I’m getting very tired of people not believing in their superpowers. It’s why I hate the word strengths. It’s the most overused word in business today.

We focus on things we are good at instead of doing work that we care about.

You may crunch numbers because you are good at it. You may sell toner because it’s what you know. You manage projects because people keep asking you to do it again and again.

This is so wrong on many levels. You shouldn’t be doing work based on your strengths. Yes, this should be a factor, but not the whole basis of your work. It’s also why I hate strengths test. They don’t make you think about the work that excites you. They force you to fit your work into square holes.

You have powers to change people’s lives.

It’s why we are here – to affect people by making their lives better.

The only way you are going to change people’s lives it to do work that you are good at, you care about and gets you in the zone. It’s why I created the Unlock Your (Marketing) Superpowers manifesto. There are people that are using their superpowers to change the world. It’s this connection that brings them more joy than they ever thought possible.

You need all three factors. If you don’t care and you just want to coast so be it, but it’s the worst way of living. Of course you need down time; you can’t create 24/7 or even 8/7. You need to find your time that gets you in your hot zones. Those zones when you can’t do any wrong. You must feel like your work is just plain fun.

When we are kids we learned by experimenting, failing, then trying again. We didn’t care about perfection. Then there was this point that we got it in our heads that failure is bad. We gain this conscious that holds us back from using our superpowers. We stop believing in the infinite and start limiting our imaginations.

You have to stop letting your arch nemesis hold you back. YOU HAVE SUPERPOWERS. It’s these powers that you need to share with the world.

It’s really not that hard. It takes a little work each day, but it’s the fun type of work.

Ask yourself these 3 questions:

1. What type of work gets you in the zone? (List at least 10)
2. What type of work matters to you? (List at least 10)
3. What type of work comes naturally to you? (List at least 10)

By digging deep into where your past successes are you can find work that will help you unleash your superpowers that will change the world.

Now you look at your list. Which actions show up on all 3 lists? It’s these actions that you have to use every single day.

Your fear may hold you back at first, but just ask yourself, are you using your superpowers to make a difference? Does making this difference matter more than your fears? If the answer is yes you know what you need to do.

If you want to learn more about your superpowers check out my free manifesto – Unlock Your (Marketing) Superpowers. Marketing is in the title because it’s what I help people do. I help them connect with people so they can change the world.

You must start using your superpowers right away otherwise you won’t accomplish the great work that will change lives.

Once you are living your superpowers that’s when your career starts becoming fun. People can leverage your superpowers and you can leverage theirs. That’s the key to a happy career. You learn to trust other people’s superpowers and they trust yours, creating life changing stuff together.

So you need to promise me to find one small task each day that you love to do, gets you in the zone, and comes easy for you then email me [karl (AT) partybizconnect (DOT) com] in one week and let me know how your career/life is improving.

Download the Free eBook Work Happy the Google Way * Post from: Work Happy Now!

Editor’s note: This is a guest post from Mike Bundrant of iNLP.

“Do it, Mike! Just do it! Stop your whining and get off your butt!”

This is how I used to motivate myself. I carried around an inner high school football coach to bark at me whenever he thought I was slacking. The problem was, I constantly stressed myself out. Worse, half the time I “rebelled” against this inner dictator and became passive aggressive toward my own goals. How’s that for nutty?

Patterns

Actually, this is a common pattern. A “dictator” style of motivation has an undermining effect in the long run. Most people don’t like to be ordered around. In the workplace it leads to low morale and a low productivity, high-turnover workforce. Dictator-style parents tend to divide families and create harsh rivalries in the home. Ordering yourself around leads to the number one killer of personal development goals: self-sabotage.

Think about it. To your mind and body, a harsh, loud voice ordering you around is jarring, regardless of the source. You respond with stress and resistance whether from an outsider imposing his will or you imposing your will upon yourself. In the end, your brain experiences the commands in a similar fashion. Your mind places a lot less emphasis on the origin of an experience than you may think. All of us can make our mouths water just by imagining a delectable dessert. We’ve all reacted with fear to inner thoughts that had no basis in external reality. Ordering yourself around is being ordered around, period. Chances are, you don’t like it and will shut down, refusing to take any action at all.

The stress and resistance of dictatorial self-motivation is an expressway to self-sabotage. “I don’t have to do anything I don’t want to do!” is the common response to inappropriate commands, even when those commands are self-generated. It’s a perfect set up.

A New Way

Zen Motivation changes all this. The need to bark orders and force yourself to do things doesn’t even arise in a Zen motivation state. Motivating yourself to do things, even unpleasant things, is a normal part of living and comes quite naturally when in a more Zen-like state, connected to the present moment. Do this exercise and see what I mean.

1. Consider one thing that you need to motivate yourself to do, such as exercise, pull weeds, meet with a difficult colleague, and so forth. If you can, write down the name of the task in the middle of a piece of paper (if you have a pen and paper).

2. Become aware how you would typically motivate yourself to do this and write down (if you can) the thoughts and feelings that come next. For example, “Get it done!” or “Let’s move!” or “I just have to get this done!” or “Come on, Mike!” or (feelings, too) “Tension in chest and shoulders.” Write freely for a minute or so and don’t censor yourself.

3. Just clear your mind for a few moments. Shake it off.

4. Forget everything and enter a more present, grounded state by tuning into a mundane sound, such as the sound of distant traffic, the hum of your computer (or the white noise of a fan, refrigerator, running water, etc…). Don’t do anything else or try to relax – just tune into the sound. Keep listening for a minute or more, until you feel settled.

