by Paul Long
Number 13: Volunteer or donate to a cause that moves you.
Number 14: Create a to-do list, check off tasks as they’re completed, and reward yourself when accomplishments are met. Create a point system for yourself or take time out to reflect on your accomplishments once you complete items.
Number 15: Go someplace you have never been or try something new.
Number 16: Voice your appreciation when people do things for you. Express genuine sincerity when saying thanks and tell them WHY it was important to you.
Number 17: Progressive learning. Challenge yourself to learn something new every day. Research crazy facts, the history of people that interest you, cook a new dish, explore a new hobby, etc.
Number 18: Hang out with a friend(s).
Number 19: Turn off your phone and email for one hour. Take time for yourself without distractions and be present.
Number 20: Be cordial. For one day, say hello or good day to everyone that makes eye contact. Spark up conversation with a stranger.
Number 21: Enjoy your favorite meal.
Number 22: Play a game. It can be a video game, card game, or a sport with friends or family. Want to have even more fun? Make up your own new game!
Number 23: Express confidence. Force yourself to be more assertive and sure of yourself. Wear bright colored socks, approach people you do not typically interact with, tell your family something you are proud of that you accomplished in the day, and more.
Number 24: Be environmentally conscious. Pick up trash on the street, volunteer to clean up a park or garden, etc.
Number 25: Write down your thoughts. Keep a diary or journal, and reflect regularly.
Number 26: Let go of a fear. Release yourself of an inhibition or conquer a fear. Ride a roller coaster, dance in public, sing in front of others, or do something you have thought about for years but never had the courage to do.
Number 27: Get organized. Organize your closet, your contact list, email, etc.
Number 28: Envision your future and develop a plan to make it happen. Dream big. What are the three things you can do within the next week to get closer to accomplishing your goal?
Number 29: Give yourself a gift. Take a vacation day to yourself, buy a splurge item, treat yourself to your favorite dish, etc.
Number 30: Pay it forward. Pay someone’s toll, buy coffee for the next person in line, pick up the tab at dinner, etc.
Number 31: Appreciate or acknowledge the little things. Smell the flowers, listen to your friends or family laughing, observe how beautiful/handsome your spouse is, and more.
Number 32: Find someone to talk with. Talk about everything or anything with someone in your life. Express your thoughts or opinions to a good listener.
Number 33: Release negativity that’s been plaguing you. Forgive a friend or make peace with an old issue that’s been bothering you. Call them or schedule a meeting.
Number 34: Steer clear of gossip or negative talk.
Number 35: Self-talk. Talk to yourself throughout the day. Give yourself positive feedback, ask yourself questions, or pump yourself up.
Number 36: Ask to speak with someone’s superior and let the superior know the person did their job really well.
Number 37: Speak with a smile. Mama always told you, it is not what you say but how you say it. Communicate with a smile and see how much of a difference it makes.
Number 38: Paint a picture. It can be something basic like a rainbow or something complex like the Mona Lisa. Whatever you choose, just enjoy being creative and artistic.
Number 39: Take a yoga class or try a few poses from the internet.
Number 40: Improv. Use your imagination at a team meeting or family gathering, and get everyone involved. You can do an internet search of “improv games” and find tons of examples or create your own.
Number 41: Show a genuine interest in others by asking open-ended questions to learn more about them. Try asking coworkers or family members things that you may not know about them.
Number 42: Hide-and-seek. Get a crew of family, friends, or coworkers together and let the fun begin.
Number 43: Photography. Identify a few places, people, or moments you would like to capture. Try using different filters, captions, angles, and more to add flavor to the imagery.
Number 44: Wear a costume while performing a daily task. Wear an old Halloween outfit to the grocery store and act like it’s just a normal day.
Number 45: What’s the best thing that’s happened to you today? Write it down and revisit it on a day when things aren’t going your way. As your day evolves and better things happen, write them down too!
Number 46: Create a game at work. Call center bingo, Jeopardy-style learning, coworker trivia, alphabet games where one coworker identifies a fun word starting with the letter A then moves down the line with the next coworker and letter. Research “fun games at work” or come up with your own.
Number 47: Water balloon fight. Fill up fifty to a hundred water balloons and invite neighbors or coworkers to join in. Line up in rows in front of partners and see how far you can play catch with a water balloon without it breaking (this is also super fun with a raw egg).
Number 48: Go for a walk and identify the things you appreciate along the path.
Number 49: Write a thank-you note to internal/external customers, employees, family, or anyone you think is deserving.
Number 50: Make a craft for someone you care about. Do an internet search for ideas or come up with your own.
Number 51: Send a funny meme to your friends.
