This article has been rattling around in my head for a while, so I’m happy to publish it.
I recently took a month off from posting and scrolling LinkedIn.
One thing that happened during my time off is that I became interested in the concept of ‘Funmaxxing’.
Why Funmaxxing?
Funmaxxing is Gen Z internet slang for intentionally maximising your personal joy, playfulness, and, you’ve guessed it, fun.
It prioritises playfulness over pressure and acts to combat burnout.
Whilst at its core it's not exactly a novel idea (having more fun), it acts as a warning signal for modern work culture.
I started posting on LinkedIn to grow my private coaching work at Jake Burt Coaching.
I found that the more I posted, the more I became engrossed in the culture and the meta of the platform:
An ocean of people constantly posting about:
Profound life lessons
Life hacks
Knowledge bombs
Personal and professional wins.
The more you are exposed to these topics, the more you think about them and the more they come to dominate your thinking and mindset.
Keep growing. Do better. Achieve more. Repeat.
The Origins of Funmaxxing
Over the past few years, the online personal development narrative has shifted toward optimisation and hustle culture.
This involves analysing every detail of your performance and lifestyle to see where you can improve, leaving no stone unturned:
Morning routines
Mindset
Productivity
Side hustles
You're constantly reminded that you're not working hard enough and you're not successful enough.
Photo by Garrhet Sampson on Unsplash
But now the pendulum seems to be swinging the other way.
People are getting bored and burnt out from constantly feeling like they are not doing enough and are not enough.
Each success in their personal and professional lives gets overshadowed by thinking about the next goal they should be working on. Once you’ve gone through these cycles enough times, your relationship with success begins to sour.
You realise that happiness and contentment are not at the end of the next big goal.
The advent of AI has made things even worse.
You can ask ChatGPT or Claude for a plan on how to improve yourself or achieve a new goal, and in a matter of seconds it has bombarded you with an overwhelming amount of information that you should be doing.
It has also led to even more low-effort, motivational content being spread to every corner of the internet.
This has also gained its own term: Grindset Slop.
Now, people are rethinking what they really want and are looking for joy instead of just achievement.
Returning to our state of mind as children, where we just did things because they were fun.
Photo by Nils Huenerfuerst on Unsplash
The Case of Alysa Liu
Alysa Liu is a professional ice skater who started skating at 5 and, by 16, was competing in the Olympics (winning a bronze medal).
From the outside, her life may have looked like she was living her dream: she found something she was good at and earned one of its highest accolades.
In reality, her relationship with skating had deteriorated.
She felt it dominated her life and trapped her in her success.
She was successful, but not fulfilled.
Alysa eventually stepped away from skating. Not just competing, but the sport and activity altogether.
She spent time doing other activities, developed other areas of her life and did the work to see who she was without skating.
Alysa eventually returned to skating, doing it simply for herself, on her terms.
She reconnected with the joy that originally had drawn her to the sport. Not the medals, but the performance, the music and the engagement of the audience.
Image from Getty
The result was that she won the world title and gold at the 2026 Winter Olympics.
But this wasn’t the point.
In her latest performances, you can see the sheer joy on her face as she does what she loves. The medals are just a bonus.
ReWriting Your Definition of Success
This all begs the question:
If achieving more isn’t making us happy, what does it really mean to be successful?
This should be a personal definition, not a list of things inherited from our culture, like a big salary, a big house, and a big, important-sounding job title.
For my coaching work, this means:
Having more fun and showing my personality in client sessions.
Writing about topics that I’m genuinely passionate about, even if Mr GPT says it isn’t aligned with my “ICP”.
Working with people whom I find to be Fun, interesting, and Awesome.
Not over-analysing and over-optimising my coaching-related content.
Outside of coaching, it means:
Being able to walk my son to/from school most days.
Being present at home as much as possible.
Reading, watching and doing things just for the joy of it, even if they don't move me closer to a goal.
Making sourdough for my family every week (once I can make a successful starter!)
These may not seem like traditional markers of success for some people, but for me, they bring me fun and joy.
What's Your Definition of Success?
When was the last time you really thought about what your definition of success is?
Do you have one, and if so, does it need updating?
Without our own definition of success to act as a compass, we can often chase the wrong things and head in the wrong direction.
If you need help, I’m launching a new programme called The DESIGN Method that focuses on exactly that.
Sign up for the waitlist to be the first to find out when it launches.