5. When you feel more settled, reconsider the task you need to get done. Write it down on a clean sheet of paper and notice the thoughts and feelings that come to your mind and body. Do you notice the difference? In this more calm state, what words can you choose to gently motivate yourself? How much easier is it to avoid ordering yourself around while you are feeling more settled and connected to the outside world?

For managers, the key to motivating employees rests with the quality of the relationship – how well do they treat their employees? Likewise, the key to motivating yourself is correlated with how well you treat yourself. Zen motivation allows you to motivate yourself from a more grounded, connected state. When you do, your tendency to order yourself around will vanish and your productivity will increase. Best of all, you’ll be respecting yourself more.

Mike Bundrant is an NLP trainer with the iNLP Center. Visit iNLP for a free personal development mini course and learn more about the Zen Motivation Twitter Party.

Image courtesy of phoeric.

Download the Free eBook Work Happy the Google Way * Post from: Work Happy Now!

I’m afraid of failure. I’m not so afraid of failure that my creativity locks up. I have a popular blog, social media accounts, and I’ve interviewed superheroes in the business world. I’m putting stuff out into the world to help people, but I’m still holding back.

I recently hopped on Twitter tried to think of something cool and insightful, gave up and went to watch an old episode of The Office. Then as I watched the episode my arch nemesis was whispering at me for being so lame and worthless. I hate when that little voice inside me whispers to me instead of screams. It’s so much harder to ignore him. Why is that?

Still Nothing

I turned off the TV, hopped back on Twitter and still nothing came to me.

I’ve been afraid to tell you my insecurities for fear of you thinking I’m a fraud. I’m a fraud who teaches work happiness, but can’t seem to find any happiness myself.

Then when I was at my lowest and ready to give up I realized something profound. The whole point of a career/business is to find people who love our ideas, love our work, and love what we do. It’s that simple.

Ok it’s simple to say, but so very hard to do.

Born This Way

I’ve found that I am what I am. As Lady Gaga likes to say, “BornThisWay.”

I can tell you about my childhood, complaining about what went wrong or I can own this life and not apologize for who I am.

You need to own your career and not be afraid to be you.  You are you because of many reasons, but denying these reasons is pointless.

You have superpowers that are probably underutilized. It’s your job to figure out how to utilize them more efficiently.

The Reality

I felt like I was searching in all the wrong places, but really I’ve been heading in the right direction without even knowing it. It’s amazing how the subconscious mind has desires and the ability to act on them. I’m an expert in work happiness because I lived in the trenches. I still live in the trenches and every now and again I get out and enjoy the moment. It’s these insights that I bring to you because I’ve been there and I know how to help you.

I’m not the perfect business coach. I have a lot of faults, but that doesn’t mean I’m not good at what I do.

You have faults too, but it can’t stop you from using our superpowers. Tim Brownson wrote about this here. It’s not about the faults that you have. You can’t focus on these. You need to concentrate on your skills that you are passionate about, get you in the zone, and play to your strengths.

Your Turn

You may be here because you feel that you’ve been heading in the wrong direction, but in reality you aren’t that far from your happiness. All that needs to happen is a small shift in your thinking and actions.

You probably are like me and don’t realize how far you’ve come and how many superpowers you’ve accumulated over the years.

Take a look at what you’ve accomplished. How your superpowers have helped build a business, support clients, and teach new methods that have saved people hundreds of hours of time.

You are probably doing a lot of good things that you can add on to and leverage into a happier career.

What small tweak can you make that will help you use more of your superpowers in your career/business?

* I’ve been much happier helping people supercharge their business instead of their career. It plays more to my superpowers. Plus throwing Twitter parties are so much fun. Finding my career happiness has been a nonstop journey. It’s why you can’t give up because once you find your career groove it’s like sliding on warm butter.

Download the Free eBook Work Happy the Google Way * Post from: Work Happy Now!

As my 1 Sentence Journal fills up I’m beginning to see my happiness patterns. For example when I start writing early in the day I can get my thoughts on this track that allows me to write in large quantities. I plant the seed early and I can’t let go. I almost always end up surprising myself with my productivity levels.

I never would have discovered this if I hadn’t taken the time to contemplate my workday. You don’t need to meditate in the typical sense to enjoy the benefits of contemplation. The idea is to find a way to relax your thoughts and be in the now, so you can improve just a little bit each day.

Habits

A big portion of my happiness felt anchored to how much I could write/create, especially on the weekends when I needed to get a bulk of my writing accomplished. Understanding my process allowed me to bring clarity to what made me happy.

Adding the one sentence journal helped me expose some hidden happiness that I hadn’t expected.

The older I get and the closer to death I get less likely I am to fool myself into sticking with the same old patterns. My fear just doesn’t have a strangle hold on my emotions like they used to. I’m much more willing to expose the lies that I hold on to, so I can make positive changes.

Excerpts from my one sentence journal:

3-20-10 – I had trouble staying focused, still need to work on relaxing with my work.

4-12-10 – My mind was scattered trying to focus my energy on how to reach my right people. I was grumpy and frustrated. My mind was focused on my mistakes instead of the possibilities that I could create.

5-25-10 – Planning my day each morning is very important. Helps me stay focused.

