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Blink 3 of 8 - The 5 AM Club
by Robin Sharma
Listen to the Intro
Today Was Fun summary
Bree Groff
A Book About Work (Seriously)
18 mins
Brief summary
Today Was Fun celebrates the beauty in mundane moments and the joy of unexpected adventures. Bree Groff encourages us to embrace spontaneity and find happiness in everyday experiences, inspiring meaningful connections and personal fulfillment.
Table of Contents
Today Was Fun
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Key idea 1 of 5
Joy makes work valuable
Your work shouldn’t just be a grind you endure for your paycheck. You get paid because you create value, not because the job is painful. At its simplest, work is making or doing something that others appreciate. The problem is that truth is buried under layers of unnecessary clutter that drain the joy out of it – think pointless meetings, rigid dress codes, and endless approval loops. Strip those away and you’re left with something you might actually look forward to doing.
A useful question to ask yourself is, What did I hire my job to do for me? Some people hire their job to stretch their skills, to give them interesting puzzles, or to surround themselves with great colleagues. Others hire it to give them moments of laughter during the day. Seeing work in this light shifts it from a transaction to a source of meaning and enjoyment.
The pressure to make work meaningful often comes with another trap – the idea that it only counts if it’s big enough to change the world. We’re told to scale our impact, reach millions, make a dent in the universe. That might sound inspiring, but it also undervalues the quieter, human-sized contributions that shape lives in lasting ways.
A well-known anecdote tells of a NASA janitor who described his role as helping put a man on the moon. While often presented as an example of linking any job to a grand mission, it can also be viewed as showing the value of supporting colleagues in practical, everyday ways. That might not earn applause at a leadership seminar, but it’s the kind of everyday value that actually makes workplaces – and lives – better.
When we glorify scale, we unintentionally downgrade jobs that thrive on personal connection, like teaching or nursing. A kindergarten teacher might influence only 30 kids a year, which doesn’t sound impressive next to a million-user app, but ask any adult about a teacher who changed their life and you’ll hear about an impact more powerful than numbers alone.
You don’t need to bend history to make your work matter. If what you do makes someone’s day a little easier, brighter, or more joyful, that’s meaningful. And when you approach work in a way that nourishes you – whether that’s through learning, camaraderie, creativity, or simply knowing you’ve made life better for someone – you’ll not only be creating value for others, but also making work itself a product worth “buying” every day. And that’s the kind of deal worth showing up for.
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What is Today Was Fun about?
Today Was Fun (2025) is a straight-talking guide for anyone who’s had enough of joyless, grind-it-out workdays. It calls time on the old idea that professionalism means being buttoned-up, overbooked, and running on fumes. Instead, it offers smart, doable ways to make work feel good again – more creative, more human, and a lot more fun.
Who should read Today Was Fun?
- People tired of performative busyness
- Leaders looking to create healthier workplaces
- Anyone who wants more joy in their work life
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