Make it Fun

"It's just not fun anymore."

Those words were spoken to me by a client who was burned out. When I asked her what is fun for her, tears formed in her eyes. She said it'd been a long time since she'd had fun.

You've probably been there. I sure have.

Time, difficult circumstances, and poor self care are just a few varied ingredients that can combine to lead us down the path towards burnout.

...Which is why I want to tell you about a client of mine who is not burned out at all.

In fact, this client is in her 60s and wakes up with great purpose every day!

We'll call this client Susan. 

She has a retirement mindset but shows up to a challenging and rewarding full time job where she's making a lasting impact for her clients while still loving her husband, friends, and grandkids well.

She's discovered an antidote to burnout that I want to share with you today:

Make it fun.

That's right, FUN.

Susan is committed to reading through the Bible every year, but the experience was becoming somewhat rote and mechanical in the past couple of years.

So she found her own fun way to accomplish her annual Bible-reading goal.

• Susan got 3 jars and labeled them Old Testament, New Testament, and Psalms/Proverbs.

• She printed out a reading plan and cut it up into strips of paper.

• She put the reading plan paper strips into the coordinating jars.

Every morning when Susan wakes up, she pulls out random strips of paper from each of the 3 jars to do her daily reading.

When the jars are empty, she's read through the Bible fully.

Susan made a habit that's important to her fun by adding novelty in her own creative way.

She told me it's been extremely rewarding for her. In fact, one of the Old Testament verses she read last week spoke directly to her work circumstances. 

Let's coach on this for a minute.

Which habit in your life has lost its fun?

What is a simple way you could make this discipline more novel and enjoyable?