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Pens down, books closed. We’re smack bang in the middle of the festive season and the end of the year is nigh.
That makes now the time to enjoy a well-deserved break where you genuinely switch off, power down and spend quality time with the people you love.
As much as we talk about the hard work and discipline required to succeed in real estate, this is the time of year when the pendulum swings the other way.
It’s the moment to reap the rewards of your hard work with rest, relaxation, and also a little fun.
Make no mistake that last one is important, not just when you’re having a break but as part of your daily agenda.
Here’s why.
A daily dose of fun
Science journalist Catherine Price explains that a daily dose of “fun” is not only enjoyable, it’s essential for our health and happiness.
In a fascinating TED Talk, she notes fun is the key to feeling alive.
That’s important in an age where we’re busy to the point of exhaustion, but languishing and not really living as a result.
But it also begs the question, what is fun? Because it’s not just anything you do in your leisure time.
Catherine says despite the dictionary definition and common perception, fun is not frivolous; it’s not something reserved for children.
It’s also not just an activity, but rather it’s a feeling.
“True fun produces this visceral sense of lightness and joy. It’s radiant,” she says.
Three key elements of fun
After years of study and countless interviews with people, Catherine believes true fun involves the intersection of three elements:
Playfulness – As in a lighthearted attitude, where we let down our guard and do things for the sake of doing them, without caring too much about the outcome.
Connection – Where it’s a shared experience with other people and also occasionally with our environment or surrounds.
Flow – As in the state where we’re so engaged in whatever it is that we’re doing that we can even lose track of time.
When we experience those three elements all at once, that’s the definition of “fun”. As Catherine goes on to explain, true fun doesn’t just feel good, it’s actually good for us.
Fun is a health investment
A lot of column space has been given to the damage that stress can cause in our lives. We know it impacts our health in a whole host of different ways, making us more prone to illness and disease.
Fun has the polar opposite effect
It makes us healthier by eliciting a sense of relaxation that actually affects the hormonal response in our bodies.
It is energising, it makes us more present, it unites us. Finally, fun is joyful. It genuinely makes us happy.
Let fun be on your agenda
Catherine’s TED Talk also includes some great suggestions on how to make fun more of a priority in your life, and I urge you to take the time to watch it and hear what she has to say.
But for now, as we turn the page on one year and look towards the next, I wish you all fun – not just these holidays, but at every opportunity possible.
Manos Findikakis is the CEO of Agents’Agency.
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