Summer, more than any other time of year, BEGS for simplicity.

It’s the one season that encourages us to relax, chill out, and do nothing.

But that doesn’t describe  most people’s summers, now does it? 

I'll channel my inner punk rocker and say, “Why’d ya have to go and make things so complicated?!?”

We say we want a relaxing, chill summer, but then we schedule every hour of every day, trying to stuff more plans into fewer days than normal. And all our fun seems to magically disappear when push comes to shove.

What if things could be under-complicated instead?

Sounds simple enough, right?

But that’s the third challenge you face in trying to create a FUN summer: Keeping it simple! 

It doesn’t take long before something is so over-complicated, you can’t hardly recognize it.

I can tell you from experience, simple doesn’t mean easy! 

Often the hardest thing we can do is simplify, whether it’s simplifying our work, our life, the stuff we own, or the way we approach the summer season.

That’s why my program, Make Summer Fun Again is so awesome!

It’s going to help you simplify summer into three pieces:

1. Dream it. 
2. Design it.
3. Do it.

Not only that, Make Summer Fun Again will help you slow summer down, make sure your fun gets prioritized, and give you a plan to have the summer of your dreams!

All in only 2 hours.

Talk about simple!

I know that having a summer you’re actually excited about again is priceless. 

And I’m throwing in 2 more things: you’ll get daily emails from June 2-20 with ideas and approaches for summer fun and you’ll have the choice to attend an optional virtual party on the first day of summer, June 21!

Reclaim your summer today with Make Summer Fun Again.

 

Image by Thanh Thắng Trần from Pixabay

 

Last week we talked about how we can slow summer down by doing less of everything, but more of what we really enjoy.

And I promised I’d share more about why that can be really tricky to pull off.

As we already established last week, the season of summer has limitless options for activities and when our calendar is overstuffed, we don’t have time to enjoy the fun stuff.

The solution to that problem has nothing to do with deciding what activities you want to do (deep down, you know already).

But it’s not easy to slow summer down, even when we know what we want to do.

It’s a challenge to create more fun because we fail to prioritize ourselves.

How do I know?

Because it’s a lesson I keep re-learning!

And because prioritizing what matters most is something I work with my clients on.

All. The. Time.

It’s one thing to think, “Gee! I’d really like to go to that cool event on that stuff I care a lot about” but it’s another thing entirely to keep the commitment to yourself and actually go to the thing you want when your boss is asking you for something at the end of the day and you have nothing ready to eat for dinner and your kid has decided that now is the perfect time for a meltdown.

Next thing you know, you decide to skip the thing you were looking forward to.

And that’s why this piece is more tricky to navigate than building a piece of IKEA furniture.

You don’t cancel the fun that people you care about want to do in summer.

Nope.

What’s the first thing that you cross off your summer fun list? It’s YOUR stuff.

When push comes to shove, you don’t prioritize your own fun.

Then you wonder why summer just doesn’t feel fun anymore.

It’s because you literally aren’t having any fun!

If taking your kids (or someone else’s) to the zoo feels exhausting, I’d encourage you to take off the day AFTER you go to the zoo, so you can do something that does feel fun for you.

Yeah, that's right! 

I give you permission to do things YOU think are fun, regardless of what other people think!

Short on time or vacation? Plan out a tiny bit of fun that you can do in a few minutes, no vacation days required.

Maybe it’s sipping lemonade in the shade for 5 minutes. 

Maybe it’s closing your eyes and experiencing and appreciating the great invention that is air conditioning for a few moments. 

Maybe it’s feeling the sun shine on your face as you walk around the block.

The important part in making summer fun again is prioritizing YOU. 

I know you know this already, but it's worth repeating.

No one else is going to make sure that YOU have a super fantastic, wildly fun summer!

Of course, once you prioritize you and what you care about, there’s one more challenge standing in the way of making summer fun again (which we’ll talk about next week).

In the meantime, I dare you to reply and tell me: What’s one thing you commit to prioritizing for yourself this summer?

 

Ready to have a summer that is actually fun? Check out Make Summer Fun Again to learn how that can be your new story of summer.

 

Image by Shad0wfall from Pixabay

Some of my fondest summer memories aren’t of big milestone events. Instead, they’re the days when I was free to do nothing or anything I felt like. 

The days when I woke up at sunrise and went to bed long after the sun had set, never looking at a clock or having to be anywhere on time. The days when I ate non-standard stuff at odd hours because we were at a picnic or happened upon a random ice cream stand. The days when I napped in the shade or I played games or swam or rode my bike without any regard to fitting it into a window of time. 

I’ll bet you have memories of summer like that too.

Maybe you get lost in a daydream of a time when you had no responsibilities and felt free enough to enjoy the long days that stretched out before you.

One of the things that tends to suck all the joy and fun out of summer is the sheer volume of stuff we’re trying to squeeze into it. 

There are BBQ’s and picnics, festivals and fairs and parades. There are camps and schools and lessons. There are parties and concerts, events and celebrations. Going to the beach, camping out, resting in the shade. Summer-only sports and occasions and family gatherings.

There is A LOT of fun to be had in summer!

But a lot of fun is still a lot. 

And a lot can be too much.

Doing a lot of activities can steal our joy and create stress around ending this bit of fun so we can hurry to the next bit of fun so we can leave early and still make it to the other bit of fun we have planned.

And all of a sudden, the summer we were dreaming of disappears as we race from thing to thing, barely experiencing or remembering any of it because we have to get on to something else somewhere else (in 45 minutes or less!).

Anyone else feel exhausted just thinking about it? Maybe you’re ready to hop in your Delorean to time travel back to a simpler time? 

Here’s the thing.

We don’t have to travel back in time to make summer fun again (but if you have that option, call me!).

Instead, we need to get clear on priorities. 

We don’t need a lot of activities to experience a lot of fulfillment and fun.

Just because there are a kajillion things you CAN do during summer doesn’t mean you WANT to do all those things.

You can have an intentional, super fun summer by deciding what’s most important to you and then focusing your energy on that. 

Hate sand in all your parts and getting sunburned? Don’t make plans to go to the beach. Even if that’s what “they” say you have to do in summer.

Hate how the family BBQ with all the relatives you don’t enjoy seeing ends with them giving you life advice (and super judgy looks)? Stop attending it! Even if that’s what “they” say a good child, cousin, or step-aunt-twice-removed would do.

Hate sweating outside in the blinding heat when there’s perfectly good air conditioning to be had? Stop dining al fresco with your friends. Even if “they” say that eating outside (with the bugs and the weather) is fun. 

You know those experts that have advice and sayings about everything? I give you permission to NOT DO ANYTHING “they” say.

Instead, take some time to focus on you and what would make your summer fun. Like actually, honestly, truly, looking-forward-to-it-like-the-first-day-of-vacation fun!

Of course, when we try to do that it takes us to the next challenge we all have in making summer fun again (which we’ll talk about next week).  

Until then, what’s one thing you’re planning to stop doing this summer?

 

Image by LEEROY Agency from Pixabay