I’m Mike Rucker, author of the upcoming book The Fun Habit. My mission is to help the world have more fun. If you’ve ever found yourself dreaming of days filled with more fun and enjoyment, you are right where you need to be.
A long-time advocate of positive psychology and a charter member of the International Positive Psychology Association, I am drawn to fun because—juxtaposed to happiness—fun is as unique, beautiful, and interesting as each of us. And yet within its individuality is a collectiveness and commonality: we would all like to have more of it.
So why fun?
You may know me as a health influencer or for work as a health writer. What you may not know is after a string of misfortune in 2016, including my younger brother’s untimely death, I began to critically evaluate modern approaches to happiness. During this journey, I had an epiphany: my pursuit of happiness was actually making me … unhappy. I realized trying to be “happy” only drew my attention to what was missing. Fixating on my lack of happiness made me label myself as unhappy, and I came to realize that maladaptive label was bleeding into my identity. This left me with the question: If deliberately chasing happiness leaves me miserable, what’s the alternative? Then, after years of research and trial and error, a second crucial insight clicked into place: We can’t always make ourselves happy, but we all possess the agency to find ways to be more joyful and have more fun.
Unlike happiness, fun isn’t something that may or may not arise under the perfect circumstances or when all of my “if-onlys” are fulfilled. Having fun is an action anyone can take here and now practically anywhere, anytime.
And if you’re a cynic like me and need to see the proof, science shows us that fun is enormously beneficial to our well-being, both physically and psychologically.
So, let’s have fun together.
The mission of our community is simple: have more fun. Start your fun journey now by signing up for my quarterly newsletter.
Please provide your email below (I never spam or share my list):
With your sign up, I will send you my eBook, The Wisdom of 100, as a welcome gift (because who can’t use inspiration from a triple digits’ worth of amazing people?). You’ve also just gotten yourself on the list for exclusive content from my *NEW* book, The Fun Habit (coming the end of this year), and FREE early access to the corresponding beta online intro course.
If you like fun, we’re already friends—here’s to having more fun together!
If you’ve signed up already, check out my Having Fun section to dive into your fun pursuit. Here are some highlights:
- How to Optimize Having Fun is an introduction to the Rucker PLAY Model, which will help you find more fun in any given week.
- For a real talk take on parenting, fun, and the in-between, check out Kids Aren’t Fun and What to Do About It.
- A Bias Toward Fun: The Antidote for The Happy Trap explores the idea of deliberately pursuing fun instead of happiness.
- Wondering what kind of fun-haver you are? Start with The Fun Type Calculator.
You can also find these additional resources as you play around on the site:
- A more in-depth look into my journey from digital health influencer to fun expert through the Live Life Love Newsletter Archive, dating back to 2007.
- Over a hundred interviews with thought leaders on subjects from productivity to travel hacking.
- A tutorial on how to create your own Fun File for your very own Year of Fun (ironically conceived at the beginning of 2020).
Let’s connect on social media!
