Embracing Life with Play: Laura Haver's Happiness Insights

This week I’m talking to Laura Haver. Laura is an expert in play, communication and happiness. She is on a mission to inspire people of all ages around the world to live more playful, vibrant and fulfilling lives. She joyfully shares her expertise as an author, speaker, life coach and mom. Her new book is called Play Together: Games & Activities for the Whole Family to Boost Creativity, Connection & Mindfulness. Laura has been featured on the Today Show, Fox, CBS, Parents, Tennis Channel and more.

Laura’s Book: Play Together: Games & Activities for the Whole Family to Boost Creativity, Connection & Mindfulness is available in paperback and kindle.

She has a gift for listeners: My Playlist Planner, which helps you turn down the overwhelm and turn up your joy.

And the singing teacher I mention can be found here: Singeo

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Welcome to the Overwhelming's optional podcast, where each week, we find ways to gently rebel against the nonsense that overwhelming exhaustion are just the price you pay to have the life you want. Welcome to this week's episode of the Overwhelming's optional podcast, and I'm very, very excited because we have Laura Haver with us. Laura is an expert in play, communication and happiness. She's on a mission to inspire people of all ages around the world to live more playful, vibrant and fulfilling lives. She joyfully shares her expertise as an author, speaker, life coach and mum. Her new book is called Play Together Games and Activities for the whole family to boost creativity, connection and mindfulness. Laura has been featured on the Today Show, fox, cbs, parents Tennis Channel and more. Welcome, laura, it's so lovely to have you here.

Speaker 2: 0:51

Hi, heidi, thank you, it's so good to see you again and hello everybody Right, let's go for it.

Speaker 1: 0:57

Tell me about your adventures in overwhelm.

Speaker 2: 1:01

You know it's so funny because we're preparing for this. You know this interview we had this lined up for a while and you know, every day that you catch someone is going to be a little bit different, right? And so I was just laughing to myself. When I'm like, of course I'm on the Overwhelming's optional podcast, when all this stuff is coming up in my life, it's like here's an opportunity to be overwhelmed or to choose your calm or to choose your practices, and so I'll tell you this last couple of weeks, I've been really putting my practices to the test, right? So my book launched. We had a flood in our garage. We had, you know, this new water system that we got put in was having issues. You know, my family got sick. I don't know. There was just like everything you could come up with, like my mom is having struggles with her health and like it's just like so many things. And so you know this one message that just kept coming through to me that I was like I need to share, and I wasn't planning on sharing it right off the bat, but why not? It's coming through.

Speaker 2: 2:00

Sometimes, when overwhelm shows up, you might just be tired, right? I'm sure you've talked about that before, right. So it's like you might just need to get extra sleep, and so sometimes I feel like, for me, I was like am I feeling overwhelmed? I'm just tired. So I've really been putting in practice going to bed early, doing the best I can to take care of myself. So for everyone who's listening, who's like you know, feeling these moments of overwhelm you know it happens and just maybe looking to yourself like am I tired? What's going on? And how can I, you know, celebrate what I am accomplishing and how can I, you know, look at my progress versus what I used to do, versus what I did now? And I don't know we can, we can chat about this, we can dig in wherever whatever sounds interesting to you, heidi.

Speaker 1: 2:46

Well, yeah, I'd like to know. I'd like to know either more about this particular mini-adventure and overwhelm or about any about your, because you've just yeah, I know, you've just said that you can look at how far you've come. So I'm assuming, therefore, because you said you've got practices to deal with overwhelm now. So you just simplified it, right, because you're not talking chronic overwhelm, you're talking about having practices, but obviously you maybe weren't using them enough and then recognizing, so you were course correcting. Now, that's quite that's like expertise, that's that's that's like you've done with your major chronic adventures and overwhelm. It sounds like you've got some really good tips to share. So what I'd like to know is how do you know? How do you know that sometimes you're a bit tired? What? What is your story? Where's that expertise come from? What's your original adventure and overwhelm that got you to this point?

