Daily Tip #30 - Do Something Fun!

0:01 – The Final Tip 

Hello again, it's Shane from MATRIX. I'm bringing you Daily Tip #30 today, and this is going to be the final Daily Tip. You've got a whole month's worth of Tips, now. Hopefully, if you're on the mailing list and have access to the archive, that's enough to keep you busy and something to keep checking back in on when you need some refreshers. But since we're on our last Daily Tip, I am happy to say that I think I might have saved the most important one for last.

0:31 – Do Something Fun 

It's really simple. It's do something fun, every single day! Make sure you set aside some time like we've been talking about -- set a timer, put on the calendar to get out and do something that you enjoy. It could be running around playing with your kids, maybe it's playing a video game, reading a book, watching a TV show. It could be pondering the universe. It doesn't matter. You just need to make sure that every single day you bring something into your life that gives you joy.

1:03 – Direct and Indirect Joy

In addition to this, what I would also say is don't spend your time on anything that doesn't at least directly or indirectly bring you joy. So, what does that mean? Directly is pretty obvious, okay. It's those things that we love doing that put a smile on our face. Indirect is more things, like work. Sure, some of us are lucky and we get to enjoy the things we do. Others, it's a little bit of a daily grind. However, hopefully you recognize you're doing those things for a reason. It's giving you the ability to go out and do the things that you do enjoy. So, it's indirectly giving you joy. If there are things in your life that aren't doing either of those, direct or indirect joy, let them go.

1:50 – Finding Joy

And the last little piece I'll add to this is something I've started doing in the last few months. And it's a little bit of a way to help you start to find out what brings you joy. And what things might indirectly be bringing you joy as well. And it's really simple. I use an app. There's also a journal you can buy. It's called the Five-Minute Journal. And basically, you take a couple of minutes every morning and every night to do some really simple things. In the morning, you write down, what are you grateful for and what are you going to do to make this day great. In the evening, you write down three amazing things that happened. And again, it doesn't have to be mind-blowing amazing stuff. It could be something really simple. Like for me, my rabbit putting this out on my lap. Pretty awesome. It's an amazing thing that happens but real small, real simple. And then after that, you can also write down what one thing could you have done to make today a little bit better. So that you can think about setting that goal for the next day.

2:51 - Recap

That's it for our final Tip. It is super important. Every day you should be doing something that brings a smile to your face. It's going to help you reduce stress and nothing better at reducing stress is there than doing something that makes you joyful. Recognize things can directly and indirectly give you joy. And if the thing that you're doing is not doing that one way or the other. Stop doing it and put it away. And then lastly, consider taking some time every day to think about what are you grateful for, what gives you joy, and how you can achieve that in the day to come. And then reflect on what actually happened that day. And you'll notice that over time, that will really start to build and you'll be finding joy in even some smaller things that you might not have thought about.

3:38 – What’s Next

I want to thank you all so much for having been on this journey with me for the last 30 Tips. But don't worry, just because the Tips are ending does not mean that there is nothing else that I'll be bringing your way. It'll just be changing forms and formats. For example, today at 1 o'clock, I'm doing a talk on the Roger Williams UC Facebook Page live. That's already something you can join into. And then keep your eyes peeled for other Facebook posts, emails about other things that might be coming up as well.

4:08 - Farewell

Thank you again. It's been wonderful working with you. And I hope to see you again sooner than later.