Live Your Extraordinary Life With Michelle Rios

Are You Having Any Fun? The Secrets to Thriving, Not Just Surviving

• Michelle Rios • Episode 66

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What if having fun could be the key to your success? Join me, Michelle Rios, on this week's episode of the Live Your Extraordinary Life podcast as we explore how incorporating joy and playfulness can revolutionize your work and personal life. As so many of you gear up for the 4th of July, family reunions, and summer getaways, let's take a moment to rethink the hustle and grind mentality by embracing the powerful impact of fun on creativity, productivity, and overall fulfillment. We'll dive into compelling insights from a Harvard Business Review study, and I'll share my own journey of rediscovering childlike joy to challenge the outdated notion of postponing happiness until after work.

In this episode, we underscore the vital role of fun in forming strong relationships and achieving lasting success. You'll find practical strategies tailored for busy professionals and high achievers, from scheduling hobbies and game nights to practicing mindfulness and surrounding yourself with joyous individuals. By celebrating small wins and integrating playfulness into our routines, we can foster resilience, enhance creativity, and maintain positive energy. Tune in to discover how prioritizing fun can create a fulfilling and balanced path to success, making not just the destination, but the journey itself, extraordinary.

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celebrate small wins, take time to celebrate little things in life matter. We're never guaranteed a certain number of days in this human experience, and so it's really important to not hold out for using the good china, or hold out for when you're going to open that bottle of champagne or go out with friends to dinner, or just celebrate the fact that you got through some challenging stuff. You put yourself out there another week. Hi, I'm Michelle Rios, host of the Live your Extraordinary Life podcast. This podcast is built on the premise that life is meant to be joyful, but far too often we settle for less. So if you've ever thought that something is missing from your life, that you were meant for more, or you simply want to experience more joy in the everyday, then this podcast is for you. Each week, I'll bring you captivating personal stories, transformative life lessons and juicy conversations on living life to the fullest, with the hope to inspire you to create a life you love on your terms, with authenticity, purpose and connection. Together, we'll explore what it means to live an extraordinary life, the things that hold us back and the steps we all can take to start living our best lives. So come along for the journey. It's never too late to get started and the world needs your light. Hello everyone, and welcome to another episode of the Live your Extraordinary Life podcast.

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I'm your host, michelle Rios, and today we're talking about a topic that's often overlooked and that is the importance of having fun and leaning into joy to actually achieve success. And given that it is the weekend before the 4th of July here in the US and so many people are taking summer vacations, traveling, going to the beach, hanging out at the pool, it feels like an appropriate time to talk about fun. Close your eyes for a minute and just ask yourself what is your capacity for fun? Your capacity for fun and I ask this sincerely as somebody who oscillates between really knowing how to have a good time and let her hair down and travel and see friends and go to the beach and hike and all the things I enjoy doing to really working hard and often doing the all or nothing approach, not because I don't want to lean into joy or fun more regularly, but I get very focused on the work I'm doing, and I think that that is something that many high achievers, entrepreneurs, busy professionals, busy moms and dads we just tend to get really focused on our schedules and our routines and our to-do lists, and that happens right the longer hours, the endless to-dos, the relentless pursuit of goals. But what if you knew that having fun and embracing joy could actually be the missing piece to feeling more successful and being more successful?

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Today, I want to explore why having fun isn't just a nice to have or a nice to do, but it's a necessity for overall success and well-being. Let's start with a common scenario. You're a busy professional entrepreneur, your business is your baby. This is the scenario I'm in right now. I find myself in.

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But in the early days it's all hands on deck, you work around the clock, skip meals, miss sleep, you sacrifice time with loved ones. The hustle and grind seems to be the only way to make things a reality, but we know that that's not the case, right? We know that We've been talking for weeks about the importance of slowing down in order to give our brains and our cognitive load a break, so that we can drop down more into the divine feminine and tap into our intuition and greater creativity for problem solving. So that's what we're going to talk about now, because the approach of hustle and grind is just unsustainable and we actually need to create space for fun, not just downtime, but actual fun, creativity, laughter, all of that which contributes to both emotional and physical well-being. So there was a study conducted by the Harvard Business Review regarding fun fun in the workplace, and this was done both from a traditional workplace and office setting, as well as those people who actually worked as entrepreneurs and solopreneurs. And the reality is they found that the more fun at work was had during your workday, the more creative, more productive and more satisfied you were with your work product. So when you allow yourself to have more fun, you create a positive environment that fosters creativity and innovation.