Number 52: High five the next five people you see and tell them to have a great day.
Number 53: While doing an activity or working as a collective group, allow each person in the group to choose a song to listen to. Ask each group member why they selected that song and what it means to them.
Number 54: Take a nap. Find a cozy spot and get some rest.
Number 55: Get a massage. Ask a family member or pay an expert. I get full body reflexology every month, and it costs around $45/hour.
Number 56: Color a picture. Find an adult coloring book or create your own. When was the last time you played with crayons?
Number 57: Board game night. Invite family or neighbors over and have a ball. Whoever hosts gets to choose the game. This can also be done in the office over a team meeting.
Number 58: Spontaneous road trip. Pack a small bag, grab the family, and get out of dodge! Identify places you would like to visit within a 400-mile radius and make it happen.
Number 59: Take a bath. Candles, some good music, and your favorite beverage. Men, do not be too proud. I take baths on the reg, and they are WONDERFUL.
Number 60: Share funny stories. What is the funniest thing that has ever happened to you? Task a few individuals in your circle to write down their most memorable two to three, and share them over lunch.
Number 61: Visit a museum and create your own stories of how the artist got the inspiration for each piece.
Number 62: Sing a song. It can be one of your favorites or something you make up. No one is listening to you, so belt it out!
Number 63: Write a poem. Never done it before? Who cares! Find words that rhyme and throw them together in a few phrases. See what happens.
Number 64: Find a quote that speaks to you and live by it for a day.
Number 65: Put together a bowl of random phrases, pull one daily, and use it seamlessly in conversation.
Number 66: Create a competition. Whatever you come up with, energy is created when competing against yourself or others.
Number 67: Text five people in your contact list and tell them what you appreciate about them.
Number 68: Cloud pictures. Observe clouds in the sky with a friend, coworker, or family member. Use your imagination and tell each other what pictures you see.
Number 69: Be present and observe ten things around you at this moment that you appreciate.
Number 70: Jump! When something good happen
s, someone tells you something exciting, you leave work for the day, or anything else that merits it, jump. Feel the spirit of being a child again and literally jump for joy.
Number 71: Go camping in your backyard. Grab a tent, some blankets, ingredients for s’mores, and a creative mind for storytelling.
Number 72: Build an indoor fort. This is still one of my all-time favorites. Grab pillows, blankets, and anything else you can find around the house to make the most boss fort possible.
Number 73: Buy half a dozen shakes or frappes, and recruit five other people to have a speed-drinking competition. Make sure someone photographs the brain freeze moments.
Number 74: Secretly place sticky note happy faces on your coworkers’ office space. Never tell who is responsible.
Number 75: Nerf battle. Blonds vs. brunettes, solid colors vs. non-solid colors, men vs. women, leadership team vs. direct reports. You choose the teams, just make it fun.
Number 76: For your next department meeting, have everyone take a selfie and leverage it to draw a self-portrait. Hang them in a common space and have other departments guess who each portrait is.
Number 77: Bring a blender and ingredients to work to make smoothies. Make one afternoon a smoothie afternoon and deliver small cups of smoothies to your coworkers, complete with Reddi-wip.
Number 78: Word of the day. Think Pee-wee’s Playhouse. Decide amongst a group on a crazy word like “discombobulated,” and see how many times you can work that word into conversation for the day. Highest total number of uses wins.
Number 79: Create a cardboard cutout of yourself that is life-size, and place it in your desk chair whenever you leave your office.
Number 80: Challenge some coworkers to a dollar store lunch. Everyone goes to the dollar store, can spend no more than five dollars, and reveals their lunch when they get back to the office. It will probably be mildly disgusting and fun!
Number 81: Start your next meeting by having everyone share their favorite movie line done in the best voice impression possible.
Number 82: Surprise everyone at work or at home with ice cream and all the fixings for an ice cream sundae party. This makes for a great pick-me-up in the afternoon and gets everyone talking and connecting.
Number 83: Blow up a watermelon in the parking lot at work.
Number 84: Organize remote control car races in the hallways of your office.
Number 85: While sitting at your desk answering emails, wear a giant foam cowboy hat. See how many people comment on it.
Number 86: Partner up with a coworker and dress as each other for a day.
Number 87: Teach yourself a new dance. Macarena, dougie, electric slide, whip and nae nae, or a good-old-fashioned running man. Why dance like no one’s watching when you can show off your skills? So many individuals have a fear of dancing or say they have no rhythm. Dancing doesn’t have to be about showing how skilled you are, just have fun. The Footloose kids from Bomont had a blast—you can too!
Number 88: Go stargazing. Take the family outside where stars can be seen at their brightest.
