Become someone who attracts more fun
Who is your fun friend? Is there someone in your family that just makes any gathering more of an event (in a good way)? These people are a delight – they light up the room with their presence and make any experience so much more fun and memorable. Maybe you’re the fun one? Congratulations! We want to thank you for your contribution and say publicly that we love you. The world needs more people like you.
But, if you don’t really regard yourself as being all that fun (but you would like to be), keep reading – this week we’re talking to you!
If you haven’t joined us in a while, a quick recap is in order. Over the last number of weeks, we’ve been sharing some great insights from a book by Catherine Price called The Power of Fun. In her book she outlines her realization that she was living an increasingly distracted life and was longing for more truly fun experiences that were becoming increasingly rare. Yes, has COVID played it’s part in this, but she shares some striking evidence that many of us have lost the art of having true fun, which is characterised by playfulness, connection and flow. If you want to know more, start with last week’s piece and take it from there.
Back to the topic at hand: attracting more fun experiences to you.
Price outlines a list of characteristics of people she finds to be exceedingly fun:
- They’re spontaneous.
- They’re at ease with themselves and comfortable in their own skin.
- They’re not afraid to be silly.
- They’re not afraid to try new things and to be a beginner.
- They’re not afraid to be vulnerable.
- They’re appreciative of the small things.
- They find joy in being alive.
If you were to tick the list, how many of these characteristics would you describe yourself as having? Don’t beat yourself up, we’re here to help! Becoming more fun and experiencing more true fun is the result of choices, attitudes and habits repeatedly practiced. Here are some tips from Price that you can start implementing today:
- Adopt a fun mindset: Your attitude is a choice. People who attract fun notice and make use of pre-existing opportunities for playfulness, connection and flow, but they also make time for their things passions, interests and hobbies. You don’t have to become a clown, but it might be of benefit to seek out as many opportunities as you can to create or appreciate humour, absurdity, playfulness, connection and flow.
- Be easy-to-laugh: The quickest way to live with more humour is not to try to be funny, but simply looking for moments to laugh. Notice and appreciate the humour in everyday life. It’s there, if you pay attention to it.
- Say yes more often: Say yes to trying new things yourself or enthusiastically go along with other people’s suggestions. By doing this, others will become more comfortable in your presence and you will have better opportunity to connect and experience flow together.
- Send out signals: The next time you are around other people (even those you live with) instead of looking down at your phone, make eye contact. Smile. Make a playful comment or a joke. Look for an opportunity to make a connection. Signal your intentions to have fun. It might not always lead to fun, but your chances will be greatly increased.
- Practice being present: Think about your most fun friend again. Chances are good that one of the things they are best at is really paying attention to the people they’re with. Getting distracted by screens is a buzz kill – it destroys the connection. And you cannot experience flow when you are trying to do more than one thing at a time. Be where you are.
- Savour what’s good: Many things are bad. Just read the news. If we are to keep any sense of hope and optimism, it is crucial to pay attention to the good things we do experience. So the next time you find yourself in the middle of a fun moment, be sure to savour it. Engage all of your senses, take mental pictures of the moment, say out loud “this is a great moment”. Catch yourself having fun and savour the small delights in your life.
This should get you started. It’s a long weekend for many, we hope you get to make the most of it. Invite your fun friends over and create some truly fun memories. Like always we want to thank you for reading. If you found this interesting, please share with those you care about. And don’t be afraid to be silly.
At PurposeWorks we are all about Making You and Your Work Rock. Our focus is on Organisational Health and Design, Employee Centered Culture, Leadership Development and Performance Coaching. For more information on how we can help you create a work environment that rocks, develop a great team, become an inspiring leader or unlock your personal excellence talk to us at info@purposeworks.co.za.
