How to Lower Your Stress and Have More Fun

Let me start by wishing you a wonderful holiday season!

I hope that you will be able to take some time off and recharge before the new year begins.

I am about to hop on a plane for my annual trip to Mexico!

I am really excited for some family time, rest and, of course, some fun after a hectic year.

Speaking of fun, I’d like to share my theme with you for 2025.

Each year, I pick a theme to guide my life and help me to prioritize how I spend my time.

In 2023, my theme was survival. This was the year that I lost both my parents just five months apart. It was gruelling.

In 2024, my theme was recovery. I had to take the time to regroup. I had to work through lots of grief and learn to find my footing once again without the love and support of my beloved parents.

In 2025, my theme is going to be fun. I am now ready to live with more joy and bring some levity back to my life.

As I was thinking about this theme, I stumbled upon an amazing book called The Power of Fun: How to Feel Alive Again by Catherine Price.

Boy, did this book speak to me!!

In this book, science journalist Catherine Price asked thousands of people across the world to describe their most fun experiences.

After analyzing their answers, she created a definition of “true” fun, which is a confluence of playfulness, connection, and flow.

She also talks about why having fun is good for your mental and physical health. She provides a “fun audit” and shares tips on how to focus on what brings you joy!

So, what are some ways that you can have more fun?

Well, Catherine Price talks about the following types of fun:

• Microdoses. This means that you inject small moments of fun into your day-to-day life, for example, booking a weekly walk with a fun friend or signing up for a weekly guitar lesson.
• Booster shots. These are larger-scale events that make you happy, for example, attending a concert of your favourite musician or planning a trip to a place that you are excited to visit.

I also believe that as a leader, it’s important to add microdoses of fun at work.

You can do this by making everyone feel comfortable in your presence, laughing easily or going with the flow more!

You can microdose fun into your meetings by injecting some humour and creativity, starting meetings with a funny icebreaker or celebrating your successes with a pizza lunch.

So, instead of scrolling on your phone or focussing on the news which is always so negative, why not deliberately focus on connection and what brings you joy.

How about doing something that will surprise or delight someone else?

So, are you in?

Would you like to join me on my path of having more fun this year?

Wishing you a fulfilling and FUN new year!