Speaker 2: 3:43

Well, that's okay. So the original adventure of Orwell, I think that would just be called being human. I think that you know I don't know if everyone can relate to this, but I'm sure people have come over these times are like, wow, you know, you have these big hearts and these big dreams and these big plans and all these things you want to do, even from a young age, you know, and it's like you want to do them all and you can only do so many things. And so I think that, like you mentioned these tips and these tools to help us practice our mental toughness. So I have to add, I have a background in athletics.

Speaker 2: 4:14

So that's probably where my original Overwhelm came would be, you know, being a competitive junior tennis player and training really hard, traveling around the United States.

Speaker 2: 4:23

You know, competing in tennis tournaments and playing in college.

Speaker 2: 4:27

And you know I played I didn't play pro tennis, I played pro beach tennis, which is a whole nother story, but you know it's these mental toughness tools is like, how can you hold your peace amongst a lot of chaos going on around you, right?

Speaker 2: 4:44

So, whether or not you find yourself in athletics and parenting and your work and just regular life, you know there's always things coming around us that are going to grab our attention or feel like we need to do this, this, this, and that's why I have such a big fan of living intentionally, like thinking about what's important to me, right? So I think one of the biggest tools that I could say for it would be being really crystal clear on what your values are, so you know what's the most important to you. Know as a, as a life coach, that's one of the first things I do with all my new clients is we get clear on what are your values. Then you can say this is important to me and I'm going to make time for that, rather than the 5,000 other things that start ping pinging off you every day, calling for your attention.

Speaker 1: 5:30

You know so how did you get to a point where you had clarity on your values in order to be able to focus on what's most important to you?

Speaker 2: 5:41

So how do you determine your no?

Speaker 1: 5:43

how did you? How did you to that point? Because did you just like grow up with like a really strong sense of who you were and find it very easy to prioritize according to values? How did you learn that?

Speaker 2: 5:57

You know, I never really thought about it from like my whole life's perspective before. So this is all to stop the cuff, but I feel like I grew up in a really amazing family. I was very blessed to have great parents and a sister and you know we all we prioritized health and so I think I grew up kind of looking at my parents and the values that they were modeling. So they were modeling family, they were modeling health and you know, exercise and learning, like the curiosity, and so that's you know what I love about you and how you even frame it is like curiosity call and you know, like if we could just be curious rather than being like why was it that way or why isn't it that way, if we can bring this curiosity to our life, and that's why I really love this aspect of play. And that's really where it does start for me.

Speaker 2: 6:45

Like, my childhood nickname was play, play, play, play.

Speaker 2: 6:48

Maloney that's my maiden name and just when you're, when you think about the definition of play, it's that you're doing it for fun, you're doing it not to get anywhere, you're doing it because you're engaged in it and other people.

Speaker 2: 7:00

You know it's this joint adventure, it's not, there's no pressure. And so all the best pieces of my life have come from this angle of play and even, like in my sport career, when I was playing tennis I was having a great time, I was meeting new people, I was challenging myself, I was pushing my body, I was really like enjoying learning new spins or strokes. But then eventually it did hit this point where it was like I need to compete hard and I need to do well and I need to perform and I need to win, and that at that point in college, my college career, it lost the play, it lost the joy, and that is when the overwhelm would kick in, because it's not for fun, it's not for the joy and the lightness anymore. It's like must do well, must compete hard, must get my spot on the lineup, must you know like represent university well and represent my team and you know, compete well and NCAA is like all of that, yeah, so I'd love to know.

Speaker 1: 7:59

I'd love to know more about that, because that that's the bit. That's the bit where we get so focused and driven that we lose that playfulness, that part of us that loves to play, that lighter part of us, the part of us that knows just how to let it go, switch off and just be fully present in our lives, that the part of us that can laugh easily, that playful part, that, to me, when we lose that part of us, that's a warning sign. So that, to me, is the difference between yeah, we're human, we get overwhelmed, and there's times in our lives when we get too busy and tired and a good night's sleep will solve it to. What I'm talking about with overwhelm is that chronic overwhelm where you probably don't even realize you're overwhelmed because you're so busy achieving and you're loving what you're doing, but you are losing a fundamental part of you.

