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For more fun, become a bit of a rebel

This week starts with a quote from William James, a famous Psychologist that lived a long time ago:

“as each passing year converts some of [our] experience[s] into automatic routine which we hardly note at all, the days and weeks smooth themselves out…and the years grow hollow and collapse.” – The Principles of Psychology, 1890.

 

Quite a brutal way to start a Friday morning, we know. But every now and again it’s important to shake things up a bit. What James was talking about is a phenomenon known as dissociation. This is what happens when we fill our schedule with routines, habits and passive forms of consumption to the level that our memories arrange themselves in a smooth chain of indistinguishable links and we can no longer tell where one day ended and the next began. Think back over the past week: can you remember what you did on Monday and how it was different from Tuesday or yesterday? Now don’t get us wrong, routines are good. They give us a sense of safety and predictability. Our lives would be overwhelmingly chaotic if we didn’t have habits and routines. But surely they cannot be all we have?

We need to break the chain of monotony every now and again – something know as pattern separation. As you know by now, we’ve been sharing some thoughts from The Power of Fun by Catherine Price. Last week we looked at the things you can start doing to attract more fun. This week we are diving into tips to make your days, weeks and months less “the same” and create some fun memories.

Price talks about being more rebellious, but not in the way that will get you into (serious) trouble. Rather, the focus is on rebelling against this sameness, this living on autopilot to the extent that every day feels exactly the same. She shares a list of things you can start rebelling against:

  1. Rebel against convention: Are you following trends or doing things you don’t really want to because of peer pressure? Just because everyone is talking about politics, watching a specific TV show (or Top Gun 2) or posting photos of their kids on social media, doesn’t mean you don’t have to if you don’t want to. Be a contrarian, only get in the habit of following trends you want to follow.
  2. Rebel against traditions: Traditions are great for building connections. We can use them in a slightly different way to create fun experiences that are out of the ordinary. Ice cream for breakfast dates with your friends, breakfast for dinner, Christmas in July, fun hat Friday – whatever you want to try, make make a point of doing tradition slightly differently. It’s fun to do things outside their normal context.
  3. Rebel against perfectionism: O boy this is a big one! Scan the areas of your life where you present an idealized version of yourself. For example, how often do you answer honestly when someone asks you how you are doing? Or how long does it take you to find the perfect profile picture or social media post? You might not even be on social media (well done!) but we all have our hang ups – hiding our grey hair, finding the perfect outfit, the need to have a super clean house. Extremes are bad for us. We should care about things, but not at the expense of our mental health.
  4. Rebel against adulthood: The best way to do this is to play often. Throw a frisbee, build Lego, colouring books – whatever you enjoy. You don’t have to be productive or serious all the time. It’s really healthy to let off some steam now and again.
  5. Rebel against expectations: These include others’ and your own. All of those things we should do, should care about, should be like, should be interested in, should entertain, should be tolerant of. Revisit these, align them to your personal values and what you want to be known for and say no to the things that don’t fit.
  6. Rebels against unnecessary responsibilities and obligations: We looked at this a couple of weeks ago – take a fresh look at the things you are spending your time on. Remember, whenever you say yes to something you would have to say no to something else. Are your priorities clear?

There you go you little rebel you! Next week we wrap up this series on true fun. Thank you for reading again, we hope you find this useful in experiencing a more meaningful and fulfilled life. Here we are being rebellious, mixing formal and athletic wear. Crazy!

PJ and Shinell

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.

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