Have you ever thought about or stated that your greatest dream in life is to be miserable? Me neither. Yet, there have been many times when misery was my jam, and as I look around at the places I frequent, I don’t see lots of people putting fun first. So, with that in mind, this week is all about how we can put fun into everything we do and, put it first.
We live in a serious world, with lots of challenges, and if we are not very careful, we can let life flush us down the misery drain-pipe. So, we have to be very deliberate about finding fun, and then inserting it into everything. Yes, everything. Even cleaning? Yep. Even work? Yep. Even tough conversations? Yep. Even spreadsheets? Yep. Even exercise? Yep. Trust me, you can make anything fun, if you approach it with the right attitude and look at it with the right perspective.
I remember as a teenager, my dream and greatest desire at that time was to be a professional footballer. When I got my chance and was invited to come and try out at the St Kilda Football Club, it didn’t take too long before I was questioning my dream and desire. In my mind I could see and feel the wonderful experience of making it as a professional athlete. What I hadn’t considered was the pain, sweat, and relentlessness it would take to get to that point. I thought I was fit; I was wrong. I thought I was prepared; I was wrong. I believed I could do it; I began to doubt.
Each training session was more lung-busting, muscle-tearing, and brutal than the one before. There were times I felt faint, there were times I vomited, and there were times I passed out. There were moments when I just didn’t think I could take one more step. It was not fun, and the thought of giving up was a regular one in those early days. In fact, I do believe I would have given up if I was not able to find the fun and put it first. So, the question I hear you asking is, how do you possibly find fun in pain? That is a great question.
The simple answer, I stopped focusing on the pain, and I started focusing on where I was heading and who I was becoming. With each pounding session, I felt stronger, I felt mentally tougher, and I felt more equipped to make it at the highest level of the sport. Whilst the training was tough, the fun part was knowing it was helping me become better. Being a member of a team and going through the journey with your teammates is definitely a fun part of the process. The banter, the laughter, and the sharing of discomfort made the whole experience more joyful. Without finding the fun, I know I would never have stuck with it, as it took many years before I finally made it as a regular senior player. The fun kept me in.
These days, the pain and discomfort of being a professional athlete are a distant memory. I do, however, train every day, and I do use the same strategy to make every morning that I get up at 5am to exercise a fun part of my day. In addition to exercise, I have many parts of my business which I can easily describe as fun. I love writing because I am creating something that will change lives. I love speaking to groups because I know someone will get the message I am communicating and it will help them in their life. I love mentoring aspiring authors and people with their wellbeing because I know they will be an example and create a ripple effect of positive change in the world. I even love the preparation of all these things, because without it I can’t do what I do. It is all fun.
Another part of my business involves helping people diversify utilizing an e-commerce platform. The other evening, we did a training session focused on skin care. My goal, in addition to imparting information and ideas, was first and foremost for it to be fun. There was lots of laughter, there was fun to be had with the virtual app which analysed skin, and all in all it was a fun and powerful 45 minutes for everyone who attended. Seeing that I have a skin age of 38 years old, when I am over 20 years beyond that age was definitely fun!
So, my question to you is, how can you put fun first in everything you are doing, no matter how unfun it may appear? Could you get together with people you have fun with to do tedious things? Could you give yourself a cool reward for completing a challenging task? Could you change your environment and make it more fun? Could you focus on who you are becoming and what you are creating as you do what you need to do? Could you give yourself fun little breaks on a regular basis? Could you simply choose to enjoy what you are doing? Yes, you can choose to have fun, no matter what.
My podcast this week is with Mish Cogley and is called What if?. Mish went through a very challenging time during COVID and experienced many trauma-causing events over a very short period of time. She constantly said to herself, what if I could find a way? What if I could get better? What if I could find fun. I want to encourage you to find a way, no matter how challenging it may be, to put fun first with everything you do.