This is edition number sixty! Can you believe it? This marks 15 years of thought leader interviews, contributions, and … well … having fun!
I’ve been blown away by all of your kindness these past few weeks. It’s clear that there’s a growing desire for all of us to support one another in making the year ahead joyful. I’m grateful I can play a part in that effort. You all have kept The Fun Habit trending as a #1 New Release in its category for several days now. It’s clear, we’re on to something big!
If you haven’t had a chance to preorder The Fun Habit yet, you can do so here:
… or anywhere else you enjoy purchasing your books. Personally, it makes me happy to support local bookstores, and I’m looking forward to returning to my hometown’s bookstore, The Avid Reader, in Davis, CA, on January 12 as part of The Fun Habit’s book tour. If you happen to be in the area, please come by and say hi.
Lastly, don’t miss this quarter’s thought leader interviews. Both of them are packed with wisdom. Colin is one of the smartest people I’ve met when it comes to building time affluence and reclaiming your schedule, and Ryan will help you stick with your habits by thinking about how to make them more fun (we dig into humor a bit, too).
Dr. Colin West is a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow at the University of Toronto, Rotman School of Management, with over 10 years of experience researching behavioral science, focusing on economic decision-making and psychological well-being in the workplace. He completed his Ph.D. at UCLA Anderson School of Management in June 2021. One of his most recent research projects focused on time poverty. Time poverty and strategies for how to become more time affluent are what we get into this quarter. You can access our interview about time affluence by clicking here.
Dr. Ryan Hamilton is a researcher and Associate Professor of Marketing at Emory University’s Goizueta Business School, where he has taught since 2008. Led by a desire to know how people make decisions, he studied marketing at Northwestern. Ryan has been published in numerous peer-reviewed journals and continues researching and writing about his findings. One of his interests is how we can make habits easy (hint: fun might be involved). Last year, Ryan also started teaching a one-credit class on Humor in the Workplace. You can access our interview about habits and humor by clicking here.
This quarter I celebrated turning 50 with my best friend, Micah, at Formula One in São Paulo, Brazil. It was a once-in-a-lifetime life experience for me. Not a lot beats a long overdue catch-up with an old friend. The fact it was bundled with such an amazing event made it that much more fun.
I filled my contribution scorecard this quarter by donating to the Parkinson’s Foundation, Vindicated Pit Bull Rescue, Northern Athletics, and Toys for Tots.
With all the continued excitement surrounding The Fun Habit launch, I’ll wrap things up here for now. Hard to believe that in less than two weeks, I can finally get the book in your hands! Think of all the fun that will be unlocked in 2023. We’re going to have a good time!
Yours in fun,
Mike Rucker, Ph.D.
P.S. Speaking of having a good time, I’ve been connecting with so many amazing podcasters to support the book launch. One episode that just dropped is with my mentor, Dr. Michael Gervais, on his Finding Mastery podcast. You can access that here if you’d like to have a listen.