Number 89: Attend an afternoon movie by yourself. You can go with someone you care about, if you’d like. Just take in an afternoon show and avoid the crowded theatre. It’s amazing how peaceful movies are during weekdays.
Number 90: Leverage your creativity to make up a story to tell your children or spouse.
Number 91: Play in a sprinkler. Don’t overthink it. If you see a sprinkler, stop what you’re doing and run through it!
Number 92: Have a picnic. Make your own or grab some takeout on the way. Find a relaxing spot and have a relaxing lunch outside.
Number 93: Family dance party! Have each family member pick a song and everyone has to dance. Who cares what you look like? The goal is to have fun together!
Number 94: Buy or pick some flowers for a loved one. When delivered, tell them the flowers are just because you appreciate them.
Number 95: Play catch with a friend or family member using a football, baseball, or anything you see fit.
Number 96: Go to the zoo and make up human names for each animal.
Number 97: Identify an individual that could use a lighthearted conversation and make it happen.
Number 98: Have individuals submit photos of each other and have a caption contest. Funniest caption wins!
Number 99: Find a recipe that sounds good and make it. Beginner, intermediate, or advanced chefs can all enjoy cooking a good meal (or at least eating one!).
Number 100: Create your own version of Family Feud. “We asked Steve from accounting the top five answers for the best movies of all time and his answers are . . . ?” This is a good way to see how well you know your coworkers or family while having a fun time.
FUN Chapter Takeaways
▪ Exploring your own personal foundation and completing the foundation exercises will provide a better understanding of the control YOU have in driving more FUN in life. Stop making excuses and look inward to determine what’s necessary for self-improvement.
▪ Understanding others’ perspectives can help create stronger connections and reveal additional FUN in your interactions. Completing the exercises in this section provides you a more well-rounded perspective of what shapes others and will positively impact how you experience them.
▪ You determine your next steps. This is your journey to having more FUN in life. Self-reflection and honesty are key in maximizing the effectiveness of your strategy.
▪ The FUNdamentals of fundamism help bring additional joy and satisfaction to your life. To achieve this, you must find the FUNdamentals that connect with YOU.
▪ There area multiple ways to implement fundamism in your life. Whether you incorporate one new FUNdamental a day or one per week, or you try some other method, you must be patient with yourself. Creating behavioral change and shifting a mindset take time. Journal throughout the process, self-reflect regularly, and applaud yourself for hitting milestones in growth.
Next Up
In order to make FUN a staple in your life, to truly help you get through upcoming challenges and maximize life experiences, you have to continue your journey in what fundamism means to you.
In the next and final chapter, we’ll tie a nice little bow on the concepts of fundamism while identifying what’s next for you to drive sustainability and more FUN in your life!
Chapter 6
Game Time!!!
“Sometimes life knocks you on your ass . . . Get up, get up, get up!!! Happiness is not the absence of problems, it’s the ability to deal with them.”
—Steve Maraboli
WHAT TIME IS IT?!
GAME TIME!!!
It’s been an extensive but exciting journey. We’ve explored the philosophy of fundamism, F.U.N., and the FUNdamentals to bring more joy and satisfaction to your life. You’ve spent time in self-reflection and even practiced many of the fundamism principles. Now it’s game time.
In the days, weeks, months, and even years to follow, you’ll experience challenge. How will you respond? Do you want to get over the challenge? Do you want to experience more fun in life, even with life’s challenges?
Remember the story of Vinny Pazienza from chapter 1? “It’s not that simple,” people will tell you. You might even find yourself falling into the trap and saying it to yourself, “It’s not that simple.”
Don’t believe it. You know better.
It is that simple. Do the thing they say can’t be done, and it’s done. Then you realize it is that simple, and it always was. You want a life characterized by joy? Create it. You want a life filled with FUN? Make it happen. You want a life of fulfillment where happiness is abundant and heartache finds you less and less? Stop doing the things that are creating the pain, and start doing more of the things that make you smile.
The answer is simple. Live the philosophy of fundamism and experience life through a lens that takes you beyond your wildest dreams. Find the FUNdamentals that lift you to a level you’ve always des
ired and gravitate towards all the things that give you strength.
Consistently make time to reflect and build upon your personal foundation. Leverage your understanding of others’ perspectives to drive more meaningful relationships in your life, and create an evolving implementation strategy of next steps. This is the life of F.U.N.
Vince Lombardi, former head coach of the Green Bay Packers and one of the greatest leaders of our generation, once said, “I firmly believe that any man’s finest hour, the greatest fulfillment of all that he holds dear, is that moment when he has worked his heart out in a good cause and lies exhausted on the field of battle—victorious.”