Speaker 1: 8:50

So when that happened to you, the first thing that happened to me was when I was 18, that arrived. I arrived at Brooklyn. What was that like? Did you notice, or it? Because it's really interesting to me that you you're coming from parents where it seems like maybe you had a more balanced childhood than a lot of people, where you play was important and health was important. So I'm wondering what happened at that point, when you're at uni and you're really focused on your 10 and you're losing that part of you, Did you notice? Did anybody else notice?

Speaker 2: 9:20

Luckily, I had a team right. We had sports psychologists, we had people. I went to a great university, we had a lot of money in athletics, and so we had a support system. And that's really when I got to learn about these different things you can do right, like being in flow. That was the first time I learned about the concept of flow.

Speaker 2: 9:36

For anybody who's not familiar, it's just one of the most magical parts of life, I feel like it's when you just sort of lose yourself in this in the space and time, when you have a good amount of challenge, when you're just doused in the moment. Things just happen naturally and with ease. And I can say that I've gotten to that with my writing now to the point where I have to set alarms on my phone to make sure I don't forget to go pick up my kids in school, because I'm all track of time, you know. So I've learned how to do that. But flow is so exciting for people and that's where, if you're find yourself in a state of chronic overwhelm, what I suggest might be counterintuitive and you might feel like what? Why would I do that, laura?

Speaker 2: 10:17

But my first thing I would say is just look for one small area of your life that you could bring a little bit of play into. It could be completely unrelated to your overwhelm. Sometimes all you need is to get this little break, this little opening of light, right. It could be something so tiny. It could be starting to go on YouTube and looking at videos and how to crochet, or it could be you know, I could go on a million examples. Like it could be joining an improv squad or going to an improv show.

Speaker 2: 10:48

If you don't want to do that, like, get yourself laughing, get yourself and just give yourself this little reprieve, this little space.

Speaker 2: 10:56

Like carve out your own me time, say I'm going to, for, even if it's five minutes a day, five minutes a day where you say I'm going to do something for myself, just for myself, I doesn't have to get me anywhere, and you're going to notice what that's going to open up for you. Right, it's not going to solve all your problems instantly, but as you start leaning into your play, you're going to have a little bit of extra energy in life. That's going to flow over into other areas and I can say that with confidence based on the people I've worked with, based on the practices in my own life. Like small little things can change in one area of your life and then it can spill over and, before you know it, like your circumstances won't have changed but the way that you're approaching your life and that you're giving yourself some space for fun and some space to breathe and some space to just be you, because you're amazing Just how you are.

Speaker 1: 11:52

Yeah, yep, singing from the same tune here, aren't we? So what I want to know is before you use because I really want you to tell us more about how you get people playing and lots of examples and easy ways in but before that, I'd really like to know how you went from play play Maloney, was that? Is that right, was?

Speaker 2: 12:12

that correct.

Speaker 1: 12:14

To becoming somebody who's really into play, like your books about play. You're an expert in this like how, where's that journey? How, how come you ended up? Or did you just follow it?

Speaker 2: 12:29

Okay, so I did. I always did play. Right, I was playing playing Loni, then I was doing acting and I loved that. And then I was doing tennis and I really got into tennis. Like I said, I competed and then I coached tennis for years for kids.

Speaker 2: 12:41

After I graduated college, I worked in marketing for a while and then I coached tennis and I really saw the difference that it made for the students in learning. When I created my lessons and I had playful games, they would be learning the skills they would be improving so much more quickly. They would want to come. We would have a great time, like the class would fly by and I was like, wow, there really is something to this beyond just having fun in the moment. It's also. It's a catalyst for learning in so many ways. And so, you know, I did all that and then I was studying happiness and I I met my master's in international communication. So I went and lived in Australia and I did my master's degree there. I got to meet people from all around the world and I just, you know, I got to take these adventures and then I came back and I'm trying to think of where the place. So it's, the study of happiness is really what I was interested in. It's like how can you have a happy life, how can you feel good? And it was funny, heidi, because it just always kept coming back to play for me or when there was periods of my life when I was less playful.

