (with different difficulty levels)

🎈 Bonus mini-quests for extra inspiration

💎 Points system to celebrate engagement and action

🏆 Monthly leaderboard (yes, with prizes!)

🏅 Badges to mark progress and milestones

Why? Because running a business is full of invisible wins. You show up, take action, try something new – but no one’s there clapping. Gamification gives you a way to see your progress, and celebrate it.

What it might look like in your business

You don’t have to create a whole system to bring some gamified joy into your work. Here are some gentle ways to start:

💫 Give yourself a mini challenge each week and track how many you complete

🧮 Create a visual progress bar for a bigger project (and move it along as you go)

🎨 Use a sticker, stamp, or colour-code system to mark when you’ve done your marketing tasks

🍬 Add a tiny reward for something you usually avoid (like sending a pitch or updating your website)

💬 Invite your community or clients to join in with a shared challenge – even something simple like "3 days of gentle visibility"

It doesn’t have to be loud. It just has to feel good.

Joy is strategic, too

I know, joy isn’t usually in the business plan. But when things feel more enjoyable, we’re more likely to stay consistent, keep showing up, and actually finish the things we start.

That’s not fluff – that’s strategy.

So if you’ve been feeling disconnected or flat in your business lately, ask yourself:

💭 What would make this feel more energising?

📍 Where could I track progress in a way that feels satisfying?

🎉 How can I bring a little celebration in?

If you’re curious about how we do this inside Your Digital Garden, come take a look. The quests, the badges, the monthly challenges – they’re not just fun. They’re part of a bigger strategy to help you stay connected to your business and your growth. Step into Your Digital Garden.

And maybe even enjoy the process a little more.

Curious how to bring this to life?

If you’d like to see how I bring this kind of joyful structure to life inside my own community, here’s how I gamify Your Digital Garden using Kajabi.

If you’re exploring how to align your day-to-day business with a bigger vision for your life, this post on creating your vision and mission might be a helpful next step.

And if you’re looking for a platform that makes this kind of creative, connected business easier to build, here’s why I moved to Kajabi – and why I’m still using it.