You Might Be Doing Fun All Wrong. Here’s How to Feel More of It Daily

I wasn't sure an interview about defining what "fun" is would be all that, well...fun. That is, before I knew the components of it. Fun has always felt like a word with no objective terms to capture it. When people ask us, "Are you having fun?" how do we really know? We can't bottle it, fake it or force it. And we have equal chances of finding ourselves having fun doing the most mundane activity as we do being miserable in our "happy place."

Although there's something magical about fun being somewhat elusive – like catching lightning in a bottle – wouldn't you rather know how to set the stage for it?

When I sat down with Catherine Price, author of The Power of Fun, she told me she needed to set the record straight on something we often get wrong: fun is a feeling, not an activity. That explains why simply going somewhere you've always loved isn't enough.

What you can try...

Catherine's research, which led her to the second most-viewed TED talk in 2022 on the power of fun, started with her trying to scroll less. She felt like she was missing her life.

After applying the process in her first book – How to Break Up with Your Phone –to her own life, Catherine found herself asking, what now? What she found and is now sharing is how to bring more fun into our everyday lives (once we've got all this phone-free time). So yes, she's simultaneously bringing the real fun by waking us up to how we unknowingly label screen time as "fun", simply because it holds our attention and can be entertaining.

The flow chart below will tell you if you could use some more fun in your life (though I'd wager we all could):

Once most of us decide we need more fun, we often turn to time off, vacations, or experiences with a lot of novelty. The problem is, that confines us to timelines. Catherine says finding fun is a lot simpler, we can feel it every day, and it has these three components:

• Playfulness: a lighthearted attitude with little concern about the outcome of what you're doing.
• Connection: feeling connected with someone else. Fun is possible alone but less likely.
• Flow: you're so engaged and immersed that you lose track of time. You are fully present.

Take a moment to recall when you've recently felt all three of those at once.

Did you miss our last In the Arena Live? We shared our favorite check-in tool that you can use anytime you want to make positive changes.

Quotes you'll want to remember...

"What do you wanna pay attention to? And the reason I say that as a guiding question is that ultimately our lives are defined by what we pay attention to."

"Fun is almost like salt like it will actually enliven things...It enhances all aspects of life. You can bring more of it into all of those things, you're gonna end up enjoying them more and finding more meaning. Everything's gonna be brighter and better with a touch of fun."

What I'm still wondering...

If I took inventory, where am I operating within the untrue belief that fun is only for certain environments? And how do add just the right amount of salt, based on the situation?

Dig Deeper...

Watch Catherine's TED talk below –?it was the second most-viewed talk in 2022.

In the Arena is LinkedIn News’ weekly human potential podcast hosted by (me)?Leah Smart. You’ll hear from some of the world's brightest minds and bravest hearts about how to show up daily to live a better & more meaningful life. Each week, this newsletter shares learnings and practices connected to the conversations. This week I sat down with TED speaker and award-winning writer, Catherine Price on why having fun is essential to healthier living and how you can do it.?Subscribe to the show's newsletter?here.