Setting the scene: Find YOUR fun
It’s that last weekend of May. You know it’s winter when the calendar hits June (if you’re reading in the Southern hemisphere). Growing up, winter was always synonymous with the French Open, Wimbledon and test cricket in England. We would be out in the garden playing cricket or on the tennis court almost every day, not feeling the cold, emulating our heroes. Wonderful memories that are examples of true fun.
If you’re only joining us now, we’ve been looking at the principles of introducing more true fun experiencesback into our lives. The tips we have been sharing is from The Power of Fun by Catherine Price, which was released earlier this year. She wrote the book after realizing that she (and many of her closest acquaintances) have seemingly forgotten how to have fun! Sure the pandemic had something to do with this, but we’ve been on this path of being busy, serious and in survival mode for a good while now.
Time to change course! If you want to catch up on what we’ve been sharing over the last number of weeks you can do it here.
So maybe Grand Slam tennis and test cricket is the farthest thing from fun that you can think of. No problem at all. The challenge this week is to think of what you actually do find fun. Not fake fun that promises much but only delivers a sense of let down, emptiness and disappointment. We are aiming for true fun, that is characterised by the following signs:
- Laughter
- A sense of release/freedom/letting go
- Feeling like you’re having a special, shared experience
- Losing track of time
- Feeling free from self-judgment and self-consciousness
- Feeling like you’ve temporarily “stepped out” of normal life
- Being fully absorbed and present
- Not caring too much about the outcome
- A feeling of childlike excitement and joy
- A positive boost in energy
- Feeling totally yourself
When was the last time you experienced these? Can you think of a specific example in the last week, month, year or (Heaven forbid) decade? If you’ve been in survival mode (like many of us) this might be harder to identify than you would like to admit. But since you are here and reading, you have a good chance to set things straight.
Thinking back to true fun experienced you’ve had in the past is important, since you need to identify the specifics of what made these fun for you. None of us will experience the same events similarly. We all have our own Fun Magnets, as Price calls them and they include the following:
Unpack your true fun experiences according to these magnets: what you were doing, who you were with and where you were at the time. These will provide the clues that will allow you to be more purposeful from now on to experience more true fun.
If you need more guidance, ask yourself these questions:
- What were you passionate about when you were a kid?
- When in your life have you laughed the hardest? What were you doing? Who were you with?
- What are some of your favorite memories of holidays, celebrations, or traditions?
- What’s a memory of a time when you felt playfully rebellious or harmlessly deviant?
- What are some moments from your life in which you felt the most alive? What were you doing? Who were you with?
- Which people are often present in the moments when you have the most fun?
Don’t beat yourself up if you struggle to answer these questions. We did too (and our guess is most people will). But give them some time to percolate and revisit them over the weekend. Once you become more aware of what truly fires you up, you’ll be better equipped to have more of these revitalising, replenishing experiences. Goodness knows we need them!
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.
