The Power of Play: Infusing Fun and Creativity into Your Personal and Professional Life with Mike Brennan

In this episode of "Everyday Elevations," Jason Fricka interviews Mike Brennan, author of "Make Fun a Habit - The Creative Playbook for Making Life and Work Fun Again." They discuss Mike's journey from childhood artist to creative professional, the burnout he experienced in the industry, and how he rediscovered his passion through a 365-day art project. Mike explains his "daily creative habit process" and provides practical tips for infusing more creativity, imagination, and fun into daily routines - whether at work or in personal contexts. Listeners can expect to come away with inspiration and actionable ideas for reconnecting with their inner child, battling burnout, and integrating playfulness regularly. Mike Brennan is an author, artist and passionate creativity advocate. His book "Make Fun a Habit" offers inspiration, insights and practical steps for reconnecting with playfulness. He has created art for esteemed clients like Heineken and Chase Bank, and his work adorns spaces like Ronald McDonald House and the Mesa Idea Museum. Beyond client work, Mike is devoted to helping organizations and individuals harness creativity's transformative power. Key Discussion Points: - Why unstructured creativity and imaginative play get pushed aside as we grow older (6:11) - How Mike fell out of love with commercial art and graphic design work (8:12) - Mike's "rock bottom" existential crisis moment, prompting his 365 art journey (11:05) - The four parts of Mike's "daily creative habit process" (23:37) - Actionable tactics for taking the "long way home" to spark discovery and wonder (39:04) - Why creativity extends far beyond the arts and lives in all we do (43:46) Key Quotes: "I think too many times what happens is you end up killing the thing that you love, because then you start attaching things to it like, oh, this has to make money." (7:43) "We don't do this enough. We are typically always in the next. Instead of the now, we're like, okay, I did this thing. Great. Now it's behind me." on celebrating small wins (27:00) "When you create, we all win. Because when you create, there's something about you that comes alive..." (48:49)