Are you having FUN?

You are probably thinking, “at what, Scott? At work? At my home? At my church?” No.

At life.

That’s right: are you having fun at life?

My wife and I continue to tell our girls that their primary job at 13 and 15 is to learn. They learn in their classes during the school year, and they continue to learn at home in the summer. We have a set time during weekdays for all of us to stop what we are doing and read. As my wife and I are both entrepreneurs, we are both teaching our girls different aspects of dealing with people, as well as various aspects of running a business.

With these things being said, let me tell you what else we teach them: to have FUN.

Let me ask you something: when exactly did YOU stop having fun in life? Maybe it was when you were forced to grow up too soon due to a divorce, or because one or both of your parents died at an early age. Maybe it was when you became a parent yourself – at a much younger age than you ever imagined. Maybe it happened when you were not looking, as your life-sucking career slowly drained the word Fun out of your vocabulary. No matter how – or when – it happened, I want to pass along to you the words of a mentor of mine, the late Dr. Barry Grove:

“Life is meant to be ENJOYED – not endured!”

Please don’t get me wrong. We all have to do things (and deal with some people) that are not fun. We all have to go through the motions for a while in our lives. We all have to endure some level of pain, whether it be in a relationship, career or in our physical life.

The key thing to remember is that we were not put here on this planet merely to endure. To suffer through. To get by.

Here is what I have learned: if you do not DECIDE to do the following three steps, you may not EVER have any real fun the rest of your life, other than what you fall into. If you want to put Fun back into your life on a regular basis, here are your steps:

1 – Think. That’s right, sit down and think. What kind of Fun do you want to have? Do you want to start a new hobby? Do you want to become a good cook? Do you want to attend a game at every professional baseball park in the country? What kind of Fun do you want to have? (Please remember to include your spouse and children in your final decisions – but do not neglect your wants in the process).

2 – Ask questions. How much does that new hobby cost to do it right? Are there some free classes where you can learn the basics of cooking? Do any of your friends have the same idea about seeing a game at all the parks? Maybe y’all could go together, or maybe they can give you some pointers if they have already started going to the various parks.

3 – SCHEDULE IT. Yep, I said it. I know some of you are real big on being spontaneous, or “being in the moment.” OK. Sometimes you will have some level of Fun with that philosophy. The challenge is that you may, or you may not. By planning it, you greatly increase the chances actually to have fun. Things can still happen that stop you from following through, but I guarantee that you will have a lot more fun if you schedule it, than if you just sit around hoping that someone will ask you to go do something fun with them. Remember these words by Michael Hyatt:

“What gets scheduled is what gets done.”

That includes Fun.

Go ahead: start TODAY by sitting down and thinking about what kind of Fun you want to put back into your life, or what new Fun thing you want to add to your life. You never know.

You just end up enjoying your life, instead of enduring it.