Q: Is this fun, or is this fun?
A: Depends if you having a good time now, or if you will have had a good time when it’s over.
There are two kinds of fun.
And like most things, I can explain this with a food analogy:
There is junk-food fun and there is home-cooked fun.
- Junk-Food Fun: Watching Netflix, scrolling Instagram, or playing video games.
- Home-Cooked Fun: Going on a Hike, visiting a museum, or building something.
As someone who enjoys a bag of chips or a drive-thru burger, I’m not dunking on junk-food fun. I love it when friends send me memes or I laugh at the latest Nate Bargatze comedy special.
But if we only ever chase instant dopamine fixes, we’ll succumb to instant gratification. It creates the same situation as if you told a child they could do whatever they wanted. The first few days would be epic movie marathons and candy for every meal. But after a week they’d be sick of it. Literally.
The alternative is the home-cooked fun. It’s a lot of work to prepare a good home-cooked meal—it’s much easier to unwrap a pop-tart, or tear open a bag of chips. But the effort almost makes the dish that much sweeter.
Next time you have a day-off, feel free to binge-watch a show; but consider pushing yourself to have a different kind of fun. Something that may seem hard in the moment, but leaves you feeling rewarded, accomplished, or inspired.
It may be hard while you’re doin git, but you’ll be surprised how much fun you had when you’re finished.
Actionable Question: What kind of fun am I filling my life with?
Have a fun weekend,
Andrew Nemeth