Archive for December, 2009
Hard, Fun and Beautiful – Backyard Sledding Edition
(Can’t see the video? Then try watching it at Work Happy Now – Hard, Fun and Beautiful – Backyard Sledding Edition)
Where we are free to talk about the hard, the fun, and the beautiful of our work week.
If life was just about dealing with our own pain, then life wouldn’t really be that hard. When we open up to other people’s pain then it can get tricky.
A good manager is able to open up to his/her staff’s problems because they affect work. By listening and empathizing, a manager can make better judgments. A manager might want to encourage an employee to go home and be with his/her family during tough times.
Which brings me to my situation…
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What About Me – Cartoon
We can’t forget about our own needs. The only way we will be truly happy is if we express our needs to the people in our lives. If they don’t know how to help us become happy then they will never even care to do so.
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How to Deal with Goals You Don’t Reach
The winner for the Happy at Work Action Day contest is in. S/he will be announced at the end of this blog post.
I have a confession.
I wanted Happy at Work Action Day to be a big/huge/life changing success. I wanted hundreds of people to join in. Over 70% of office worker are unhappy. An easy win. Right?
This contest didn’t quite work out that way. I’ve been waiting and hoping that people would write in before I declared the winner, but it’s been two months and no companies have written in about their participation.
I feel like a failure.
The whole point of the action day was to get a whole bunch of people involved. I’m so passionate about work happiness that there are some days when I feel like I’m crawling out of my own skin. I just want to keep making work happiness the number one topic of all business conferences, meetings, and values.
There are some days when I’m working so hard that I feel like crying. My wife is in bed and I keep plugging away, just hoping to reach a few more people. I’m exhausted, but I can’t stop.
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Hard, Fun and Beautiful – Dancing Delight Edition
(Can’t see the video? Then try watching it at Work Happy Now – Hard, Fun and Beautiful – Dancing Delight Edition)
Where we are free to talk about the hard, the fun, and the beautiful of our work week.
As the year begins to wrap up (no pun intended), I’m noticing a lot of shifts within myself.
The fear isn’t as overwhelming as it once was with a lot of the projects that I’ve been working on. It goes to show that putting in the time with you has really helped me grow. I’m getting better in front of the camera as well as doing interviews over the phone.
I look forward to my first TV interview. That will be a blast. Nothing booked yet, but I know it’s coming soon.
I’m also noticing that my ability to love has grown so much. I care more about you (the people who read this blog) and how I can make your working life more enjoyable.
Before I start. I hope you are spending this day with loved ones. If you are away on business then try putting a prayer in and you’ll feel closer to your loved ones. I promise.
OK, let’s begin…
Hard
Low energy level.
My energy level has been very low this week. I don’t think it’s the food or lack of sleep. I just think it’s a mental thing.
When Friday comes around my enthusiasm and energy wane. Now that the end of the year is coming, it’s hard to stay focused. I want to just relax and be with my family.
Earlier in the week I was chatting on Twitter and I hit a wall. I couldn’t stay focused. I knew it was time for bed. This was an hour before my usual bed time. I just went with it and still felt tired the next day. Go figure.
Fun
I started creating a theme of the week.
What I like about having a theme of the week is that it keeps me focused.
I’m focused on staying relaxed, finding fun, or staying creative.
I realize that I do better when I can micro-focus on an important part of my working growth. I was creating a workbook for an upcoming product and I couldn’t figure out which direction to take. I looked at my Twitter stream and remembered that I’m supposed to be enjoying my frustration.
I should just be with the emotions and not want life to be different.
It worked. I giggled at myself and switched to a new project for an hour. When I came back to my workbook, the answers came right out of me.
Beautiful
The first thing that pops in my head when I think of beautiful is my son, but I’m not going to talk about him every time.
So the most beautiful thing this past week was watching a woman drink her Starbucks coffee.
She had delight dancing in her eyes. She was going to enjoy that drink because she was so focused on all the goodness she was about to experience. There was no way she couldn’t enjoy its deliciousness.
Now that’s focusing on the beauty in her world.
I was going to wrap up my theme of the week in this post, but since I’m already wrapping up the week I’ll wait until next week. A little suspense is good for the soul.
What about you?
What has been hard, fun and beautiful in your life? I’ll see you in the comment section.
