Fun and Your Health: A Joyful Prescription with Mike Rucker PhD
Original Air Date Wednesday, January 4, 2023
In western cultures, many people have been led to believe that if we consume, share, or do the right things, happiness is right around the corner. But, how many of us have turned the corner only to find boredom or loneliness?
To unpack the secret to finding joy in everyday activities, Positive Psychology Podcast Host Lisa Cypers Kamen speaks with organizational psychologist and behavioral scientist, Mike Rucker about the connection between, fun, health, and time management. He describes the SAVOR and hedonic adaptation concepts from his book, The Fun Habit: How the Pursuit of Joy and Wonder Can Change Your Life. And, he shares the secret sauce to escaping the perceived pursuit of happiness and toxic positivity.
Mike Rucker PhD — A Joyful Prescription:
- How can we live a joyful life in our Western culture that pushes an unattainable pursuit of happiness? [2:28]
- Mike describes ‘fun’ from a scientific perspective and shares how to strategically spend time to fend off boredom. [6:20]
- Hedonic adaptation refers to a set point of individual happiness no matter what is happening in the person’s life, as Mike explains. [8:40]
- Mike explains the concept of time affluence and how to bring joy to what could be lost hours. [14:16]
- In his book, The Fun Habit: How the Pursuit of Joy and Wonder Can Change Your Life, Mike Rucker uses SAVOR as an acronym to describe how to make events rich and meaningful. [22:05]
Dr. Mike Rucker is an organizational psychologist, behavioral scientist, and charter member of the International Positive Psychology Association. He has been academically published in publications like the International Journal of Workplace Health Management. His ideas about fun and health have been featured in The Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Fast Company, Psychology Today, Forbes, Vox, Thrive Global, Mindful, mindbodygreen, and more. He currently serves as a senior leader at Active Wellness and is the author of the upcoming book The Fun Habit, available January 2023.
Book: The Fun Habit: How the Pursuit of Joy and Wonder Can Change Your Life
This podcast episode of Harvesting Happiness Talk Radio about fun and health for the pursuit of happiness is sponsored by:
Are We Happy Yet? Eight Keys to Unlocking a Joyful Life — A boot camp manual for greater emotional fitness. Happiness waits for no one and sometimes we all need support. What is getting in the way of your happiness right now?
H–Factor: Where is Your Heart? — Lisa’s documentary film explores the journey of human happiness. Emotions are contagious and happiness is a universally desired state. We tend to forget we all have the freedom to be happy or the liberty to be miserable each day.
“The sweet spot of happiness is a blend between Hedonia and Eudaimonia.” @LisaKamen on @HHTalkRadio Click To Tweet“Even if one is tied to a job, there is always a few minutes to carve out for pleasurable activities.” @LisaKamen on @HHTalkRadio Click To Tweet“Fun is medicine.” @LisaKamen on @HHTalkRadio Click To Tweet“This endless pursuit of trying to find something that is never there, sometimes referred to as the hedonic treadmill, was actually making me more miserable.” @performbetter on @HHTalkRadio Click To Tweet“During moments of despair, if you don't have a big toolbox it can lead you into dark places.” @performbetter on @HHTalkRadio Click To Tweet“What is fun for one person isn’t always fun for another person.” @performbetter on @HHTalkRadio Click To Tweet“We have a happiness set point. If we are not mindful about good fortune we tend to go back to the happiness level we were before.” @performbetter on @HHTalkRadio Click To Tweet“Where you find folks stuck in loneliness, boredom, and burnout is they have no connection to the way they are spending time.” @performbetter on @HHTalkRadio Click To Tweet“The pandemic made a huge portion of the population mindful that their schedule was a lot more malleable than they thought.” @performbetter on @HHTalkRadio Click To Tweet“Vitality usually spreads like wildfire.” @performbetter on @HHTalkRadio Click To Tweet
CONTINUE YOUR JOURNEY
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