Speaker 2: 13:51

So then you know I'm a new mom, I have a baby and I had this, you know, emergency C-section, crazy birth, and you know I always wanted to be a mom but I noticed that it's like life is hard all of a sudden, like it's very challenging, and you know I'm exhausted and I'm tired and I am in that more of a feeling of overwhelm, but more just like huh, you know, like I don't even think I could have called it that at that time. And coming back into the play, like reaching back into that for myself. You know, meeting other moms, you know finding groups to meet up with and getting all the kids together, that's that sense of community and play. And you know that's when I actually got back into playing Pro Beach Tennis for my second time, which was when you wouldn't think, oh, now this mom is going to go start playing tournaments and traveling and doing all the stuff.

Speaker 2: 14:42

But you know that piece and I'm you know I'm telling this story kind of rambly, I apologize today, but you know it was realizing that just doing what you think you're supposed to be doing. Everyone is on their own unique path and for me it was meant to be doing, you know, something in addition to just doing that, right? And so that starting to play Pro Tennis again, or Pro Beach Tennis part and that woke me up and gave me this extra life suddenly not only am I a mom of young kids, but I'm also training for hours a day and traveling, and I had more energy then than I did before, which doesn't make any sense, right? But but because I was being true to myself, it was coming over into everything, and so I kept studying, play, I kept learning it, I kept, you know, seeing how other people were, you know, flourishing in their lives and trying to just take it all in and just constantly learn.

Speaker 1: 15:37

It does really sound to me like play was just like your guiding theme from a very long time ago. So that's, that's really exciting. So tell us how that specifically comes into the work you do now. What are you up to now with play?

Speaker 2: 15:54

Yeah, so I just launched my first book called Play Again Congratulations, it's so fun, thank you. It's got you know. Even the inside of the book I try to bring fun, playful lightness to that. Yeah, through the illustrations, through, you know, blocks of text, making it easy and light for families to play together at home. Actually, you know, during COVID, my boys and I created this challenge where every day we posted a new game to our social media just to inspire family stuck at home. Like I really felt for everyone that suddenly you have the whole world and then all of a sudden you're just pop, you're all in, wherever you live, you're not doing very many things. And so I just thought, based on all my experience of tennis and teaching and playing and working with kids, like what can we do? So we did that and honestly, just for my family alone, it was such a blessing because we were literally making up a new game every day and playing it together.

Speaker 2: 16:47

And you know. Then it turned into this beautiful book which just launched and you know families are playing now. Grandparents are really loving it. Teachers are, you know, telling me how they're using these games in their classroom and bringing lightness and fun and speeding up the learning process. And it just is so cool. It's a lifelong goal of mine, like since I was a kid.

Speaker 1: 17:09

I wanted to always book, so it's so exciting.

Speaker 2: 17:12

So exciting and I love being able to speak to people and reach out to new people around the world. That's why I'm excited for this. You know, like I think that there's such an emphasis on productivity and work and what you're accomplishing, and I just feel like we've gotten it wrong a little bit, where we need to focus on fun and we need to focus on play. Not entirely, I'm not saying like don't do your job and don't do your dishes, and you know, but but it's to the point where it's like we're always like what are we doing? And we're always pulling up our phones and doing this, but it's like if we could just take more time to connect connect with other people and connect with ourselves.

Speaker 1: 17:50

Yeah, other people play different, isn't it? Because it's well, I find it interesting because you describe it as without having a purpose, as in a achievement purpose, but it's the, it's the kind of like nonsensical part of it which is refreshing. It's like it's the. For me, it's the reclaiming of that fundamental part of myself that got lost, that led me to burnout. So if I and I tried really really hard I mean I knew my stuff and I thought I was doing things, but because everything became very scheduled over you know that, over scheduling, the problem is, if you schedule something that's supposed to be what you're describing as play, I think it's not play.

