The Fun Metric: Why It's Needed for Success

Think about something you are working on—a passion project, a new business, or a career goal that is weighing on you. Now, a real question: Do you hate the process of working on it?

I have, after years of struggle, been forced to ask myself that question.

And, yes, I have hated the process of working on things… even things I thought I was creatively engaged in and deeply passionate about.

I’ve convinced myself at various stages of my career that you had to be miserable and work yourself to the bone to be “serious about your passion”. I spent years not enjoying my work, which was confusing because it was all a "labor of love"—just not my labor of love.

We’re often taught that suffering is required for success, and only the wins we struggled endlessly for actually count.

The Breakthrough: I recently worked with a client navigating this exact difficulty. She is a passionate person, but we noticed that the love she feels for a project often becomes a weapon for self-criticism. She would torture herself for not progressing “fast enough,” even though the speed of progression was arbitrary and self imposed.

We started noticing a pattern: When she said something was “fun,” it was code for, “I enjoyed myself and therefore accomplished more.” We realized that the most effective way for her to measure her productivity was actually... in how fun something was.

The Experiment: We tried a test. For one week, the only question that mattered was: How much fun did you have? No other question or measurement was relevant.

In that week, she made a huge breakthrough in her vocal work and started exercising again without hating the start. We realized that “fun” was her best measure of growth. When she was having fun, she was progressing. A lot.

The Brave Question: Of course, there are always things we have to do that we don't want to do—case in point: I am currently learning marketing and web design (ahem…not my favorite things to do). 

But the question that matters is… is it worth it? That can be a brave and sometimes painful question to ask.

In my case, eventually, several degrees later, I left an art form that wasn’t fun for me. It never occurred to me to listen to the voice saying, “You don’t actually want to do this.” 

I just kept working hard and measured my success in industry standard accomplishments, book an audition - good! Enjoy the performance? I didn’t stop to think about. 

Now, I am learning to put boundaries around my performance work and say "no" more.

Because, some things are not fun, they don't help me grow, and that’s just not how I want to spend my time anymore.

And, I am much happier. Imagine that.