Ryan’s Journal: Interview With Dave Crenshaw
by Ryan Pew
I recently had the opportunity to spend time speaking with Dave Crenshaw to discuss his new book, “The Power of Having Fun”.
The topic of the book can be a bit incomplete when looking at it without context, so let me expand on it. The book alone is not simply a guide for how you can have fun but more a lesson on how incorporating fun into your daily life will enhance productivity and lead to true happiness.
That can be a bold statement that a single book will somehow transform your life in some profound way, but Dave does a great job in providing concrete steps to help achieve a balance with work and life.
A little background on Dave Crenshaw to give some insight into how he realized a book on how to have fun was required.
Dave is a coach and speaker who has spent considerable time with high-performing folks in business. After he graduated from Brigham Young University he realized that he wanted to be an entrepreneur and coach. After working with a firm he decided to set out his own shingle and started hustling to form his own successful business.
I say all of this to point out that this book is not some theoretical novel written by a guy who sat in an ivory tower, Dave has been in the trenches and fully understands that life requires balance.
The premise of the book is simple enough. As work and home life start to blur we can become focused on ever more productivity, efficiency gains, and the bottom line. People have started to sacrifice taking vacations let alone spending a quality hour around the dinner table at home with family.
Careers have a tendency to become more and more demanding as we rise the ladder. Dave isn’t saying that should be abandoned, he is merely stating that an oasis, as he calls it, should be observed.
The first thing that stood out to me is the guilt that people feel when having fun.
A lot of times you see people take a great vacation or buy a new item they had lusted after, only to feel guilty for it after. As a society, we are taught that our reward comes after the hard work.
From a religious perspective, this is inherent, “our reward is in heaven” is a phrase you will hear often. As a result, we are wired to not take pleasure in fun until we have completed the task at hand.
Dave takes a different approach to this. His idea is to set up a block of time where we have determined that a fun activity will occur. This oasis allows you to relax and recharge, while also not skewing over to just wasting time.
Have you seen the business owner that cannot take a vacation out of fear that his employees will resent him? Or perhaps you have brought the laptop with you to Tahiti so you can remain connected to the office while forsaking family commitments.
Does this really advance us as a society?
Maybe in certain cases, but most humans need a balance to live.
One thing I like to always understand is how can we quantify this?
The simple answer here is to run an A/B test.
Go a week where you build in an oasis and then go another week without. See what the two outcomes are and determine if incorporating them into your life makes sense.
I am personally in a place where I have little kids and a busy wife. I feel guilty if I go out to lunch let alone go out for a night on the town because I know my wife struggles to have any time for herself.
When speaking with Dave about this he agreed that it can be tough. His solution though is to ensure my wife has her own oasis of time. Build it and plan them out and both parties can be happy without the guilt.
Now, you may be thinking that this book is only addressing a first world problem for high income earning folks. I would disagree.
An oasis of time does not require an elaborate trip to the Bahamas. It can simply be reading a book for thirty minutes or going out for a meal rather than cooking.
The idea is that a balance and time to recharge are required, but you should not put yourself in debt doing so.
The book addresses a range of topics from specific steps for how to build an oasis to how to deal with the emotional baggage that we all carry. The one takeaway Dave told me he would like people to have is this. “Fun is a priority, it must be planned because it’s easy to neglect.
From a tactical standpoint, the book is a fun read, has some great workbooks, and can be incorporated into your life immediately.
From a strategic view, this book has the ability to address long-standing guilt that we as a society have accrued.
I encourage those that are trying to find a balance in life to read it. The busy mom, the lonely workaholic, or the college grad. It is applicable to all and was a true pleasure to read.
His book is available now on both Amazon.com as well as national book retailers. To learn more about Dave visit his website.
