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What's the Thing That Makes It Fun?
122 Plays5 years ago
A CNF Snack (tapas?) on the nature of fun featuring Christopher McDougall.
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Transcript
The Role of Fun in Art and Creativity
00:00:04
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Whether it's David Foster Wallace talking about fun, or Chase Jarvis telling you to create without judgment, there's often a sense that writing, and even art, must be earnest and painful.
Embracing a Lighthearted Work Approach
00:00:16
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Speaking from experience, the more loose I am, the lighter I approach the work, the better it is. Of course that's relative, but for me, that's when it's better.
Fun as a Tool for Motivation in Daily Tasks
00:00:26
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And that's something echoed in the work of Christopher McDougall, too. He's the author of most recently, Running with Sherman, The Donkey with the Heart of a Hero, and Born to Run. He told me,
00:00:42
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you're going to postpone it. You're just not going to do it. And so it's like for exercise, for dieting, anything you don't want to do, you will find a reason not to do
Balancing Work and Activity with Joy
00:00:51
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it. And so I think even with all those aspects with nutrition and exercise and everything, you got to negotiate a happy compromise. You got to figure out what's the thing that makes it fun and then do that thing. And so what I realized is that as long as the sun is up,
00:01:09
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I am not getting shit done. I am not gonna be at my desk. And so I get up in the morning and just blast out the door and just busy myself with stuff.
00:01:18
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all during the sunlight hours. And then it gets around five or six, I'm physically tired, I'm winding down, I eat some good food, and then I'm ready to sit down like seven o'clock at night and just bust it out till midnight one o'clock in the morning. You got that right. What is the thing that makes it fun?
Incorporating Joy in Serious Work
00:01:36
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Sure, some topics are heavy and not always fun. I'm thinking Eli Sazlow having to write, rising out of hatred.
00:01:43
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Not fun. Not fun topic matter. But there are these moments of joy. There must be moments of joy. Otherwise, why do it? And you can hear it in Chris's voice.
Unlocking Potential Through Fun
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That the work is fun. And that's the key to unlocking your potential. Play and
Recommended Episodes and Engagement
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fun.
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So you might want to pair this episode with interview 172 with Christopher Rick Dougal, as well as episode 169, the interview with Chase Jarvis. As always, thanks for listening. Be sure to subscribe to the show wherever you get your podcasts, and leave a kind rating on Apple Podcasts. Newsletter and show notes are at brendadomero.com. Hey, hey. And please keep the conversation going on Twitter at cnfpod. All right, party on, CNFers.