6-15-10 – Called out sick because I had Saturday hours, got some good work done. Nice to have the house to myself so I could stay focused.

10-19-10 – Got some little stuff done. Need to stay focused on big picture.

12-11-10 – I was a little disappointed in myself this Saturday. I need to get my work done so I can hang out with the family on Sunday. I putzed around and when I did work I wasn’t very focused. I don’t think the two beers and green helped very much.

This is only a small portion of my 1 Sentence Journal. There were many patterns that I found and improved. To help me keep my focus I’ve implemented the technique I talked about, Doing the Important Stuff Early.

I also implemented two other techniques:

• Review big picture each week and each month. This helps me get my focus back on track. I use my 1 Sentence Journal to do this as well. (Macro)
• When doing singular tasks I use an egg timer to stay on task. As long as my egg timer is counting down I refuse to check out my Twitter account or my email. (Micro)

I know myself. When I’m productive I’m happy. I love knocking out an ebook, e-course or interviewing someone. It makes me proud. That’s time well spent.

You

You probably hold back from happiness to placate others or because of your fear. It’s natural. I still do it. The thing is – what are you doing to expose these lies you are telling yourself?

If you love getting your creative work done early why are you putting it off until the afternoon? If you hate doing to Sunday Brunch with the Stewarts and their annoying kid then why do you do it? If you hate cold calling why do you do it?

We know what we need to do to be happy, but for some reason we don’t do it until we see the patterns for ourselves and feel enough pain to take action.

You have to find a way to stimulate yourself to ask yourself these tough questions. It’s the only way you will expose your willingness to accept the unhappiness. No one likes to ask and answer these tough questions. I understand that, but what is the alternative? You can’t go on living in unhappiness.

I couldn’t do it any longer. I had to expose the lies I was telling myself so I could open myself to changing my bad habits.

What things do you do now that makes you happy? (i.g. Eat fried food during lunch or cold calling customers.)

What changes have you made to improve your happiness? (i.g. You go to the gym during lunch or you only make warm calls to people who already know you.)

* Need a boost to your work happiness? Then check out the Happy at Work Project and start one yourself.

* I’m co-hosting the Book Yourself Solid Twitter Party this Thursday with Michael Port. Come check it out and win some cool prizes. Did I mention it’s free.

If you found this post insightful, you will probably like these too:

• Is Work Stress Hurting Your Family Life?
• What You and a Hermit Crab have in Common

Image courtesy of Policardo

Download the Free eBook Work Happy the Google Way * Post from: Work Happy Now!

I’ve had some real “fire cracker explodes in your hand” kind of days. You know those days when you take a chance and it back fires in your face.

The old Karl (before Work Happy Now) usually got all depressed and sulked for days on end when I had a lousy day. I now practice being happy at work. I don’t put up with a lousy day any longer.

I’ve learned how to let the pain go and move on.

Last Week

I was stuck working on some reports. I couldn’t get the data to match up and I was freaking out. My hands were sweating, I was feeling hot flashes from my anger, and I was unable to focus. My day kept getting worse and worse. I got a phone call from a client who was in desperate need of help.

How could I help when I was freaking out myself? I told her that I would call her back in 20 minutes.

I decided to step outside and sprint down the block (well nowadays with my old man legs it’s more like a fast jog) until I ran out of breath. It was a lousy day multiplied by 7. It was some kind of shit storm that came out of nowhere.

When I got back inside I called the client back, gave her two good options and then I felt this calm come over me.

That phone call took the stress off of me and made me focus on someone else.

Keys

It was like God handed me a key to my own brain. I’ve actually known this trick for a long time, but it never fully registered. I have a good feeling that I’ll forget again and I’ll need to go for a sprint again, but that’s just who I am.

By shifting my focus on to helping this client, I got out of my own emotional shit storm. It was beautiful.

I know that I teach about happiness and should have 10 tools at my disposal at any given time, but for some reason I couldn’t let go until I called my client back.

Turn the Focus Outward

Next time you are caught in a shit storm, stop whatever you are doing, sprint 100 yards and then help someone else with their problem.

When you get back to your own problem, you’ll have a clear mind and a relaxed heart.

Your Turn

What do you do when you are having a lousy day?

Do you marinate in it or do you find a way to turn it around?

* Need a boost to your work happiness? Then check out the Happy at Work Project and start one yourself.

* Been wanting to start a blog, but don’t know where to start? Check out my friend Johnny’s offer of helping you set-up a blog for free. He’s not doing it because he is Mother Teresa, he profits from hooking you up with hosting. You have to pay this anyway so may as well get a free blog set-up out of it. The offer ends today – December 19th.

If you found this post insightful, you will probably like these too:

> Are Friendships the Key to Workplace Happiness?

> 6 Tips on How to Have a Productive Day at Work

Image courtesy of Wes & Eli

Download the Free eBook Work Happy the Google Way * Post from: Work Happy Now!

Have you ever noticed how positive people are more resilient?

Lately I’ve been thinking about the importance of attitude. Back in 2009, I put myself on a no complaining diet for 30 days. It was a tough and enlightening experience. I realized how much I complained and that I needed to do something to change.

After looking back on my career, I realized how much my complaining has affected my productivity. Whenever I complained, I would wreck my confidence. I used to get so down on myself that I couldn’t do any meaningful work. I thought it was just the way I worked.  I did busy work that didn’t challenge me or demand me to be creative.

