The fun habit How the pursuit of joy and wonder can change your life

Michael Rucker

Book - 2023

"The more we seek happiness, the more elusive it becomes. The Fun Habit shows readers that fun, unlike happiness, is an action you can take almost anywhere, anytime. Fun is connected to behavior and habits rather than goals, which means it's possible to get more fun into your life with intention. Whether you're a frustrated happiness-seeker looking for a new approach, a success-oriented hustler trying to balance work with a fulfilling life, or someone who experienced a life-changing trauma and needs to regain their well-being with the best medicine available, this book will show you how to reap the serious benefits fun offers us all. Grounded in science, empirical evidence, and practical recommendations, The Fun Habit delinea...tes why you should be having more fun and shows you how to rebuild the necessary skill set you need to make fun a habit. From teaching you how to escape the happiness trap, to finding just the right kind of fun for you, to spreading the fun to your friends and family, Rucker will inspire you to incorporate a bias toward fun into every aspect of your life"--

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Subjects
Published
New York : Atria Books 2023.
Language
English
Main Author
Michael Rucker (author)
Edition
First Atria Books hardcover edition
Physical Description
xv, 267 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references (pages 235-254) and index.
ISBN
9781982159054
Contents unavailable.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review

"Society has now devalued fun and leisure so much it's significantly harming us," suggests psychologist Rucker in this cheerful debut trumpeting the importance of joy. The author provides strategies for "adding novel, pleasurable activities into your daily life" and equips readers with "scientific evidence for the life-sustaining value and importance of fun." For example, Rucker recommends readers prioritize time over money, citing a study that found doing so made subjects happier, and he discusses the neurology behind emotional contagion to explain why hanging around friends with positive dispositions is likely to be more fun. To cultivate a fun mindset, Rucker advises making time for pleasure; creating a "fun file" of enjoyable activities; joining clubs, communities, and causes; and taking photos to extend "fun's power beyond the moment it occurs." The scientific grounding behind the suggestions impresses, and Rucker's stance that negative emotions are unavoidable and necessary adds nuance and guards against what he calls "toxic positivity." This is a fittingly entertaining guide. (June)

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Review by Library Journal Review

Writing a book about achieving happiness through fun activities during a global pandemic and time of epic social upheaval might not seem to be a good fit for current times, but that view would be mistaken. Organization psychologist Rucker, an influencer in workplace wellness and promoter of positive psychology, used a painful and dark time in his life as a catalyst to explore happiness in earnest, which culminated in this much-needed addition to the self-help genre. Far from being just a feel-good exhortation or collection of fun activities to embark upon, this title brings an in-depth, science-backed exploration of happiness, through the lens of having fun. Readers are encouraged to examine their own lives and habits through the PLAY (pleasing, living, yielding, and agonizing) model and then use a set of tools Rucker calls the SAVOR (story editing, activity bundling, variable hedonics, options, reminiscing) system to help transform their daily lives. This book does not offer a quick fix to current doldrums but encourages hope for a more fulfilling life through incremental changes that anyone can make. VERDICT Recommended for those who are looking for more joy and fun in their lives. A solid addition to any public library.--Holly Hebert

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