Wear the silly socks! 🧦

Not everything we do is fun; some things require a level of seriousness. I am not denying that, and I think we can all agree on that. I do think though that a lot of things can be just a little more enjoyable, if we use a playful approach!

I recently posted about a track workout I did at dawn and that I had an “absolute blast” doing it! One of my clients reached out to me and asked: “How’d you have a blast? Please tell me the secret to having fun while running, I never ever say I had a blast!”

If you know me, you know I actually don’t particularly love speed work, which is why my client’s comment got me thinking. How do I have fun during certain runs or tasks when I don’t particularly enjoy the activity itself?

I inject an element of playfulness. In a way, I find a spoon and find that sugar to help the medicine go down. 🥄 I find something that excites me, an angle that taps into the playful and creative part of my personality.

I am far from perfect and have certainly not always done this. I have dreaded runs, assignments, projects, and to this day I still dread doing laundry. While I don’t remember what made me go looking for that spoon to begin with, I do remember intentionally practicing this approach when I trained for my first 100m endurance race in 2018 and I continued practicing it after that race.

About 4 years later now, I don’t have to go looking for the spoon anymore. It’s right there in my pocket; a tool I can pull out when I need it. I admit, for some runs/tasks, the sugar is a little harder to find, but when I make the time and look for it, I can usually find it.

I realize that the items listed below speak to my personality and may not work for you. But I think if you examine your life, you can find pieces here and there that you can use to inject an element of playfulness and joy to help the medicine go down.

• Lay out your clothes the night before a run (or workday) and intentionally add something that excites you: Wear a colorful shirt, a tie with a fun pattern, or the silly socks your kids gave you for Christmas!

• Observe the sunrise and pay attention to how it changes throughout the seasons during early morning runs!

• Grab a new pack of colorful gel pens to take notes during a less exciting meeting!

• Turn a run or a project at work into a discovery mission by approaching it with: “I wonder what would happen if…”

These things are small and simple. But you may find that they add a little extra spring to your step.

What strategies have you employed to inject an element of play?