At one point my complaining was so bad that I caught myself complaining about gifts that I received from generous friends and family. It was a splash of cold water down my back. I was sabotaging my own happiness.

I knew it wasn’t helping my career or my personal life, so I vowed to make some changes.

That’s when I put myself on the no complaining diet. It was one of the best 30 day trials I’ve ever experimented with.

What I learned

My complaining focused my thoughts and feelings on what I didn’t like about a situation and never opened my mind to the positive in the situation.

No job is perfect, but I was avoiding hard work because of the possible negatives that could come out of the situation. I debated whether I should try to develop a new project or check my email instead. My email always came first.

Checking my email was a crutch I kept falling back on again and again. I knew I had to stay busy to avoid depression, but I wasn’t working any smarter.

I realized that I was complaining about myself before I even started a project. I would complain about the work and the possible mistakes that might occur. This negative attitude kept me from engaging with my work and my co-workers.

The no complaining trial helped me understand the kryptonite effect that my complaining had on my attitude, and I figured out ways to focus my energy on building my confidence through positivity.

I needed to develop tools to help me build a more positive attitude. Over the past year and a half I’ve used 5 tools to build my confidence and develop a more positive attitude.

1. Create a Happiness Plan

Every person who cares about his or her life should have a happiness plan. When you are happy, you are less susceptible to heart disease and you’re more creative. That means you need to figure out how to be happier. Yes, it does take a little work, but a simple plan can make a big difference.

If you want to learn more about creating a happiness plan then click the link and you’ll discover how to set up a plan that fits your needs.

The biggest improvement to my career happiness has been keeping a one sentence journal. It helps me assess my career and make adjustments.

You have to figure out what problems you keep running into and how you can improve the way you respond to them. Reflection is a much underused skill. The more you understand how to improve your attitude, the more you can cultivate a resilient mind.

2. Understand How You Transition Between Tasks

I’ve talked about transitioning between tasks before because this is a personal development opportunity that is often ignored.

When you finish an email, what is the next thing you do?

You probably just go to the next task. This is a bad habit. If you can create the habit of taking a few seconds to celebrate your previous task, then you can create a more positive attitude for your next task.

3. Know Your Kryptonite

There are certain tasks that will drain your energy. The more you can tune into this feeling, the less likely you are to subject yourself to these tasks.

Yes, there will be times when you’ll have to do work that you don’t like. It’s a part of every business. You can’t escape it. The idea is to do more fun stuff than crappy stuff throughout your day. Every person’s balance is different. You’ll have to discover what works for you.

The best way to do this is to create a routine. Can you figure out when to do your creative work that fits into your hot spot (the time of day that you have the most energy)? If you love to write and you are at your best in the morning, then block out this time to get into the writing zone. Use the afternoon to do the work that drains you, just take time to do some fun stuff in between to keep your energy at a high level.

4. Levity Your Face Off

Many of us take our careers too seriously. We don’t take the time to laugh at ourselves and the situations we are in. If you really take the time to look at your life, it’s very funny.

A friend taught me how to create a little levity when I’m feeling overwhelmed. Let’s say you have a client who is breathing down your neck and is being unreasonable. A good technique is to say (out loud) what is happening and after each sentence say “ha, ha, ha.” This will allow you to create some emotional space between you and the situation.

5. Stay Curious

You want to believe that you are curious, but are you really? Do you ask your co-worker questions about why they do what they do? Do you ask a client to explain how they came up with a certain concept? You just want to do your work. It’s easier to dive into work then the messy world of digging for more information.

You need to think about what you need to learn from a situation then figure out who can teach you the ropes.

I’ve been stuck in ruts before when I have stopped being curious. What a huge mistake! I was writing boring stuff and no one was feeling the love. I was flopping around like a fish on a rusty deck. When I hit my lowest I began to ask people on Twitter some questions. I asked them what they did to stay motivated. The answers weren’t as important as my own curiosity.

You need to start asking the right questions. The questions that make you want to dig deeper. Once you dig a little deeper, you can find out what the core problem is and that’s where you can turn your attitude toward a more positive direction. One that will get you taking action on the problem.

Attitude Matters

I haven’t completely stopped complaining, but I have reduced my complaining by at least 80%. Because of this 30 day trial, my career has bloomed.

Because of my attitude shift I’ve been asked to do more events. Recently, Amway contacted me to be a part of a project that I want to share with you.

Share Your Positivity with the World

Amway has put together a fantastic contest. They want people to tell their amazing stories. There will be a $10,000 winner and 9 $2,500 winners. Check out Amway’s Positivity Project Facebook Page and website.

To get you started they ask a few questions that might help you get your creative juices flowing:

> Has the power of positive affected your life?

> Have your positive actions had an impact on others?

> Has positivity impacted the life of someone you know?

> Has someone else’s positivity had a profound impact on you?

> How might you spread positivity to others if given the opportunity?

Amway wants people to tell a story of how positivity makes a difference in people’s lives. Make sure your entry is awesome and you will have a good chance.

Full Disclosure: Amway flew me in to visit their facility in Michigan. They interviewed me and other experts in the positivity field. This trip proved to me that Amway is dedicated to creating a more positive society. The Amway founders were very philanthropic, so it really fits into their mission. Check out the video they put together highlighting my mission of bringing superpower development to small business owners. I see a lot of mistakes, but overall I have to say, I did a good job.

Good luck! Just think: $10,000 to forward your cause. That’s some sweet cash.