Speaker 2: 18:38

Disagree with you. I can see where you're coming. Sorry, go ahead, you have more.

Speaker 1: 18:42

I. So what I mean is is if you pencil something in. So what I mean is it's the how. So if you pencil something in not I don't mean you pencil in as play If you structured it and said that's my play, that time, five minutes, like you're talking about, is play, that would be different, because what you're saying there is I'm moving through my day and I'm leaving space in it to move through that section of the day in a playful way. So that's changing the how.

Speaker 1: 19:07

What I mean is when we put things into our schedules which we think are the antidote you know the exercise, the connection, the play but it becomes an achievement. Tick, I've done my exercise. Tick, I've reached out to a friend. Tick, I've kind of done something creative, which is the play zone. But that doesn't work. And that's what I really really noticed is that all that happened to me is I just became really good at over scheduling everything and thought I had it all under control and then imploded my life with burnout. So what I? What I love about what you're saying is no, it's the cure, it's the nature of playfulness. It's not the what you're doing, it's the how. And I love how you described that whole.

Speaker 1: 19:53

You know just YouTube, a funny video thing, and it reminded me of the moment I'm messing around with Googling singing lessons because I want to improve singing, because I love singing, and I found this really cool person who I can't remember the name of. I have to find her name and give her credit for this and the first exercise she teaches you to do is this like you know, so you're relaxing your whole thing, and then she goes and don't laugh, which is just, of course, you laugh and and I haven't really got much further than that bit, and that in itself is enough, isn't it? Because that's switch for me. That switches me from. I'm going to learn to sing, which is what I would have done previously in my pre burnout phase of tick. Look at me. You know I've got a full life. I'm going to learn to sing after myself.

Speaker 1: 20:36

Where's that doesn't work? Where's this like? Just just messing around with you, just start laughing. That's play, and that doesn't require much at all. It might require scheduling as in. Remember to me what what you're saying is. Remember that there's a fuller part of you. Remember that you're more than this. Remember that there's this side of you that loves to play and be curious and not be structured. I really like that. Does that fit in with what you're saying?

Speaker 2: 21:06

Oh, yeah, yeah, 100%. I'm glad that you completed that thought, because that's completely the truth is that when you are thinking about it, like of course, I love this boo, like this thing, that like, and that's so perfect. Right, because you're like I want to learn how to sing or I want to improve my singing, and like there's one thing, it's like I got to become a better singer and the other one is like oh, wouldn't that be fun if I could belt it like.

Speaker 2: 21:30

So you see the different, like you can use the energy from which your desire is coming from, and when it's coming from, ooh, that's a good indicator. And if it's coming from I better, or I should or wouldn't, it would be really helpful for me, or those kind of things. They're like in the wood. Could that side you, that one's like less of the play, that's more of, like you were saying, the productivity.

Speaker 1: 21:51

No, no, we don't. We don't do shoulds around here getting somewhere.

Speaker 2: 21:54

We don't want any of that. So if it's like that could be interesting or maybe even like hmm, but it could be more like, more subtle, oh, that could be. Like, perhaps that could be something fun. And maybe you take the first singing one and they're like boo boo and you're like, oh, maybe that isn't what I want and that's okay too. Then you can just keep moving along to the other things that sound fun. But we're always like just going and going.

Speaker 2: 22:18

And so that's why, even if we do after schedule and that's why I was saying at first, like, even if we do have to schedule in blank time for fun or for play, or even just today, dream about play. Like if you're to the point where you're like I don't even know, because I talked to a lot of people and some people at the two camps I normally get are, well, I don't have time for any play like either you don't have time and you know, or you might have a little time, but you have no idea, and you're like I don't even know what I would do for fun. Right, and that's where I would suggest just start with the daydreaming I have to be intention of like I want to find something playful for myself. You know, then you'll start to notice, right, you'll start to see something and be like oh well, I remember Heidi talked about that really cool lady who does singing classes, or like for me and my book. I met this woman in Portugal who's this amazing multimedia artist, and so we partnered on a game in the book for making these journals.

