Today, I’m live-blogging from the Catalyst West conference in Irvine, California. Throughout today and tomorrow, I will be sharing leadership insights from the best and the brightest in the church and business world.
Image courtesy of Catalyst
Jon Acuff is the next to take the stage. Jon is the New York Times Bestselling author of six books. His most recent book is Finish: Give Yourself The Gift Of Done.
Fun matters. In our culture though, we believe goals have to be miserable to be important. We go for the full marathon instead of starting with the half marathon or 10k. Heck, they even pass over the 5k.
If it’s miserable, it counts. If it’s not miserable, does it really matter?
The truth is fun matters. And we have to get back to fun.
Look at how organizations set goals. Many organizations use something called S.M.A.R.T. goals. They’re specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and time-bound. Where’s the fun in that?
Maybe except in vacation goals. They’re time-bound. You know when they’re going to end.
When you study a principle, you measure two factors:
Satisfaction – How you feel
Performance success – How you did
Yes, you’ll have things in your job or your work where you don’t have fun. That’s part of work. Still, you can have fun.
Jon had an experience at one of his speaking events for essential oils. He was signing his book when a lady came up and handed him a bottle of Myrrh. He thanked her and continued signing books.
Image courtesy of Catalyst
Five minutes later, he feels an oily hand the back of his head. Then oil being poured ON his head and her hand massaging the oil into his scalp.
That’s when the woman said, “I’m anointing you with oil!”
This could have been a bad experience. It could have left Jon with a bad taste in his mouth. He looked for a way to make this fun.
He saw the positive side of what happened. Jokes have now come from this experience. He was able to have an interesting chat with his wife.
Jon’s odd and weird experience with the anointing woman has now become a fun story.
Don’t let oddness or awkwardness stop you from having fun.
Fun takes courage. Cool doesn’t take courage.
Fun is expensive. And you have to get good at fun.
Think about the story of the prodigal son. The prodigal son screwed up. He chose to leave his father and family and do his own thing. He squandered wealth and status.
But his father saw him coming from afar. He saw his son returning. And he allowed his son to return with fun.
A party was thrown. He welcomed his son home to a fun experience.
You can have fun in the difficult situations. Have fun.
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