SYBF Week 2 Check-in: Harness Humor
Since this week’s topic is humor, let’s get this check-in started right!
Credit to challenge participant Liz W. from Maine for sharing this image!
This image couldn’t have come at a better time. On the day this randomly arrived from Liz, I was in a bit of a funk. It was one of those days; from the time I woke up, I just felt off. I battled my negative self-talk all day. long. Nothing in particular happened—it was just one of those days!
I turned to another tried-and-true activity: exercise. It helped. The funk was there but less intense. Then Liz sent me this image, and I literally laughed out loud. Then I noticed it - I felt even more relief. That LOL led to the next thing: figuring out something easy to do and had to get done today.
Within a few hours, I went from “Screw it, today just sucks, maybe I’ll give up and try again tomorrow” to “Good enough is good enough for today. Today is just one day of many - some days are like that.”
And that leads to this week’s bonus brain boost: Easy Wins
“Easy wins” is one of my favorite ways to get motivated when I’m just not feeling it. It’s the simplest and most winning way to boost our brains and get things done.
When we’re mentally stuck, the best way to get unstuck is just to do something—anything. This happens in the physical world—it can sometimes take a bit of work to get something in motion, but once it’s moving, it gets much easier to keep it moving and even gain speed.
The same principle applies to our brains. Once you start your brain working, it gets easier to keep it working, and over time, you can increase the difficulty of the tasks. By starting small, you don’t overexert yourself just getting started, which leads to frustration. And frustration can quickly lead to negative self-talk. Starting with something easy primes the pump and makes it easier to do something a little more challenging, just like warming up before playing sports.
Next time you’re in a funk, find an easy thing you can accomplish relatively quickly, preferably something that is relevant to you today. After you finish that one thing, take a moment to appreciate your efforts. Note how that might have impacted how you feel. Notice how your mind might have changed a bit from before you started the task. Then, identify the next relatively easy thing you can do.
If the brain fatigue, fog, or funk doesn’t lift - don’t force it. You can’t break your brain by trying too hard, but pushing too hard might bring up other things like negative self-talk or derail your motivation.
Like last week, below are a few additional short-term activities you can try as you access your humor to boost your brain.
But before we go there, this is a reminder to post on last week’s blog topic (reframing negative self-talk) if you haven’t already. Sharing learning and building community builds brains too!
Activities:
Identify and Experiment with New Forms of Humor
Check out this piece on 20 Types and Forms of Humor to learn more about various types of humor and maybe even discover something new.
Add Humor to Your World
As you find things that bring you humor, add them to your world. You can post visual humorous reminders, like comics, photos, and greeting cards throughout your home (one of my favorite spots is taped inside a cabinet door), office, and journal. In the electronic world, seek out funny movies, TV shows, YouTube channels, books, magazines, podcasts, or comedy videos. Make a list or mark specific things you enjoy to your favorites list in your subscription service. I like to keep a folder of website resources on the Chrome bookmark bar of my favorite humor websites.
Write Short, Silly Poems
Poems are a great way to play with humor. There are many types of poems you can write. Check out this quick and easy-to-understand 15 types of poems. I find some of the most fun ones are acrostic and limericks. Here’s one I wrote this week:
“You will become clever through your mistakes” – German Proverb
You’ve come this far - take a minute and thank yourself by adding a little humor to your day. 🙏🏻