* Need help leveraging your superpowers? Then check out my Superpower Coaching to see how I can help you become happier, more productive, and less stressed out.

* Evita of Evolving Beings talks about living out dreams through conscious and focused intention. I believe that we attract into our lives what we feel we deserve. Evita she deserves beauty and life provides. Click here to check out her post.

Image courtesy of bluekdesign

Download the Free eBook Work Happy the Google Way * Post from: Work Happy Now!

The Law of Attraction (LoA) gets a bad rep because of cheesy YouTube Videos and terrible books. They want to make the concept simple and enticing, but in doing so they lose much of the life changing impact that the practice can have. I didn’t believe until I started believing. Imagine that.

We are who we think we are and that’s how we accomplish our goals. If we don’t believe we can write a great book, hike the Appalachian trail, or create a career that will make us so happy that we can’t believe our luck then it won’t happen.

Let’s break the LoA down. First, we have to understand confidence.

What is confidence?

Confidence is our belief in our abilities. When we believe we can accomplish a goal, our minds set to work to make our goals a reality.

I’m working with a client who is afraid to reach out to old customers. He has enough steady work right now, but he knows his slow time is coming soon. He is afraid of the responses that he will receive. There is a reason why they are no longer customers. Right?

My client doesn’t want to face this reality. So he continues to do the same things he always does – wait for business to come to him.

He may have confidence in many areas, but in his business he lacks the confidence to learn from past mistakes.

Creating a Positive Mindset

Happy people have a resilience that unhappy people don’t have. They believe that good things will come into their lives. Even when faced with a terrible tragedy, they find a way to create a positive spin.

They may not call it LoA, but that’s exactly what they are doing. They are sending out intentions and expecting them to come back.

When you believe in positive outcomes, you train the brain to expect positive results.

My Thick Skull

I never believed that I deserved a wonderful career that made me happy. I thought it was something that might happen, but I was more concerned with making money. So my first job out of college was for money, but the work didn’t resonate with me. I wrote poetry on my breaks and during lunches.

My thick skull wouldn’t comprehend the possibility that my job was all wrong for me.

I worked because I had to. I never thought to align my strengths, focus, and passions into a career. I had yet to discover my superpowers.(create “what are career superpowers?” post).

The layers of my skill finally eroded away to open my eyes to my error. I could build a business on the side as I discovered my superpowers.

Once I believed in my superpowers, the LoA finally began to work for me. People began to seek me out because I put out intentions to the world that I could help other people. I trusted my powers offered them to the world.

Using the LoA on Your Career

You have to believe that you have dormant superpowers that need to be discovered and harnessed. If you don’t, there isn’t much career leverage that you can create. If you do believe that you have “the spark” inside of you then you will take yourself to amazing places.

1. Believe in Your Skills

I’m not talking about blind belief, but honest belief that allows you to understand your superpowers. By recognizing your kryptonite and understanding how to maximize your superpowers, you’ll build the confidence you need to offer your skills to the world.

2. Create a Vision

So many of my clients don’t know what type of work will make them happy because they don’t visualize their perfect workday. They see what other people have and think that they want that same thing. Then when they are doing that thing they realize it is all wrong for them.

The more you work on projects that make you happy, the clearer your visions will become.

3. Find Work You are Passionate about

You can’t force yourself to enjoy work that sucks. You may apply all the engagement tools in the book, but if you don’t have any intrinsic motivation will never spark a fire. You must do work that makes you feel energized. It’s easy to offer up your skills when you are doing work that energizes you.

4. Find Work that Captures Your Interest

Focus has been a weakness of mine. I have always liked so many things that I never took the time to master my skills. After realizing this I began to practice the art of focused attention.

I set an egg timer for 25 minutes and made sure that I did not become distracted from the task at hand. I rewarded myself with 15 minutes of Yoga after completing a task. I realized that my most productive times were the times between 1pm – 5pm, so I made sure to do my hardest tasks during this time.

The more I practiced the art of staying focused, the better I got at it. Now I can write for an hour straight, take a quick stretch break and then write for another hour without a problem.

You need to find out what helps you stay focused on your important work. Have fun experimenting with different ideas and eventually a few will work for you.

5. Chunk Your Tasks

Many tasks aren’t just straight forward. There needs to be some planning in order to make the tasks feel feasible. A short email doesn’t need much planning, but an email proposal does. So you must divide your work into small chunks in order to stay on task and avoid feeling overwhelmed. Five minutes of planning before I start a small project can save me an hour of procrastinating.

6. Improve Your Emotional I.Q.

Every career has its difficult moments. Whether we are working with difficult people or stuck for a solution, it’s natural to get upset. We can’t avoid our emotions, so we need to work on these issues on a regular basis. Whenever I’m feeling upset, overwhelmed, or just plain stressed out I go for a walk. I get away from my work and let my mind relax.

You need to find ways to work with your emotions. You may want to keep a one-sentence journal about what upsets you and why. By doing this every day for even just a month, you’ll begin to see a pattern. Once you recognize a pattern you can focus your energy on processing these emotions quickly so you can get back to doing work that makes you happy.

7. Develop a Flexible Mindset

You career is constantly fluctuating. The people you meet in your business, at work, or online will bring new opportunities. You need to be able to adjust your plans quickly to adapt to your changing environment. I’ve met people who have turned down work because it didn’t fit their perception of themselves. It’s important to be open to the idea of taking your career in the direction that your clients or company push you toward. As long as you can still get excited about the work.