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But I think so many of us and I will speak for myself here grew up with the mentality of we work first and then we play. We work first and we delay joy until the work is done right, hi-ho, hi-ho, off to work, we go. I was certainly in that environment growing up, not just in my family, but I think all of New England is pretty much like that certainly Maine. We work very hard and then you play on the weekends. But what if play needed to be something that we injected more into our everyday experience and I say that with a little bit of experience around this the last several years for me have really been about bringing my childlike behavior back into the fold, to remember what it was like to have fun, to be carefree, because what I have found to be the case is that I get into a place of flow when I'm relaxed, when I'm having fun, when I'm feeling just witty and with friends and being a little silly. That actually creates a higher state of creativity for me and I actually produce better work. My writing is better, my podcast deliveries tend to be better. You let me know, but I know that that's certainly what I have found, which is very counterculture to the way I was raised and certainly the way I spent most of my work life.

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I often would say, oh, if I have fun now, it'll be hard to get started and I'll put off the work and then it won't get done, and you know the drill. I think a lot of you probably relate to this right. But what if we were able to actually inject fun into our everyday experience so that that playfulness and joy that we feel helps us reduce our stress level, gets us into a state of flow? And because you all now know from listening to this podcast that everything is energy, raises your vibration, which is what we wanna do, right? We wanna raise our vibration to a state that's really in the state of love, whether that's joy, happiness, generosity, fun, enjoyment, what have you?

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The idea is, the higher the frequency, the higher the vibration of which you are operating, the easier it is to attract into your life that which you desire. It's actually pretty simple, but we overthink it and we don't trust ourselves, do we? We often think, no, I don't feel disciplined around this task or this assignment. I just got to buckle down and push through, and that certainly can be the case. I have to do that on some occasions where it's just a requirement of get it done, so I can get beyond it. But when we're talking about longer term tasks or repetitive tasks, even things that you need to do on a regular basis, that might actually not be that fun. How can you inject more joy into it so that when you are taking on the time to do this task or this particular project, you're actually bringing a better vibration, a higher vibration and state of being to it that allows you to attract more good into your life? So, again, we talk about this energy and vibration. We know this when we lean into joy and have fun. We're elevating your vibrational frequency and the higher frequency attracts more positive experiences and opportunities. It's the law of attraction and the law of resonance in action. So law of attraction is you do not attract that which you want, you attract that which you are. So like attracts like. And the law of resonance is you attract on the frequency of which you are vibrating. So when you radiate joy, you become a magnet for more joy, for more happiness, for more success.

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There's a wonderful book that a friend of mine actually was reading not too long ago and he'll know who he is as he listens to this. He mentioned that he's reading David Hawkins' book Power Versus Force. I had read it some time ago and it prompted me to pull it back out again, and I'm so glad I did. Because in Power Versus Force Dr Hawkins explains that emotions like joy, love and peace that calibrate at these higher frequencies are so much more powerful than lower frequency emotions. We know this right Fear, anger and guilt, lower frequencies, but also stress, frustration when we get stuck in doing things, getting stuck, all of those feelings that are sort of lower frequency vibrations. They actually make it more difficult to get work done. So, the more we're cultivating joy, you're not just improving your mood and relieving stress, you're actually enhancing your energetic presence, making it easier to attract the success and the other experiences you desire.

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Now let's consider the impact of fun on relationships. This is actually probably an easy one for everyone to get their head around, because you know that you want to be around people who are happy. Right, you want to be around people who are having fun. But what about when you're busy? What about when you have a lot to do? It's harder, right, higher achievers often struggle to balance their work and personal lives, but strong, positive relationships are crucial for long-term success in business and life. So when you take time to have fun with your loved ones, your friends whether that's just share a meal together, go for a walk, see a movie, go to the pool in the summer, go for a bike ride it doesn't have to be long periods of time, but when you make that time, create the space to have fun with the people you love, you not only build stronger bonds, you create a support system that will help you through not only the good, but also the more challenging times. So there was some research conducted out of the University of Oxford that focused on social connections and demonstrated that social connections and having fun with friends and family can boost your overall happiness and well-being.