Speaker 2: 23:17

So basically you can collect different types of paper from your house and then you can bind them into journals. Then you can go out into your garden get some flowers and you can take off the flowers and you can put them into your paper and you can steam them. So it's eco printing, and then you make these beautiful art pieces and I was like you know, this is fun and this is play for me, right? And so it's like you'll start to hear these ideas and you'll start to notice them. And then, even if you just take them a little bit in your day and start doing it just a little bit here and a little bit there, even if you can just do once a week, you can start with something small and then let it naturally build up, but be consistent with yourself. You know, at least five minutes a week, if you know, if you can, of course, add in more than that, if it's useful, you know, if you start noticing it.

Speaker 1: 24:05

So what do you do for play, apart from everything in your book and playing with your kids? What do you do for you without the kids?

Speaker 2: 24:13

It just depends on the day, because I you know, there's a lot of things I did. I like I mentioned improv class. I did do improv for a while, which was complete play for me because it was like okay. Laura, you're telling people to do this, so you got to do it.

Speaker 2: 24:26

Make sure that you're on it too. Which is something I love about being a coach is it keeps me accountable and keeps me going. So improv was super fun. You know what I did yesterday? I played on my website. So this I want to clarify for people too, because sometimes you think play has to be just for no point. But you can also enjoy play in your work, right? So I was just I needed to do some updates to my website and I was like you know what? I had so much fun just playing around messing around on Canva, right? You know doing design and you know it could be anything. Like you said that other day, like last time we spoke, heidi, I said well, what's something playful you've done and why don't you share what your example was? Cause it's like one of my favorites.

Speaker 1: 25:05

I was just thinking about. That was so funny because I thought I'm I thought that's not going to be acceptable, even though to me that is. So I was ready to stand my ground and you went yes, I love that. So I just I just said, well, I'm going to go out and mow the lawn because we've got a new lawn mower and my partner's away and I don't get to play on it. And I want to go play on it. And that's what it did. And it was just, it was just fun, because it felt sneaky. It's like I'm getting to use the new tool and I don't know, I just like it. It's like Like the chickens get out the way, I don't know, I just find it funny. I mean, he did, my partner came home and went well, I can see that you've been mowing because he does stripes and I'm like what's wrong with it?

Speaker 1: 25:54

It works and I don't care. And so I love that. You you said this is like you, because to me what you're saying is allow some expansiveness in your day, allow them all fuller part of you Now, a different way of moving through your day, and that's what I love. And I love that you've just mentioned bringing playfulness to your work, because I'm in the middle of a launch and I spent all day Tuesday writing copy and you know what it's like when you go to launch something. You get the fear comes up and they're not good enough coming up and you ought to know. You ought to be all right with this now.

Speaker 1: 26:27

So I did what I do, which is get out of my head into my body and get into my comfort zone, because I believe that we get to do the big scary things by getting inside our comfort zone, not outside of it. So we're not pushing against ourselves, we're working with ourselves. So I got inside my comfort zone and then went I'm going to fun with this. I wrote my intention. I'm going to thoroughly enjoy today. And I just played and, oh my God, I loved it. It's hilarious.

Speaker 1: 26:53

I just I just bought that because it's creative, and I was like, oh, and I could invite. And then I was thinking about different people I want to invite into this thing I'm creating and I was like I'm going to write that part of the sale page to them and it just became and that part to them. And then imagine this and then I'm going to write to my previous self and I'm just like right, it's just like writing, sending out little play in, come play in my new community and it was fun and the time bent because it's the flow state. So it was what I call a fat day, where it gets wider in the middle and you get the end of it and you're like, oh my God, this morning was miles away and I've just like, but it was so easy and fun. Yeah, so I love, I love your attitude of it's like taking off the restrictions, isn't it? It's taking away stuff so you can just move in a different way, and I really love it.

