Doing Hard Things on Purpose: Embracing Type 2 Fun for Growth and Gratitude

This week on Clear & On Purpose, we’re diving into a surprising mindset shift that’s helped me build resilience, deepen joy, and stop taking life so seriously—Type 2 Fun. While Type 1 Fun is relaxing and easy in the moment, Type 2 Fun is the kind that often feels uncomfortable or inconvenient while it's happening—but later? It becomes the story you can’t stop telling, the moment that shaped you, or the memory that makes you laugh until you cry.

In this episode, I share real-life stories (yes, including the chaos of my wedding dress debacle 😅), parenting reflections, and why I intentionally seek out this kind of fun now. We’ll explore how these tougher experiences shape our character, create core memories, and give us the tools we need to navigate life with more humor, flexibility, and gratitude.

Whether you’re deep in summer mode or feeling a bit stuck in the daily grind, this episode is your reminder that not all growth has to feel good in the moment to be worth it.

In This Episode, You'll Learn:

• What “Type 2 Fun” actually is and how it shows up in real life
• Why discomfort can lead to a deeper sense of accomplishment and joy
• How Type 2 Fun builds resilience, gratitude, and perspective
• Why not everything has to be enjoyable right now to be meaningful
• Personal stories from parenting, travel, and wedding day chaos
• How to start seeking out the kind of fun that strengthens you

Resources Mentioned:

• Join The Village: Click here to connect with our community.
• Sign up for the Momentum Challenge: Click here to get started.

Resources & Links

• Follow Christina @christinaslaback
• Email us at hello@christinaslaback.com
• www.christinaslaback.com

Transcript

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Christina: Type two. Fun is often not that enjoyable in the moment, and sometimes it can be really downright painful or unpleasant, but it's that getting through it that gives you a sense of accomplishment and it's the discomfort itself that creates this sense of purpose.

And the benefits of type two fun often last much longer and are more intense than type one. So you create that sense of accomplishment, you test your limits, and you realize that you're more capable than you thought. 

Welcome to Clear and On Purpose, the podcast design to help you cut through the noise and get back to what matters most. If you're feeling stuck, but needs to take intentional action, you are in the right place. I'm Christina Slayback, homeschooling mom of two and life and business coach, helping you drop in and align with your values and create more space.

Each week [00:01:00] I'll be sharing practical insights and simple. Actionable steps to help you find clarity, boost your energy, and design a life that balances ambition with mates. Let's dive in and get clear on purpose.

This summer, I have really been embracing fun. I've been doing all of the things that sound good to me, beach days, afternoons with the pool, reading outside, and I have really loved all of it, and it's been a really interesting opportunity to see how I can raise my energy and how I create more ease in my overall life.

And I was thinking about this recently about the fun that I am pursuing. And a lot of this has been the quintessential like type one fun. So if you've heard of different types of fun, there's a couple different types of fun and Type One fun is all about relaxing, [00:02:00] letting things be easy, enjoyable in the moment.

So these are like drinks with friends, going out and watching a movie. These just quick hits of dopamine that just feel really good in the moment. And they're really nice and essential for being able to stay connected with that ease and the fun of life. But there's another kind of fun. Type two fun.

And these are activities that are not always fun in the moments, but they become fun after they're done. So once you're reminiscing about them or talking about them later, once you've completed 'em and can look back on it, then it becomes fun and enjoyable. So these are things like running a marathon, doing a cold plunge, camping in the rain.

Type two fun, really makes the good story. It becomes that core memory. It can be even as simple as like the vacation that went terribly wrong or when you [00:03:00] went skydiving, but you're really afraid of heights. So actually doing it and being up there is awful. It's terrible. But once you've done it, you feel so good.

It can be things leaving like camping in the rain and. Type two. Fun is often not that enjoyable in the moment, and sometimes it can be really downright painful or unpleasant, but it's that getting through it that gives you a sense of accomplishment and it's the discomfort itself that creates this sense of purpose.

And the benefits of type two fun often last much longer and are more intense than type one. So you create that sense of accomplishment, you test your limits, and you realize that you're more capable than you thought. It creates those lasting memories. As I've been going through the summer and doing all of these fun, really enjoyable type one activities.

It's been great, but I'll be honest, I don't always even think about or [00:04:00] remember all the things that I've been doing. Until I look back and take a moment to actually go through and, and notice all of the things that I've been doing, because although they are really enjoyable in the moment and I feel really good about all the activities that we're doing, they're not creating those lasting memories.

And type two fun can really help to build resiliency. So once you've be, you've been uncomfortable, you become more aware and grateful for the times when you're no longer in that discomfort. And this has re recently come up. Where we were vacationing down at St. Louis and there has been just this big heat wave and my daughter and I are walking through the streets of St.

Louis and it is just so hot. It's so sweaty, it's uncomfortable, but as we're walking and going through this like unbearable heat, we started to notice. And really get excited and appreciate those opportunities where there was an expanse of shade up [00:05:00] ahead, or when a light breeze would blow through. It became so much more pleasant and we noticed that even when it just would drop a couple degrees after the sunset, it was still warm.

