Great Race considers themselves the Masters of Fun and so this is a topic dear to our heart. We live in stressful times but having fun shouldn’t be a complicated concept. In its bare essence, having fun is simply doing just anything that you enjoy, that makes you feel happy. So here is a little list of why exactly you must have a healthy dose of fun.

FUN BOOSTS YOUR OVERALL PRODUCTIVITY

We have just so many things in our lives to stress us out enough to lose our minds. While there is not much that we can do about the you-know-what things in our lives, we can certainly try to get ourselves enough strength to face all of it. Fun is a way of building up a term called ’emotional resilience’. Simply, making sure you have fun now and then creates space to allow you to think more clearly in other aspects of your life. Fun polishes your purpose, one can say.

YOU LIVE A BETTER LIFE

No, you aren’t here to just live a monotonous, boring, stressful life and you shouldn’t just be living to work. If this is where your life is headed, here is your intervention. You are supposed to explore the unexplored and follow your hearts desires. Sure- we can’t all throw in our jobs and become professional travel instagrammers- but we can identify moments and activities that are of value to us and do more of them! Creating time for recreation and making this a priority boosts your awareness of your self determination. It reminds you that you have choices and you can design your life to incorporate more of what you want. Life is too precious and short to waste it on deadlines and frugality.

DISCOVER YOURSELF

We don’t want to get all mystical on you, that’s between you and your belief system. But you are the only person you have to live with forever!  So you should invest in getting to know yourself better. Having fun allows you to become clear about your own likes and dislikes, your preferences, comforts and challenges. You might even find new, interesting aspects about yourself that you never happened to notice or have been ignoring for a while. So yeah, you are in for surprises as well!

GUH, IT’S JUST SO HEALTHY!

We aren’t medical professionals but there are a bunch of studies that link stress to bad health outcomes and fun to good health outcomes. When you are smiling or, even better, laughing more you strengthen your immune system. Lessening stress is linked to greater energy and motivation as well as a bunch of other good stuff relating to fighting illness and disease. The cheerful and positive feeling you get while doing something you enjoy is like a dose of a nutritional supplement. Also it’s free!

BETTER RELATIONSHIPS

Above: NCL Mini Amazing Race Conference Breakout

Having fun not just good for ourselves, but also for our work colleagues, families and friends. You might already have noticed (if you haven’t, let me tell you) that stressful relationships don’t really last. Haven’t you noticed that your favourite relative are often the ones who treated you with the most patience and told the best jokes? Aren’t you and your partner the best when both of you are sharing your joys instead of your stresses? Being patient and joyful and being able to share that isn’t simply something that some of us are born with and some aren’t. You can cultivate your own emotional generosity by investing in yourself through fun. Any relationship guru would agree that the more moments you are enjoying together, the more fun you are having, the stronger your relationship or bonds become.

I HAVEN’T HAD FUN IN SO LONG, DO YOU HAVE ANY TIPS?

We’d love to see you having more fun! While the definition of having fun definitely varies from individual to individual, there are some basic things that we can suggest to get you going.

• Start working on a list of things that makes you happy or doing which, you really enjoy and feel great. These are often things we put off because the bills need paying or the dog needs a bath or you can insert your various responsibilities here…. Do you like craft, do you want to brew your own beer, do you want to put fairy lights over your whole house? What seemingly frivolous thing do you put off because it’s not a priority! Start there…
• Know that it will be a gradual process to start making some real changes, especially if you have locked yourself up for long. You could start having fun every week or every day- it’s up to you.
• You don’t have to stay in your comfort zone… Perhaps you think skydiving would be great but the stress of organising isn’t fun right? Fun takes commitment and purpose and yes, perhaps a bit of organising. Be prepared to make the sacrifice because to quote some campaign… you’re worth it.
• Remember- having fun might make you productive but do not necessarily be ‘productive’. It is alright if you waste a few hours a week just chilling. The key is, are you happy? Therefore it was productive.

So why do you need to have fun? Because you must. If you need a fun intervention- feel free to contact us. Our games may be just what the doctor ordered.

THE CLIENT

Global marketing agency (name cannot be disclosed)

THE BRIEF

Pitch a new marketing concept to their telecommunications client by incorporating an activity to deliver their message

• We were approached by a global marketing and media agency (we’re not allowed to name names) to help them deliver a new marketing concept pitch to one of their telecommunication clients.
• The agency’s pitch was all about how their client can give back to customers, to listen, to reward and to get to know them.
• They had spent weeks preparing for the presentation and gathering data and making graphs, but the agency wanted their client to actually experience the feeling they were trying to convey. And that’s where we came in!

CUSTOMISING OUR FILMFEST GAME

The agency asked us to customize one of our creative team building events, Film Fest to incorporate a random acts of kindness theme, to accompany the pitch presentation.

We love tailoring our events to suit our clients’ needs, and we were excited about helping to forge a deeper relationship between the client and agency.