Being too fixated on what you want your career to look like will create a lot of heartache. By being flexible, you will be more likely to become happy and successful.

Infusing the Law of Attraction into Your Career

Successful people are successful because they expect to be. When they fail, they find ways to adjust their plans.

You must believe that you deserve good things to happen in your career. If you don’t, it’s harder to attract the right clients to support your business. It’s difficult to connect with the right co-workers who are willing to help you build your career.

I’ve read that most personal development information works because people want to create positive change in their lives. They use all kind of resources to learn.

You can have the career of your dreams, but you have to put in the hard work to attract the right people and projects into your life. Once you build your superpowers and network, your career happiness will multiply.

How have you used the LoA to improve your career?

* Are you on Twitter? Then join over 3,400 people who get my stress relief tips, happiness ideas, and thought provoking quotes. @workhappynow

* Catherine Caine of Be Awesome Online write a post about looking professional online. In the old days we could were a fancy suit to impress, now we have the internet barrier. We need to appear professional, but it’s harder to do since people need more than a picture and a nice sales page to see how good you are. Check out Catherine’s post, very much worth your time.

If you enjoyed this post then you will probably like this one too:

> How to Discover Your Career Bliss

> 7 Ways to Bring More Positivity to Your Career

Download the Free eBook Work Happy the Google Way * Post from: Work Happy Now!

If you can’t connect to the work that you are doing, either it doesn’t fit with your needs or you aren’t trying. Some people have an aptitude for math, writing, history, science, computers, etc. They gravitate toward these things because they vibrate their soul.

I know I may be losing some of you here because of this “new age” vibrational talk, but that’s ok. I know I can’t win all of you over with each post. A lot of you really need this information, so I’ll continue.

You have deep needs that need to be recognized or you will never be happy at work. This is why I talk about the importance of reflection. It’s important to sit back and let the mind go to see how your career is humming along. I’ve known a lot of people who didn’t take the time in their twenties and thirties to really listen to how they felt and adjust their careers accordingly, and now they are paying for it in their careers.

I’ve also talked about the importance of being content with yourself before you can be happy with your work. I’ve been developing my work happiness for so long that I would even could be content cleaning a high school. It’s honest and useful work and I know that I could connect with the daily routine, but I also know that it wouldn’t vibrate with my soul’s needs.

Companies should be doing career coaching to help their employees (and themselves) achieve the best work possible. Employees would actually stay longer and feel more appreciated, while the company would learn more about each person’s superpowers and needs. I know building a business takes time, but it would be worth it in the long run. There is too much short sightedness going on in the corporate world. People expect great work from their staff, but they won’t give them the tools to actually do it.

You can’t rely on anyone else to help you find your career bliss, you have to find a way to meet your true needs.

Making the connection

I have struggled at every job I’ve ever had. No secret.

I felt like I wasn’t getting anywhere with my career. I tried marketing, mushroom mongering, practicing a trade, teaching, trying to be a handyman, working in retail, and a few others. I also visualized myself doing 100 other jobs, from masseuse to novelist to copywriter to Yoga instructor. I pictured myself doing different jobs and some resonated with me but none of them felt quite right.

I wanted something challenging, interesting, and interactive. I looked at what I had struggled with the most is my career.

I had done a lot of personal development work, ran a lot of teams in the workplace, and was afraid of public speaking, but loved it.

Finally, after many nights of reflecting on my passions and strengths a plan began to form. I knew what direction I should take my career in.

I needed to help people who have struggled like I had. I wanted to alleviate the fear that other people had about doing something that they truly loved. It’s this love that changes the world. Where would we be without people who have felt this deep need to ignore all the naysayers and create something so unique and helpful that the world is changed forever?

This realization only came together after many conversations with my wife, friends, family, strangers on planes, and myself. Yes, I talk to myself. Sometimes I do it silently (meditation) and other times I do it out loud when I’m walking my dog.

I’m not the local town crazy man, whispering to myself and sipping on a brown bagged beer. I make sure that I do it when no one is around.

It took hours, weeks, months, and years of work to discover how I can be most useful to this world. I’m still learning and growing, discovering my superpowers.

How do you connect with your vibrating soul?

The real question is figuring what work matches your soul’s vibration. You have to match your strengths with your passions and focus in order to understand your superpowers.

People make the mistake of just using their strengths and they end up feeling empty.

You must be aware of what is in your mind and heart.

I want you to begin by listing 5 of your strengths. Make sure to make each strength a verb. You want it to be an action that you can repeat in various work situations.

My strengths are:

> Writing

> Relationship building

> Analyzing

> Developing new ideas

> Creating solutions to problems

Now list 5 actions you are passionate about. Make sure these are also verbs that you can put into action.

My passions are:

> Speaking to an audience

> Drawing

> Story telling

> Laughing

> Walking in nature

How can you use most of these 5 strengths and 5 passions in a career?

I knew that I couldn’t get all of my strengths and passions into one career, but I wanted to get as many of them as I could.

I choose a career in which I could speak, analyze and be creative. I looked at my background and saw a huge weakness in the world that I could fill.

I could help the 50% of people who hate what they did to earn a living. I could help them use their superpowers to make a difference and love what they do to earn an living. I didn’t really know that I was so passionate about work happiness, but I tried it out. I created a blog and started writing about business, stress, relationships (interpersonal and intrapersonal), productivity, and other work related topics.

