I’m an amateur artist and one day I was watching a story of the life of Gerhart Richter a well-known artist in Europe. The story was interesting but it was the ending that caught me. As the 80-year-old Gerhart is pushing a 6-foot pallet knife across a massive canvas he pauses and says, “Man, this is fun!”
Wait, what did he say? “Man, this is fun!”
Those words grabbed my attention right away, “Man this is fun!” I believed him. WOW it rocked me. I wanted a life where I could say, “Man this is fun!” In my REAL life, I had lost a part of myself that at one point had been very important.
After that moment of clarity, I started researching anything I could to rediscover “FUN”. What I found was much more than just a way to enjoy life, and I want to share with you what I found and what I’ve learned to call “The Fun Theory.”
THE FUN FACTS
In 2009 Volkswagen launched a series of short videos detailing live experiments they conducted aimed to positively change people’s behavior by making everyday tasks fun. This was part of a journey to test the effectiveness of making tasks more fun to influence behavior.
In one experiment, Volkswagen was able to get a 66% increase in the number of people who took the stairs simply by making it fun to do. There was no training class, no manual, no promotion or incentive. It was just FUN.
In another, people deposited 230% more trash in the “World’s Deepest Bin” than in the surrounding bins. That’s an incredible result.
From these, and other experiments, Volkswagen felt confident in making the claim. “Something as simple as fun is the easiest way to change people’s behavior for the better.”
SHEDING THE BAGGAGE AROUND “FUN”
Believe it or not, when it comes to fun, we carry a lot of negative baggage around. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve hear the words; frivolous, waste of time, and even selfish, related to having fun. Come on people it’s just FUN we are talking about here, but I get it, so let me help by giving you my FUN sales pitch.
First, let me define FUN so you know exactly what I’m talking about. By my definition, fun is anything that produces a positive emotion. As a result, parties and games are fun, but so is love and service.
This opens up a vast amount of research on positive emotion that helps us feel confident in turning up the FUN. In fact, did you know the ratio of positivity to negativity in your life really matters? Research shows a ratio above 3 positives to 1 negative is necessary for a healthy, happy life. Most of us clock in at 2 to 1, and those with serious depression clocking in at around 1 to 1. Interestingly enough the tipping point for relationships seems to be around 5 to 1. Most of us have a lot of work to do and a lot of FUN to create.
FEE-FI FAUX “FUN”
Be careful though, Fun is sometimes used to describe both helpful and hurtful behaviors. Bullies may torment others for “fun”; addicts may have “fun” that destroys their health and relationships. These forms of fun aren’t really fun. They’re faux fun, and they lead to difficulty. It isn’t hard to tell faux and real fun apart, and you need to understand the difference.
• Faux fun helps you ignore problems; real fun helps you face them
• Faux fun gets boring; real fun never does
• If you’re having real fun, you’ll never regret it
• Real fun makes everyone feel better; faux fun makes at least some feel worse
Remember though, what’s fun for you is often different than what’s fun for someone else. So, I’ve got good news and bad, the good news is you get to define for yourself what you enjoy, the bad news is many of you have a pretty tiny list of what you really enjoy. In some cases, no list at all.
FINDING YOUR “FUNPRINT”
I believe we were all born with a sense of fun
Did you know that the average preschooler laughs or smiles about 400 times per day? By the time he or she grows up, that number decreases to a mere 15 times per day!
Do you remember when you were really good at having FUN? Maybe some of you are still good at it, but what I’ve found is most people grew out of having fun.
When I was a kid, granted it was many years ago, I remember I planned my whole day around it. That was my job and I was good at it.
• Tin foil boat races down the gutter when it rained
• Three on three football at the local park (even in the snow)
• Building jumps for our bikes and see who could get the longest air
• Kick the can
• No bears are out tonight
• King of the snow hill after the plow came
Question? What did you used to do that was fun?
See, you were a master of fun as well. I bet your mood changed a bit as you reminisced. Did you feel it?
Here is the problem that I see with nearly every person that I’ve taken through The Fun Theory Workshop; we may have been masters of FUN at one point but now we really struggle. Well, that skill is still there, it’s just dormant in many of us ADULTS. No wonder adults are so good at self-medicating their boring, stressful, no fun lives.
Each of us is born with a tendency to have fun doing certain types of activities, in certain proportions—you may love doing something I hate and vice versa. I call the pattern of activities you most enjoy your “Funprint,” and like your thumbprint it’s unique.
It seems obvious to me (and research backs me up) that we are most productive, creative, and flexible when we’re engaged in those activities that brings us maximum fun. Your funprint isn’t a frivolous indulgence. It is the map to your passion and purpose. Learning to respond to it is one of the most crucial things you’ll ever do.
If you have no idea what you like doing, if you’ve never had regular fun in your life and don’t know how to figure out what you enjoy, I’m here to help. Total funlessness is as serious as a heart attack and deserves the same kind of urgency. So, I’m going to help you rediscover your “Funprint.” Get out your notebooks because you are about to get homework.