THE MEET & GREET

In a fancy bar in The Rocks, the Great Race team met the agency as they prepared for the big pitch. Soon, the room was filled with about 30 people from both the agency and the telecommunications company. The presentation began and after many questions and excited responses, it was time for the big event.

THE EVENT BEGINS

We split the group up into teams and combined people from both agency and client so that they could spend time getting to know each other better. Each team was handed an envelope with a list of Random Acts of Kindness, $200 cash to spend however they wish, and a camera to film their adventures.

RANDOM ACTS OF KINDNESS CHALLENGE

The random acts of kindness list ranged from paying for a stranger’s lunch, buying someone flowers, paying for someone’s parking, helping someone carry their bags across the street, arrange and pay for a taxi, busking and entertaining the public, or handing out bottles of water to construction workers. The teams captured their entire journey on film and met some unsuspecting strangers along the way.

SHARING THEIR EXPERIENCES

A short while later, everyone made their way back to the bar where we all gathered around to watch the films and share the experience with the other teams.

One of the most surprising things that happened was a stranger not wanting to accept the offer of kindness in the fear that there was a catch. It seems that we really do believe that nothing is for free these days.

After some tentative approaches, the teams were able to open a conversation with the people on the street about their intentions and get to know the people they were helping.

The responses opened up a dialogue between the agency and the client about how they could create this experience for their customers, having felt first hand how rewarding it is to be surprised by a random act of kindness.

ENDING THE DAY WITH A CELEBRATION!

The Great Race team was there to facilitate the discussion and, being actors, awarded some prizes for the standout film and magic moments. The activity ended with some celebratory drinks, and new-formed friendships and memories between agency and client, and a hugely successful and memorable pitch. Not a bad day at the office!

Birthday celebrations are always special but when it comes to the big days for your little ones, it’s a bit extra special. Although throwing your kid’s birthday party is a landmark moment for all those first-time parents, it can also be a big responsibility. Great Race wants to help ease the stress and make your event unforgettable. As parents, you want to see those happy smiles and create bonds and memories for your children and their friends that will last a lifetime. But also-  you don’t wanna break the bank account!

Here are some infallible tips and tricks to help you out in organising an awesome birthday party without burning a hole in your pocket!

DON’T GO STRAIGHT TO THE PARTY STORES…

Really, you might get tempted to head straight into the nearby party store and grab all that you need from there. But hey, remember that budget? You can find almost similar things (if not exactly same things) in department or chain stores (*cough* Kmart *cough*)  at relatively cheaper rates than party stores. This can cut down your expenses up to 20 per cent!

If you would like to get a specialist item only available at party stores- that is fine too. Take a list and buy only what is on it as those sparkling and interesting goods you would find in a party store could lure you to burn your budget and get off track!

MAKE USE OF THE INTERNET

Really, forget printing invitations and posting invitations. Make use of the social media and other digital platforms. Have you checked online store offers, by the way?

SHARE THE JOY!

If two of your kids, or your kid and his/her pal, are having birthdays in the same month or so, why not organise a party together? This is a tricky tactic, you may have a kid who is not into sharing and we don’t judge you.

But if your child is of the more share-and-share-alike variety, a joint party could be for you.

You will save much, much more by splitting the expenses and the organising (time is money too).  This could make the process more fun, relaxed and budget friendly.

LISTS LISTS LISTS

I could repeats this until the cows come home. Lists are your friend! It might be too easy to get carried away while shopping and buy some extra this and maybe extra that.

But really, is that extra bag of organic date, chia and almond rolls and that inflatable statue going to add that much to your kids’ (and your) happiness? Lists and priorties are great.

If you know you are someone who gets carried away with party food- perhaps ask each parent to bring a plate. If your shopping danger is decorations, see what you can already re-purpose from other celebrations and then buy only what fills in the gaps. Having clear lists can stop this party from bleeding you dry.

DON’T BE TEMPTED AND USE YOUR OWN CREATIVITY.

Parents  always want the best for their children. But remember, it is not spending a lot of money that makes them happy. If your kid loves Pirates- you don’t need to get all the official Pirates of the Caribbean merchandise featuring a hefty price tag.

You can make your own treasure hunt, design your own props and buy eye patches and bandanna’s from almost any store. If you plan fun activities, games and entertainment, you can save a bunch.

DON’T FORGET, IT’S ALL IN THE TIMING….

Here’s a sneaky little trick that could save a lot of money and time. Hold your kids party between 3 pm and 6 pm. This means it’s technically ‘after lunch and before dinner’. Simply put – you don’t have to provide a full meal.

This may work best for the parents of your kids friends as well as their kids may have dietary requirements or other reasons why meals are best had at home. So all you need to provide is snacks!

It may sound like a simple party hack- but boy this can stop you spending the whole party running back and forth from the kitchen, when you’d like to be enjoying these moments with your family also.