An Unexpected Tool For Getting Things Done

Or how The Amazing Race taught me the value of fun.

I’ve been watching old episodes of the Amazing Race recently, starting at the very beginning back in 2001. Strangely, I’ve never watched it before now! But I find it interesting to see how each team tackles their challenges, and it has me thinking about how we approach our goals.

When you think about achieving big goals, what comes to mind?

I’m guessing you think of things like resilience.

Determination. Effort. Striving. Focus. Putting in the work. Self-discipline. Perseverance.

But what about….. fun?

If we look at most of the participants in the early seasons (that’s all I’ve seen so far!) of The Amazing Race, it seems like fun is their last priority. Instead of having fun, they’re busy screaming at their partners when things go off track or being rude to airline employees about securing their spot on the next flight.

It’s not just the amazing racers, either. Generally, we tend not to think much about fun when it comes to working towards a big dream or goal, and if I’m honest, I think this is a huge oversight!

It’s worth noting that ADHD brains aren’t motivated in the same ways other brains are, and often we need there to be a sense of fun in the process of achieving a goal in order for us to build enough momentum to get going. Our brains notoriously hate and avoid things we don’t find interesting or enjoyable.

But back to the Amazing Race for a minute. In season 2, my favourite team was Danny and Oswald. No matter what the challenge was, they took time to have fun, be kind, and enjoy themselves first. They were known for being patient and calm while the other teams panicked.

My favourite part of the whole season was when all the teams were frazzled trying to book flights from Hong Kong to Australia. It’s worth a watch:

To summarize, Danny and Oswald arranged for a travel agent to book their flights. Rather than spend time stressing about what flights they’d get while they waited, they decided to go shopping and have a leisurely coffee. They even bought some cologne with their race funds! They ended up making it to the next Pit Stop before all of the other teams, and they felt refreshed and happy to boot.

So why scold yourself for not suffering harder towards your goal and spend all your time stressing? What if you could get that goal done just as well but in a truly enjoyable way?

Well, for one….

Photo by Elijah Hiett on Unsplash

You’d probably stick with that goal for longer.

Think about it. Let’s say your goal is losing weight, for example, and you decide you’re only going to eat celery and egg whites and work out strenuously for 2 hours every day before dawn. (I just made that up, do not try it at home!)

Does that sound like something you’ll want to do for a long period of time?

NO!

Does it sound fun?

NO!

To me, it sounds more like it’d get old really fast, and it also sounds pretty exhausting! Most people would probably want to quit after only one day.

So why would you want to approach your goals in a way that’s pretty much guaranteed to make you want to quit? How does that serve you?

Second, what if the outcome ends up being less satisfying or rewarding than you originally thought it would be?

Well, if you’re on that egg white-celery diet, a disappointing outcome will feel even crappier. You’ve spent all that time being miserable only to end up more miserable! What a rip-off.

But if you’ve worked fun and enjoyment into the process itself, even if the result isn’t quite what you thought, you’ll be able to look back and say “oh well, that outcome wasn’t that great, but hey! At least I had fun doing it!”

Sounds a lot less like a rip-off, right?

We all know about the whole “the journey is more than the destination” concept, but what if the destination can only be achieved because the journey is fun?

For a lot of folks with ADHD, this may really be the case.

So I’d challenge you to stop thinking of fun as a frivolous, indulgent thing, and start prioritizing it as a massively powerful tool for success instead.

What are some ways that you might introduce more fun in the process of working towards one of your big goals?

I’d love to hear your ideas!

Hi, I’m Megan!

I help ambitious adults with ADHD uncover the benefits of their unique brains and explore new perspectives that make big changes possible.