Funprint List of 100:
There is a theory that goes something like this: When a person has identified the 100 things that are really fun for them, life finally becomes one’s own.
I want you to start making a list of things you think would be fun. You can’t stop until you have 100 items on your list, and I realize that may take you awhile, but just keep plugging away at it.
Prioritize your list starting with those things that make you smile the most. I want you to pick just one of those you will do this week.
Then commit to doing something from your list at least weekly until you done everything on your list at least once. I promise you this exercise alone will change your life.
Now I guess to be fair I should tell you that there is are some researchers that present that FUN shouldn’t be something we focus on because the positive effects of fun just don’t last. And based on the evidence, I’d have to agree. That concerned me at one point until I had a realization when I read this quote from Zig Ziglar.
“PEOPLE OFTEN SAY THAT MOTIVATION DOESN’T LAST, NEITHER DOES BATHING, THAT’S WHY WE RECOMMEND IT DAILY.”
LET’S CHANGE
Now that you understand “The Fun Theory” and are on the path to rediscovering your personal “Funprint,” it’s time to start talking about how we apply this to changing behavior and getting results.
For a behavior to happen these three things have to come together at once. There has to be a trigger, you have to be able to engage in the behavior, and you have to be motivated to do it. Those three things have to happen at the exact same moment, and if any of those three things is missing, it won’t happen.
If you want to encourage a behavior, just make sure all three elements are present, and the stronger they are the more likely you will get the behavior. If you want to eliminate a behavior just remove one or all of these elements.
For example, if I want to start exercising more, I might set my alarm clock earlier in the morning, or put my gym shoes on the floor by my bed so when I get out of bed my feet land on them. (triggers). I can increase my ability to exercise by making it easier. I can join a gym close to my house and learn what I need to do and how long I need to do it (ability). When it comes to motivation, I could hire a trainer or buy some stylish clothes I want to fit into. But if you think about it, motivation gets a little more complicated, doesn’t it? It’s more difficult to control motivation. This element of the formula is the most elusive in my opinion.
But I’ve already shared with you a valuable secret that multiplies the effectiveness of your efforts to change. Remember what Volkswagen taught us, “Making things fun is the easiest way to change behavior for the good,” because it’s the easiest way to effect motivation!
I once worked with a sales manager who was having a difficult time getting independent sales people to attend her monthly training event at her home, all of which were female.
I first asked, “How do you notify your team of the meeting.” She replied, “I send an email with all the information 2-weeks prior so they have plenty of time to prepare. I then remind them a few days before.”
Then I asked, “Of the 25 people on your team, how many live within 10 miles of your house?” her response didn’t surprise me, “Well I live out in the country a bit so there are only a couple who live that close.”
I then asked, “And what do you do at your meetings?” She replied, “I go over some aspect of the business, I think the other members would benefit from. That takes about an hour and then we have refreshments.”
The whole time she was talking I was assessing the problem through the behavioral model. After a few more questions I suggested the following:
- The email messages you send are fine but in addition I want you to add a text message the morning of the event and an hour before the start time. (Most text messages are read within 3 min or being received while email can sit for days.) – TRIGGER
- Next, I want you to hold your meeting in town at a more central location and organize car pools for those who might not have reliable transportation. – ABILITY
- Lastly, I don’t want you to call it a “Team Meeting” instead call it “Girls Night Out.” Don’t plan training but instead plan something fun. Make the focus fun not formal. Nobody likes meetings and few look forward to hour long trainings. I explained to her that as they had fun, ideas would be shared and important relationships built that would be way more valuable than her formal trainings. – MOTIVATION
She chose to do a pampering night at the local SPA and guess what? Yep, attendance grew by 400 percent, they had a wonderful time and everyone was asking when they were going to get together next month. Problem solved! –
THE FUN FACTOR WORKSHEET
OK its time; it’s your turn. You have everything you need to apply The Fun Theory to make changes in your life. I’m going to help you focus on solving problems and it works the same with any problem you face.
Below is what I call “The Fun Factor Worksheet.” This is a simple process for helping you design a behavior. You see there is a place to define the problem you want to solve. Then you need to identify the behavior you want to target that will help solve the problem.
The first thing I want you to do is come up with ways to make that behavior fun. It’s important you apply the fun theory first. Then once you have two or three fun ideas, pick the one you want to try and then think about the triggers you could use to remind you of the behavior. Next come up with ways to increase your ability, and lastly, any additional ideas to bump up your motivation.
Once you have this done you will have a design for the new behavior and an awesome plan for solving your problem.
THE FUN FACTOR WORKSHEET
A. What would you like to change? (Specific behavior or situation)
B. What will be different once you make this change?
C. Make it FUN!
(List ways to make the new behavior or existing situation more fun.)
D. Identify triggers, ability & motivation
Ability:
Triggers:
Motivation:
