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The Fun Habit
Find Delight, Fix Unhappy
the fun habit
By Mike Rucker PhD
Published by Bluebird Books for Life (Pan Macmillan UK)
ISBN 97815290543162
This book has an intriguing name and I was interested to discover the content.
As a fun loving person which I inherited from my father, I was keen to see Mike's take on a 'habit'.
I was not disappointed.
Mike Rucker has a PhD in behavioural science and is an organisational psychologist and he says he is a health expert.
He competed in an Ironman event and won the Ironman title.
From the beginning, Mike explains the difference between fun and happiness.Yes, there is a difference and it was something I had not realised before reading this book. He shows that scientific research proves that fun should not be taken lightly, as he explains it is a fundamental ingredient to creating good and positive mental health.
It appears that Rucker is well-read.Throughout "the fun habit", he includes numerous quotes from books he has read by other psychologists and the results from other people’s research on the subject of fun and happiness.
It also Includes his own results from his research to show how fun can be assimilated into every facet of life, reinforced by many pertinent anecdotes.
He begins with a project for the reader: to create a Fun File. This is a step-by-step guide, starting with the basics of mapping or diarising your current life, so that you can analyse what you do. Many of us do not remember what we did a day, or a week ago or longer. He makes the point that we tend to live on autopilot and this exercise will highlight how we spend our time.
Expanding on this theme by using each chapter the reader is invited to dive into their personal reminiscences, work, social life and social media, family and friends, holidays, sporting activities, our hard fun such as striving for something that is difficult or even dangerous. Everything.
There is even a section on coping with death. Rucker refers to this as being faced with your own mortality. He makes the point that 'death' should probably not be given a chapter in a book of 'fun' but, instead, includes it in the 'Conclusion'.
At the beginning of the book, besides the creation of your Fun File, he delves into the "SAVOR" acronym and returns to these 5 points (S.A.V.O.R.) repeatedly. It is an exercise that anyone can perform and becomes a great way to move forward in this project.
Written in a personal, friendly way as if chatting with a friend, Rucker makes it enjoyable to read his book.
However, apart from a few stories about what he did in Europe and the UK, in the earlier part of his life, the book is American centric.This includes the vocabulary that he uses which, coupled with the occasional professional psychology jargon, was distracting and meant it was necessary to go back and re-read sections to get the gist of his story.
Having said that, the contents of this book are a great resource if you are interested in adding 'FUN' to your daily, weekly, monthly and annual activities.
The author
Dr Mike Rucker is the chief digital officer for Active Wellness, a global health management company, and in 2019 he was named a top ten health influencer by HIMSS, the global health advisory and nonprofit focused on health information and technology. His work has been published in the academic journals International Journal of Workplace Health Management and Nutrition Research, and he's been featured in the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, CIO.com, and elsewhere.
Highly recommended.
Reviewed by Ken.
This is independent review, I am not paid by the publishers, so.If you
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