After a year I knew that I had found my niche. That’s the best takeaway that I can offer. Try whatever you feel you would love to do as a career on the side. Do you find that researching environmental articles makes you happy? If so, you may be on to something good. If not, you know that this topic/work doesn’t resonate with your soul. Then pick something else and begin to research this topic. The more you dive into what you think will make you happy the better you’ll understand yourself and how it’s possible that you can love what you do to earn a living.

What about you?

Have you found your career niche?

Maybe you are ready for your next career. What are you doing to work toward this new career?

* Are you on Twitter? Then join over 3,386 people who get my stress relief tips, happiness ideas, and thought provoking quotes. @workhappynow

* Naomi’s post over at Ittybiz talks about the importance of working your butt off to get to where you want to be. She doesn’t put it as nice as that, but never the less a great message.

If you enjoyed this post then you will probably like this one too:

> How to Harness Your Superpowers

> 5 Ways to Conquer Your Fears

Download the Free eBook Work Happy the Google Way * Post from: Work Happy Now!

Zappos has been honored with many accolades these past few years, including Business Week Customer Service Champ of 2009. Tony Hsieh, Zappos’ CEO, has been asked to speak all over the world. Zappos was named one of Fortune’s top 100 companies to work for in 2009.

Many people love to talk about the wonderful success story of Zappos, but some people don’t realize how much work was put into the development of the company. We know that they get raving reviews from customers, but we don’t know what it took to develop the business model that has been so successful.


Tony is about to tell the world exactly how he did it.

Tony wrote the book on how to make employees so happy that they wow the pants off their customers. He admits that he isn’t the first person to do this and that he has learned from others, but he has taken work happiness to a new level. His book is called Delivering Happiness (Amazon affiliate link), and it explains explaining how the perfect storm of Zappos came together.
Here are 19 reasons why you should buy Tony’s book:

1. You own a business and you want to learn how to run a profitable company.

2. You want to learn how to create a business without selling your soul to the devil.

3. You are curious about Tony’s life story.

4. You want to apply some of Zappos’ concepts to your own business.

5. You are wondering why Tony cares so much about Zappos.

6. You want to know how Zappos is so successful.

7. You want to know how Tony came to realize that happiness is more important than money.

8. You want to create core values for your company.

9. You need to know why Zappos offers free shipping and if you can do the same at your company.

10. You would like to learn how to get your people engaged with the company’s product.

11. Tony wrote the book without a ghost writer. (You can see this and at times the writing isn’t polished, but I actually liked this because I felt more connected to the story.)

12. You learn why Zappos pays their trainees to leave.

13. You are curious about how Tony views happiness.

14. You want to know how Zappos’ culture book came about.

15. You know creating a business is a gamble and you want to know how many risks Tony faced throughout his career.

16. You know culture is the best way to build a great company and you want to know more about how Zappos created an amazing culture.

17. You want to understand the importance of Twitter in the Zappos culture.

18. Why it’s good to embrace the weird side of the company’s culture.

19. It’s more than just a business book, it’s a life book too.

I’ve met Tony, interviewed him, and hung out on the Zappos bus at sxsw and Tony is an amazing person. I’m not getting paid to write this review. I’m writing this review because the book is worth your time.

Go out and buy it and help Tony get on the Best Sellers list, so more companies develop an open and happy culture.

* Are you on Twitter? Then join over 3,300 people who get my stress relief tips, happiness ideas, and thought provoking quotes. @workhappynow

* I talk about reframing your perspective a lot on this blog and J.D. put up a post that gives a fresh view. It’s called Change Your Why or Change Your How. If you can reframe a problem it ceases to be a problem.

If you enjoyed this post then you will probably like this one too:

> Develop a Blog Business Funnel

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Download the Free eBook Work Happy the Google Way * Post from: Work Happy Now!

If you are anything like me, frustration can put a heavy damper on your career. Your frustration comes at you from external and internal issues.

Externally you may have to deal with…

> Coworkers
> Clients/Customers
> Technology

Internally you may have to deal with…

> Tissue pain (i.e. a bad back)
> Depression
> Creativity issues

I can make these two lists very long, but you understand all the elements that a worker must deal with. Heck, you deal with your own issues every day.

Dealing with Frustrations

I let frustration whoop my butt up and down my career on a daily basis. There were many times when I questioned my intelligence, my sanity and my life in general. Here are some of the various ways that I’ve used in the past to deal with my frustration:

1. Make Up a Song
2. Make an Emotional Dump List
3. Laugh
4. Vent to a Friend
5. Dance to a Favorite Song
6. Unleash Your Inner Kid
7. Pray for Relief
8. Say No
9. Make Time for More Sleep

1. Make Up a Song

When I’m frustrated and my head feels like it will explode, I make up a song. The song usually has no musical value for anyone else, but I don’t care. All that matters is that it helps me release my frustrations.

The last song I made up was about a meeting that was canceled by the other party. I had become attached to the potential doors that this meeting could open.

It went something like this…

The spasm of my brain,

ringing my cells.

What can I say,

but freak’in,

f’in,

f yah!

I don’t need them.

I don’t need the help of forgetful minders,

tearing down my emotional balance.

All I need is me

and this song of frustration.

So let me be,

let me beeeeeeeee.

Yeah, you wouldn’t want to hear that on the radio.

The song went on like that for 10 minutes; that was just a small clip. This creativity allows me to release my pain and bring myself back into emotional balance.

By releasing your emotions through a made up song, you can deal with your emotions more easily. Give it a try next time you have trouble letting go of your emotions.

2. Make an Emotional Dump List

Frustration is really just an emotional buildup that we can’t release. So we need to figure out a way to clear out these thoughts and emotions and bring happiness back in.

I created an emotional dumping list and focused on the “5 whys”:

1. Why do I feel this way?
2. Why can’t I let go?
3. Why am I so attached to my frustration?
4. Why do I love my emotions?
5. Why is there brilliance in every action?

The key to the whys is making sure that they keep getting more and more positive.

When you can dump out the negative and fill your brain with positive thoughts, you will have a better chance of letting go of the frustration and feeling relaxed.

3. Laugh

When you laugh, you are releasing beta-endorphins (the family of chemicals that alleviates depression) and human growth hormone (HGH; which helps with immunity) from Science Daily. This stress relief will help you release your frustrations.

One of the easiest ways to laugh is to go out to lunch with a friend. If you don’t have any friends available, then watch something funny on YouTube.

As long as you are laughing, your frustration doesn’t have a chance.

4. Vent to a Friend

A close friend can often help you release pent up energy if you vent to them. The problem is that venting can quickly turn into complaining, which only magnifies the pain.

You need to make a plan when you make time to vent to a friend. Try to put a limit on how much and for how long you can vent.

You’ll notice that you are much more economical with your venting when you set boundaries. It won’t take as long to clear out your frustration.

After the venting is all out then try to steer the conversation in a positive direction. Leaving on a positive note ensures that both parties will want to meet again in the near future.

5. Dance to a Favorite Song

Lately I’ve been dancing to ABBA, Justin Timberlake, and Michael Jackson. They always put me in a good mood. It’s hard for me to stay frustrated when I’m dancing like a crazy man on my bed, office floor, or the kitchen.

It’s probably the fastest frustration relief idea in this article.

Next time you are frustrated, take out your iPod or turn on the radio. You can probably feel the frustration oozing out of you just thinking about it.

Take 2 minutes to write your 5 favorite songs on your computer or a piece of paper. By having the list ready, you won’t have to think about what songs will ease your frustration. All you need to do is decide which one will work the best.

6. Unleash Your Inner Kid

We need to let out the kid within us by doing something fun. I find that swinging on a swing is a great way to make me feel like a kid again.

I like doing this when I’m a hard time releasing my frustration.

I’ll take my dog for a walk to the local elementary school, take a lap around the field and then stop at the swings and just swing away my frustration. A few memories of when I was a kid always pop into my head, telling my dad to push me higher or when I was in 5^th grade and I impressed everyone by jumping off, looking like superman. I’m too old to jump off now, but as long as my frustration loosens its grip, that’s all that matters.

7. Pray for Relief

Frustration stems from our constant tendency to expect a certain outcome and not receive. So when a project doesn’t go as smoothly as we would have hoped, we freak out a little bit. The blood boils and we need relief.

I will literally kneel at the edge of my bed and ask for God to take on some of my problems.

When we accept that we can’t control all of our circumstances, that’s when we can reduce our frustration.

Next time you need a little relief let God, The Energy, The Universe or whatever you believe in take some of your worries off of your hands. I know when I give God a little of my frustration I feel relieved.

8. Say No

You can say no to anyone that ask you to do something. Really you can. A client that asks you to meet an almost impossible deadline isn’t extending the courtesy you deserve.

If you aren’t willing to say “no” more often then you can’t blame anyone, but yourself for your frustration.

9. Make Time for More Sleep

I recently clenched my fists and growled because of a project that I couldn’t get quite right. I wanted to freak out and destroy my computer, but luckily I used my frustration releasing techniques.

I was putting together an article about fear and it all sounded terrible. It was late and I kept banging my head against my keyboard.

I gave up, went to sleep, and woke up with the right angle on the article. It was like someone clicked a switch inside of me.

If you aren’t getting enough sleep you are more prone to frustration, anger, depression, and malaise. The effects on your body are also alarming. You are more prone to disease, so take the time to rest and you’ll reduce the intensity of your triggers that induce frustration.

Making Your Reactions Work for You

Your frustrations are really a result of the way you react to your internal and external worlds. If you believe that only you can frustrate yourself then you have an advantage over most other people.

Even if a client keeps asking for small favors that they don’t expect to be charged for, it may be frustrating, but you are really the one creating those feelings. There are plenty of ways to say “no”.

Take the time to work with your frustration and you’ll notice a regular pattern that occurs. I know certain people are going to trigger my frustration. Use this short 4 step process to help you through your feelings of frustration.

You need to find a way to…

> Accept
> Release
> Take Action
> Enjoy

Your feelings are up to you.

When you accept that you are creating your own frustration, figure out how to adjust, so you feel relaxed and balanced, you are taking your emotional power back.

What do you do to release your career/work frustrations?

* Join the Work Happy Now Facebook Page and interact with other people who are trying to improve their superpowers.

* Johnny B. Truant wrote a post about using work as a way to grow. It’s a must read for entrepreneurs. Click here to read it.

If you enjoyed this post then you will probably like this one too:

> How to Harness Your Superpowers

> 5 Ways to Conquer Your Fears

Download the Free eBook Work Happy the Google Way * Post from: Work Happy Now!