* Are you on Twitter? Then check me out at @workhappynow. I give stress relief tips, happiness ideas, and thought provoking quotes.
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Stop Pushing to Finish One More Email – Cartoon
Trying to get our work done early so we can get home to our families is a part of the holidays.
Remember that your next email will be waiting for you when you get back.
Have a merry christmas and a happy new year!
Thank you for being you and reading this blog. Without you I wouldn’t be this happy.
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Theme of the Week – More Listening Less Talking
I’m changing up my Monday post to see if we can’t shake things up a little bit.
I’ve been struggling with 30 day challenges. They work well on tangible things like no sugar for thirty days, but when dealing with social aspects of work and our emotions, 30 days is just too long to focus. Especially for me. My ADD just kicks in and after a week I’m back to my normal routine.
So I’ve attempted a method that seems to work better for me. I have had a theme of the week for the past few weeks and it has worked well. My last theme was “relaxing my muscles at work.”
I wrote 3 sticky notes with that message and applied it in 3 locations:
1. My bathroom mirror.
2. Inside of my wallet.
3. My office desk.
That way there was always a reminder nearby.
This week my theme of the week is to do more listening instead of talking. I feel like lately I’ve been waiting for people to stop talking so that I can start talking.
Very bad habit.
So this week I’m doing more listening. I mean really listening with my ear drums, eyes, and thoughts. We’ll see how it goes.
I want it to be a more sensory experience instead of just trying to catch all the words and move on.
I’ll update you in the Hard, Fun and Beautiful post.
What about you? Have you ever thought about having a theme of the week?
Let me know in the comments section, what would be a good theme (personal or career development) that could help you become happier at work?
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Hard, Fun and Beautiful – Team Work Edition
(Can’t see the video? Then try watching it at Work Happy Now – Hard, Fun and Beautiful – Team Work Edition)
Where we are free to talk about the hard, the fun, and the beautiful of our work week.
There were so many great responses from last week’s Hard, Fun and Beautiful post. I’m amazed by people’s compassion, understanding, and encouragement. My readers listened and gave me some great feedback. Click here to go check it out if you have a chance.
We all struggle. This will never stop.
What we can do is share and help each other grow. That’s why I created Work Happy Now: so we can create a group of people who want to do great work and enjoy the heck out of it.
OK, enough of my gushing. All of you know I love you for being regular readers of Work Happy Now.
Let’s begin…
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My Whip My Rules – Cartoon
Sometimes we just want people to relax and enjoy the show. They take things so seriously.
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Work Happy Tip – Lucky Pen
So you probably carry around a gnarly looking rabbits foot whenever you have a big meeting. You know, that memento from 9th grade that has patches of bald spots all around it from you rubbing it too much. Right?
Yeah, I didn’t think so.
Oh, you probably don’t believe in superstitions.
Come’on, I know you do. I know you have one, admit it.
This post started because a woman at work told me that her husband was mad because she wore her red coat during a big college football game.
Create Your Mindset
The other team’s colors are red.
Crazy, but it works. Not in the “change the outcome” kind of way, but in helping us create a mindset that lets us feel involved and more at ease.
These superstitions help us stay a little more relaxed and confident during a stressful time.
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How to Stop Feeling Overwhelmed
So you’re stressed out and you have too much to complete. What do you do?
Usually someone does the opposite of what they should really do. They try to rush through to get as much done as possible without being aware of their body signals.
This is actually funny to me. I have often seen co-workers making calls, writing an email and planning their night all at the same time they’re rushing to get all their work done and then they complain about feeling stressed out.
Instead of looking at the root cause, they apply topical solutions to the problem. I’ll explain as this article continues.
I’ve actually tried talking to these stressed out people about their habits and all I get are grumpy stares. I’m sure they are addicted to the rush of rushing around. We all love to feel important, making sure our ego gets that daily dose of “oh yeah, that’s why I’m on Earth.”
The problem is that our hearts, minds, and stomachs can’t handle the pressure. No wonder we eat for comfort. We are constantly on the edge trying to bring ourselves back to solid ground.
We need to find other ways to relax with the work that we do without feeling overwhelmed. It’s a mental game that we must all solve for ourselves.
I use 3 techniques that I’ve combined to help me deal with my frustration, plus a bonus idea that has worked well for me:
- Slow your movements for a specified amount of time
- Increase speed slowly
- Be 100% there
* Bonus
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