The key for a more fun life is to have more fun in life!

How often do you have fun?

How often do you laugh out loud?

How often do you do something just because it's the most fun thing you can do right now?

I often hear people say that they miss having fun or that they don’t know the last time they really laughed. They often say it in a way that says, ‘And I don’t know how to start again,’ but the truth is that it’s very simple:

The key for a more fun life is to have more fun in life!

I know, I know, that’s easier said than done but let’s break it down bit by bit and at the end of this text you’ll be brimming with ideas of how you can bring more fun, joy, and laughter into your life! And yes, you can do this no matter how “serious” your day to day is or feels like it has to be.

Depending on your life experience so far, you might have unlearned to be spontaneous and have fun throughout your days. Or was there no room in your childhood for that? Or is having fun on the fly “not possible” anymore because you got so serious with “everything”. Life IS dead serious, right?

“Life is SERIOUS.” This is surely something that is oftentimes taught to us from early childhood, and school (at least where I live) doesn’t care to argue against that, worse still, it makes sure that we’re properly “prepared” for that oh so serious life.

For example, when my 12 year old daughter asked her teacher why they’re not doing something fun on the last day before winter vacation as they used to do in the other years, she said: “That’s not something you do in 6th grade anymore.”

​​​​As someone who is an adult with all the components of a “serious” life—the business, the kid, the marriage, etc.—this is so sad to me, because having fun is the key to learning, evolving and growing within all the topics, including the “serious” ones in school. Our brain works better with fun added to the equation. It should not only happen on the last day before a vacation, no, during all the (in my opinion) rather uninspired school schedule. Sigh, I guess that is a discussion for another time. Back to you!

The good thing is that what has been unlearned can be relearned! The belief systems that are ingrained in you—like “life is serious” or “you cannot have fun when you have all of this responsibility” or “fun is for children”—can be reprogrammed! And you can experience more joy and lightness every single day.

Take out something to write (at the beginning of the journey through the Joy Academy I encourage you to buy a special notebook for all the journaling that you do in that year. I just realized that I often talk about writing exercises in my texts here as well, so if you’ve been reading my content for some time, why don’t you get a lovely notebook for just this purpose?) and think about any ideas and memories of your childhood: What brought joy, fun and lightness into your day? Crafting, playing an instrument, dancing, singing, doing…?

Go back in your memory and think about what you did for birthday games, what you enjoyed on lazy Sunday afternoons, what you did before bedtime, what things you could do for hours, what was the most fun to play with your friends.

You look back on your childhood for inspiration because most of the time we forget about the things which brought us joy back in the times when we had no responsibility and schedules dictating our days. The things we loved as a kid are still somewhere inside us. 

Even in tough childhoods, there were likely still a couple of things that brought you joy, and no matter how small those things are, they are still tools you can tap into.

Anything that comes to mind, it’s all gold nuggets that just need to be dug out and it will be super helpful for a life with more lightness and fun! Write it all down!

The next step is to go through that list and ask yourself:

• Do I still do this sometimes?
• If not, why did I stop doing this?
• Would I enjoy doing this again?
• If yes, what would it take to restart?

Now you have a list with one or several things that bring you fun, joy, and laughter and that you can take action towards having more of it in your life. Choose one which feels the most fun and easy for you. Can you commit to doing it this week? Let’s do this!

Throughout every day there are countless opportunities to consciously create fun and joyful moments. We’ve already talked about hobbies, sports, crafts, club activities… and yet there’s more! If you simply look around you, you will discover that fun, joy, and laughter are available everywhere. Here are some ideas for how I create fun in my own life:

• Do a picnic on the floor in your apartment for dinner (outside counts too of course but inside is so “different” that it’s extra special and if you have kids, they will cherish this memory forever!)
• When you walk past a playground, slide down the slides or have fun on the swings. It’s mandatory!! : ) Of course YOU decide but honestly go back to the playgrounds and make you and your little self very happy!
• Sing or whistle a song on your (dog)walk just because it lights you up… I do this in the woods, on the ski slope, even in the city. If there are people around I sing or hum in a respectful volume : ) and if they are connecting to you singing, they’ll smile and take a little joy home gifted by YOU!
• Write or draw little joyful messages and put them into the pockets and purses of your family members, friends or even random people in public spaces. (Check out the joy-cards here if you want some inspiration)
• Dance like nobody's watching when really nobody is watching. Then you can enjoy the movement without ONE thought of what others could think of you. Enjoy the music. Enjoy the lightness. Enjoy the energy you are creating (and the workout : ) that’s my favorite way to move my body…no rules, just FLOW) 

When you see the possibilities to create and have joy in everyday situations, life starts to become lighter and more fun, even amidst the more “serious” things on your plate. And the more you do it, the more opportunities you see, and the more fun and laughter you’ll experience in your life

How did you like this journaling exercise? I’m so curious to know what you discovered for yourself. Will you pick up something that you loved to do as a kid? Did you find other opportunities to amuse yourself each day to bring more joy and laughter into your day? 

I hope all of the above for you. Creating joy and fun is something that we can consciously decide to do, no matter what our life situation is at the moment or how ‘serious’ it feels or is. Our circumstances don’t have to limit our capacity for fun and joy. Hard times can bring opportunities and ideas you wouldn’t have had without the challenging condition. 

There's this incredible story from Brendon Burchard I’ll remember forever: He grew up in Montana and winters there are COLD. When the heater broke and his parents didn’t have the money to fix it, they were in danger of freezing at night. They didn’t let the four kids know how serious the situation was. Instead they put up their family tent in the living room and brought all the blankets and sleeping bags inside. The six of them were sleeping wonderfully cozy warm and had so much fun camping in the living room. Brendon told everyone in school with excitement about that indoor adventure and his friends were jealous of this cool experience. I met Brendons mother at a live event in California and she’s simply the best. We all call her Mama B. She is loved by thousands of people and I totally see how she was so resourceful in a critical situation and how she managed to make it a fun memory for her kids.

By absolutely no means do I want to downplay whatever situation you might be in AND I am convinced with all my heart that focusing on joy and fun - no matter how big or small - will reprogram your thinking. You can transform beliefs like “life is serious” to “I create fun in my life” or “you cannot have fun when you have all of this responsibility” to “yes I can have as much fun as I want daily by choosing and doing things that bring me joy and feel fun to me”.

Exercises like this are a key element in the Joy Academy, where we know that we start where we are and we don’t have to radically change our life — unless you want to — in order to create more joy and lightness in your days.

Simple and fun but profound and insightful exercises support you in transforming yourself and your life how YOU want. It’s exercises like the one we’ve gone through in this text that help you listen to and respect your feelings and allow them to be your guide so that you can confidently make decisions that create more relaxation, light-heartedness, and creativity throughout your life.

Are you ready to experience more joy and lightness every day? Sign up here for the Joy Academy.

Let’s make this world more playful, colorful and JOYful.