Speaker 2: 27:47

Yeah, and that's a great example about it as well, because you could be looking at that like, oh my gosh, I have to do this and you know what happens to this and what happens to that, and so I love what you say. You know, like I work with people too is like get in your body, notice the sensations, feel it like you know, come, let's like, let's look at that like, what are the blocks that are there? And I love that you're able to just move through it and bring play, because when you're in play, you're like well, now, what do we do?

Speaker 1: 28:13

Right, it is. It's not like, yeah, what's next? Okay.

Speaker 2: 28:18

Well, you know, think about it when you're a kid. Now, oh, we, you know, one of the kids left, like left, they had to go back to their house and now we have to make up a new game, we have to make up new rules. So now, how do we adjust? And so it's that fluidity and that naturalness, and when we're operating from our playful state and from our flow state, people are going to be drawn to that, they're going to want to be around it.

Speaker 2: 28:37

That's where this is that energy overflowing kind of piece, and and it doesn't have to be, you know, it can be in our work, it can be and whenever we can invite it into as many different areas of our lives, then the better, the more fun we can be having with whatever it is we're doing right, the more magnetic we can be. And you know, people want to enjoy their life, especially if we can do the things that are challenging and fun way, like if you can move along and be like this is awesome, right, like that's great. You know, because a lot of people are like well, of course, I know what's fun, I can go on this big vacation or I can go skiing, and we can find moments of everyday life and try to make them more fun. That's the real goal, I feel like.

Speaker 1: 29:19

Yeah, it's an attitude, isn't it? It's like putting your playboots on.

Speaker 2: 29:23

Yeah, you know the rose colored glasses, things like oh you see, like rose colored glasses, like I just try to live with the play colored glasses. You know how can I bring a playful attitude to this? What can I do to make it more fun? That's why one of the games in the book is called Chorus Olympics. It's, you know, teaching kids how to do chores, but try to make them more fun. You know it's like what can we do? We're going to have to do it anyways. So what can we adjust in ourselves to make it more enjoyable?

Speaker 1: 29:53

Brilliant. Oh, I love this. Yeah, I absolutely love this. Thank you so much for sharing all of that. So we'll put your link to your book in the show notes, but please tell people where they can find out more about you, what you offer, because it's more than a book.

Speaker 2: 30:09

So yeah, so I have. You can connect with me at my website, Laura Havercom. You can find me on Instagram, Laura and Haver Like. One other playful thing for me is I love making videos, Like as a kid I used to make funny videos with my dad all the time, and so I just love making videos and creating content.

Speaker 2: 30:28

You know, researching and finding the nuggets, like finding the things that are like oh well, no wonder. Right, Like all this happiness, research. We do these things that we think should make us happy, but the problem is that we're just wrong, Like our Dutch. Sometimes our brain just takes us to these places that aren't going to make us happier. Right, Working more, we're doing this.

Speaker 2: 30:47

But if we can, you know, learn the research and learn how to apply it, suddenly, you know, we can transform our experience and also take some of the pressure off ourselves and like, relax, I'm like, oh well, that wasn't, that wasn't my fault, I just I didn't realize that. And then, once we realized it, then we can make the little adjustments. Right, and so, yes, you can find me there and I have a fun course to help women go from feeling shut down to showing up, which is really fun. That's definitely one of the biggest things that helped me to overcome overwhelm is just really being your true self and when you show up as yourself in life, you won't be as overwhelmed because you're being true to yourself. And so I do that and coaching and yeah, I just love to connect and I love hearing from people and how that they, you know, took like what fun little thing you did in your day to bring more play. I love hearing from people, so feel free to reach out.

Speaker 1: 31:45

Brilliant, and what's your top tip for my audience?

Speaker 2: 31:48

Well, I think it's kind of clear. For here is my top tip Look for a small way to enjoy some play each day, you know, or at least start brainstorming on what would be fun for you and invite other people to join you. If you can, too right, because then you can multiply it by the power of community and connection Brilliant.

Speaker 1: 32:09

Thank you so much. It's been fun. I've loved it.

Speaker 2: 32:12

Thank you everybody. Yeah, enjoy and good luck, Happy times and play on.

Speaker 1: 32:42

Bye.