It was still humid. It was still uncomfortable. But because we had been in that. Really just awful heat and full on sun. The difference just felt so much more enjoyable, and so that's one of the reasons why like looking into and adapting and trying to intentionally seek out type two fun can be really important.

So it's the reason why endurance athletes are going in and doing these long races or doing triathlons. Really testing their body is because they're searching for that endorphin high. That feeling of accomplishment, that ability to be able to have that resiliency that [00:06:00] you get from type two fun, and it doesn't have to be something arduous and physically exert or physically exerted to be able to be type two fun.

It can be as simple as like a road trip with children because. Let's face it, we know going into it that that is not going to be pleasant in the moment, but the experience and the memories that are made along the way are gonna make it worth it. And frankly, if you don't seek out type two fun, it will still find you.

So by looking at it and go, and being able to experience this and being able to put it in the words of like type one and type two fund has really been able to allow me to see that perspective. Growing up, I have a large family and my parents, although they weren't necessarily consciously aware of like telling us about different types of fun, they really had an attitude of resiliency and like being able [00:07:00] to just enjoy whatever life brings at you.

And so we grew up learning to laugh in the absurdity of situations. Like things would go wrong all the time. And I remember my mom saying like, you gotta laugh about it because if you don't laugh, you'll cry. And laughing was always better. So now I've adapted this into my own life and I'll notice that I do often anticipate that things are gonna go wrong.

I. Appreciate that it will not go smoothly. And being able to laugh at it and being able to let it not be so serious has really been able to change my viewpoint and be able to appreciate that like life is just this grand adventure.

I remember even on things like, okay, so on my wedding day I [00:08:00] had neglected to through my final. Fitting of my dress and we're getting ready for the wedding. Everybody's in and I am trying desperately to get into my dress because in my strapless gown, when they put in the bra cups after my last fitting, not only did they put them in the wrong place, but they were two sizes too small.

So I am trying to get into this dress as people are arriving. And instead of getting upset about it, I just had to laugh at the whole situation because of course this would happen. And I wound up just cutting out the bra, uh, cups, completely getting tied up into my dress for the ceremony, and then spending a good portion of my reception wearing a flannel shirt in the basement while a sweet, loving relative came and sewed in a new bra.

Now, was this an ideal situation? No. And could I have let this really [00:09:00] spiral me? Probably. But it made for a good story and it wasn't that big of a deal in the long run, and just being able to like laugh it off made the whole day so much more enjoyable. And so I'll notice that I will intentionally seek out these type two fun, uh, this type two fun.

If I notice myself thinking like, something sounds really terrible, like that sounds like it would be awful, there's a part of me that will be drawn to it. It's like, oh, if I think it's gonna be that awful, then I should probably do it because I want to experience that ability to be able to feel that sense of accomplishment.

And I want the opportunity to build that resiliency because I know that that affects how I view the whole rest of my life and how I show up for myself and how I show up for other people. And it [00:10:00] allows me to know that I don't have to enjoy everything in the moment. To know that it all works out and to know that sometimes it's this really uncomfortable things.

It's these things that are these growing opportunities that actually make my life better. Because when I look back at the things that I've done, when I look back at my life, often the things that I remember are these things that weren't necessarily enjoyable in the moment, but they've created and built me into the person that I am now.

And so it helps me to look at that bigger picture and to not react so strongly or get really upset when things do go wrong, and I really want to use that and have that same viewpoint be passed down to my kids too, so that they too can look at it and think of it in terms of the overall and not get so upset about some [00:11:00] minor inconveniences along the way to have this bigger view.

That life really is just this big adventure. We're just on it and things are gonna go well and things are not gonna go well. And none of it has to dictate how everything will go out. Just because things are going wrong or you're really uncomfortable or in a rough spot, it doesn't mean that that's gonna last forever and it will come back up and things will get better.

And a lot of times you will look at the things that are so. Uncomfortable in the moment and be able to laugh about it later or be able to realize how it made you the person that you are. And so I'm practicing being uncomfortable. I'm learning resiliency, and I'm working that muscle of focusing on the positive and proving to myself that I can do hard things.[00:12:00] 

I hope that this was inspiring for you. I hope that it allows you to be able to look at your life and see where you might wanna add in some more. Type two fun. I know that I have gotten out of habit of adding on all the type two fun, and I wanna start to look at that and look at opportunities for that as to add more of that back into my life.

So thank you if you made the end of this podcast. I appreciate you. I appreciate you listening, and I look forward to talking with you next time.

Thank you for tuning in to clear and on purpose. If you're ready to take intentional steps toward a more fulfilling life and wanna customize the approach, I'd love to work with you. Visit www.christinaslayback.com to schedule a free consultation or explore current offers designed to help you gain clarity.

And reclaim your energy. And don't forget to subscribe and share this episode with a friend if you found it helpful. It helps others find the show and grow our [00:13:00] community.