Ripples of I – Blog 105: Serious Fun

Every Wednesday, I share one article made up of three little ripples: 

Do you ever wonder how to make more room for fun - rather than filling every moment with things tied to future goals or rewards? What if fun isn’t a distraction from progress, but the very thing that helps us move forward?  

In a world that measures everything by outcomes and results, taking time simply to have fun can feel strange, or even wrong. And yet, it’s often exactly the thing that changes everything. 

One Inspiration 

With one month to go until the Olympic Winter Games in Milano-Cortina, this week feels like a turning point for many athletes. National championships are underway, bringing with them months - and often years - of preparation, hopes, goals and pressure as teams begin to take shape.  

Later today, the US Figure Skating National Championships will see Alysa Liu take the ice as she competes to earn a place on the Olympic team. 

There’s something very inspirational about this athlete and her story.  

Alysa was a skating prodigy. At just 13, she became the youngest US Women’s National Champion in figure skating history. By 16, she competed in the Olympics and World Championships. Everyone assumed she was on the fast track to becoming one of the sport’s biggest stars. 

And then, only two weeks after winning the bronze medal at the Worlds… she retired.  

The reason? She wasn’t having fun anymore. 

Then, two and a half years later, at 19 years old she announced her return.  

Stepping away had given her the space to think and see her future differently.  Living beyond the relentless pressure of training and the constant worry about injury or staying competitive, she tried new things and explored life beyond the ice rink: her first real vacation, a trek in the Himalayas, and a Christmas ski trip in Lake Tahoe. Skiing was the first activity she had done that even remotely resembled skating. “Skiing is really fun” Alysa said. “Maybe skating is fun too. Maybe I should skate a session and see how it feels.” 

She did and… she had a lot of fun!  

That fun turned into training. 

The training turned into competing. 

Alysa approached her comeback without expectations. “I don’t need expectations when I just skate for fun” she said. 

That mindset carried her all the way to the top.  

In March 2025 - less than a year after her return - Alysa Liu won the World Championships at age 19. And, as you can see from the performance below, she did it while genuinely having fun and enjoying herself.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j52UVoTWYKM

One Insight 

What stands out most to me about Alysa’s return is her mindset. When she removed pressure, expectations, and the need to prove anything, she reconnected with curiosity and joy. Fun didn’t come after success - it became the pathway towards it.

This shift matters more than it might seem. Research shows that fun comes more easily when we’re young: children laugh an average of 400 times a day, while adults manage around 17 laughs per day. Somewhere along the way, we started treating fun as optional, or even irresponsible.

But the science tells a different story. Fun reduces stress, sharpens cognitive function, strengthens social bonds, boosts overall wellbeing, and increases resilience. Fun helps us enter a flow, where effort feels lighter and progress happens almost naturally. In other words, the very mindset Alysa rediscovered is the one that helps humans perform at their best.

So my insight is this: take fun seriously. It isn’t frivolous - it’s foundational.

One Invite 

This week, I invite you to make more room for fun! 

You can do this with both new and familiar activities in a few simple ways: 

• Choose fun without a goal. Make a list of activities that genuinely bring you fun. Pick one to do this week with no outcome attached - no improvement, no productivity, no results. Stay curious and notice what shifts when fun, not progress, leads the way. 

• Redesign for fun. In everyday activities like work or routine tasks, pause and ask yourself: How can I make this fun? That single question helps you spot small elements you can influence - and potentially reengineer - for greater flow, engagement, and fun.