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Pretty straightforward and something you would expect, right? But this doesn't just make you feel good. It directly impacts your performance and productivity related to work. Happy people are more engaged, they're more resilient and they're actually more motivated, which is actually counter to a lot of the concerns I've historically had, which is, if I let myself go out and have fun, I'm not gonna get that fill in the blank project task or what have you that's challenging done? I need to sit here and push through and then I can enjoy myself.

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And I know there are a lot of parents out there listening, probably going. You have no idea how hard it is to get my kid to sit down. I'm talking about adults here. Kids do have an ability to have more fun more often than we do, and I think it's about reminding ourselves that we can't lose that in adulthood. We have to remember what it's like to be able to step back into that childlike behavior, even if it's momentary, in order to cultivate that well-being and joyous feelings that raise our vibrations. So let's talk about some practical tips. I mean having fun seems like easy stuff, but again, I think so many of us are trying to achieve big things can find it challenging to actually create space and cultivate that space for having a good time. So here goes it's just going to be like rest and downtime.

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One of the ways to incorporate fun into your life is to schedule it. Just schedule it like you would a meeting or a work task, or we talked last week about scheduling downtime and rest. Fun is the same thing, whether it's a hobby or a game night, a walk in the park. Make it a priority and in some cases, fun will be your rest. Not always, but in some cases. Practicing mindfulness, going back to the importance of whether it's meditation or breath work or some sort of modality that helps ground you in the present moment that is going to help you enjoy the little things and find joy in everyday activities, not just when you're on vacation. Right, there's no way we can just wait and hold out for vacation. Fun and the benefits of having fun need to be something that we tap into much more regularly, hopefully on a daily basis for most. Surround yourself with joyous people. It's that simple Energy is contagious when you spend time with people who uplift you and bring out your playful side. It's a win-win. You're creating that energetic experience at a higher level, a higher frequency, higher vibration that both of you can benefit from.

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Embrace playfulness, allow yourself to be silly and spontaneous. Now, a lot of you will find this shocking that I am actually funny, but I come across serious a lot when I'm talking about my work because I'm super passionate about it. I wanna make sure the message gets out across, but sometimes I lose the impact of how fun I can be and I'm gonna do a much better job or be at least more cognizant about bringing that side out into my work, as I can be and I'm going to do a much better job or be at least more cognizant about bringing that side out into my work as I move forward. I think it's important. I think it's also gives permission to others to recognize that being playful and being silly and being spontaneous doesn't detract from your seriousness or your work ethic or how you show up. It just adds a depth to you and it can actually spark creativity and innovation, not only in you but in others.

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And last but not least, celebrate small wins. Take this time to celebrate. Little things in life matter. We're never guaranteed a certain number of days in this human experience, and so it's really important to not hold out for using the good tina, or hold out for when you're going to open that bottle of champagne or go out with friends to dinner or just celebrate the fact that you got through a hard week. You got through some challenging stuff, you put yourself out there. Another week you were stuck and you got unstuck. You kept going through challenging times. Celebrate the small wins. It doesn't matter how small they are, but when you do that, it reinforces positive behavior and it keeps you motivated. Positive behavior and it keeps you motivated.

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So I just want to reiterate this idea of having fun and leaning into joy are not just optional extras for high achievers, entrepreneurs, busy professionals, busy moms and dads. They're essential for successful, fulfilling lives. When we prioritize fun, you can enhance your creativity, your well-being, your relationships, your overall energy. You actually create a positive feedback loop that attracts more success and joy into your life. Let me say that again by prioritizing fun, you enhance your creativity, well-being, relationships and overall energy. You actually create a positive feedback loop that attracts more success and joy into your life. So remember, the journey to success doesn't have to be all grind and no play.

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We've been talking about this for some time. It needs to include downtime, it needs to include space for the divine feminine intuition and creativity to come forth and it needs to include time for play, playfulness, being with others, being silly, letting your guard down. So embrace joy, have fun and watch how your extraordinary life unfolds. Have fun and watch how your extraordinary life unfolds. Thank you for listening to today's episode. If you enjoyed this podcast episode, please take a moment to rate and review. If you have recommendations for future topics, please reach out to me at michelleriosofficialcom. Lastly, please consider supporting this podcast by sharing it. Together, we can reach, inspire and positively impact more people. Thank you.

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Michelle Rios

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