There are two basic ways to change behavior. One is through attraction and the other is through avoidance. When we use avoidance, we impose something that is to be avoided, such as jail, and tell people they should to avoid it at all costs. It's intended to change their behavior because they want to avoid doing anything that will cause them to go to jail and lose their freedom.
The other way of changing behavior is through attraction, such as making money or having fun. The old adage "you'll catch more flies with honey than with vinegar" is intended to put forth the premise that it's better to attract than try to force things to happen.
The problem is our normal psychology responds better to avoidance than attraction. While that's unfortunate, it's basically a fact. However, if we use fun as the attraction, then it may be more powerful than avoidance.
If we can make things fun more often, I believe attraction will work much better than avoidance. For instance,
click here to see a video from Stockholm, Sweden, in which the stairs next to an escalator were effectively made into a piano that played notes according to the steps that were stepped on. If you watch the video, you'll notice that many more people took the stairs just so they could have some fun, rather than taking the escalator. In fact, 66% more people took the stairs than normally would have taken them just because it was so much fun to do so.
Consider what our world would look like if we could all have more fun - every day - regardless of our age or "position" in the world? Have you seen Google's headquarters? They have a fireman's pole between floors and all kinds of entertainment to help relieve stress of their employees while at work. Their employees work incredibly long hours and yet their attrition rate is relatively low. Their stock is over $500/share even in these challenging times. They seem to attract the very best people as employees in their industry and it appears that having fun is a big part of the allure to being an employee there.
How can you increase the level of fun in your life? Can you think of ways you can improve your fun quotient every day? How about a water balloon fight? What about a whimsical moment from time to time? What would it be like to be Present for a few minutes every day by walking outside and just being with the plants and shrubs? How about a musical relief moment from time to time in your office? What about some pastries for no reason at all one day? Or an extra half hour for lunch one day - without it being Secretaries' Day?
Here's the challenge for you: find new and refreshing ways to bring more fun into your life at work, at home and on the way back and forth. Share your ideas with your friends and family and see what they offer. Implement at least one fun thing to do at least once a week to start with and then increase them until it's at least once a day. You don't have to spend more than five minutes each day, but it will make a big difference in your life and theirs as well. Make each day of your life more fun and I promise you'll enjoy your life more than you ever thought possible. It will also reduce your stress levels, lower your blood pressure cholesterol and even your blood sugar if you laugh a lot. Some have even cured their cancer with laughter. Of course, these are not medically proven methods, but I'm seriously betting they'll actually work, especially if you add a little
EFT into the mix as you have fun.
Have a fun day and enjoy the challenge to bring more fun into your life.
Blessings,
Ted
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