Archive for the Positive Thinking Category
How do You Know if You’ve Contacted Adultitis?
Every now and again, I like to bring you short interviews to give you a new perspective on work happiness. During my study of work happiness I have found that there are many paths to the same goal. Some people believe that loving what you do is a must, while other people believe that relationships are vital to enjoying the work that we do. Interviews are a great way to get out of your own perspective and see what other people are doing to be happy at work.
There are so many amazing people in the blogging world, but one of my more recent finds is Jason of Escape Adulthood. He and Kim (his wife) have created a business out of bringing the fun back into life.
The first impression of Jason was a video that I watched of a water balloon fight between Jason and Kim. They were sitting in chairs and throwing water balloons over their garage to see who had the better aim. It was right then that I was hooked. Having fun in life is a big part of being happy, so I’m glad to bring you an interview with Jason.
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What I Learned from Working on My Habits
As I’m looking over January’s theme “Relaxing with my work”, I’m beginning to really see how hard I am on myself. I expect myself to master concepts that only great writers, CEO’s, and Zen masters fully understand.
Just because I tell myself to breathe all nice and deep and relaxed over the next week when I’m feeling stressed out doesn’t mean it will happen right away.
Maybe that should be a theme of the month. Stop being a big bully to myself.
I wanted to publish this review of my theme two weeks ago, but I felt like I was still processing my information. Now that I’m ready, let’s begin the review…
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The One Thing More Important Than Your Career
Every now and again, I like to bring you short interviews to give you a new perspective on work happiness. During my study of work happiness I have found that there are many paths to the same goal. Some people believe that loving what you do is a must, while other people believe that relationships are vital to enjoying the work that we do. Interviews are a great way to get out of your own perspective and see what other people are doing to be happy at work.
On this blog I try to push myself outside of my comfort zone to a place where I’m a little afraid. I have to admit that I was a little afraid of interviewing Penelope Trunk. Not because her blog is űber popular or because she was the CEO of Brazeen Careerist a popular career networking site.
I was afraid because of how honest she is. She wouldn’t be afraid to call me out.
She wasn’t afraid to tell me that career happiness really is a crock of shit. Her words. She actually said it a few times. She explains how we overcomplicate life in the audio interview that I posted below. You’ll just have to listen to the audio to find out why she believes so strongly in her ideals.
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How to Use Your Skills and Passion to Create Success
Editor’s note: This is a guest post from Sara Lopez
You never quite realize how much your job affects your happiness until you have had a truly terrible job, or a truly phenomenal job. Just think about it, you spend 2/3 of your awake time at a place, surrounded by certain people, working for a specific cause– this is called your career.
My name is Sara Lopez and I am the Brand Ambassador and Social Media Strategist for 8th Continent Soymilk. I quite possibly have the best job in the world, however it was not always this way.
At one point I worked for a consulting firm in San Francisco that was so unappreciative I would trudge home considering where I went wrong on my career path and how I would ever fix it. I dreaded going in to work in the morning because I knew my skills were not utilized, nor did my employer notice them.
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Work Happy Tip – Remember 3 Good Things
There will be days when there seems like nothing is going well. The back pain is flairing, the co-worker next to you finds it funny when he is a little extra annoying, and you can’t seem to get anything done (constantly interrupted).
A few weeks ago I felt like this and I remembered a great technique that always helps.
Remember 3 Good Things
I learned this trick from my friend Alex.
At the end of your day on your commute home (or if you work from home before you leave your home office) – remember 3 good things that happened to you that day.
They can be the tiniest things ever.
They could be:
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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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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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Hard, Fun and Beautiful – Red Skin Edition
(Can’t see the video? Then try watching it at Work Happy Now – The Hard, The Fun and The Beautiful – Red Skin Edition)
Where we are free to talk about the hard, the fun, and the beautiful of our work week.
Dealing with negative emotions isn’t easy. This past week I made a couple of blunders that made me beat myself up. I guess the event didn’t make me. I made the choice to beat myself up.
I’m learning to just be with my emotions, instead of trying to force change.
Emotional intelligence is maybe the most important factor to achieving work happiness. The more we can develop our ability to interact with our emotions, the more we can enjoy work.
Let’s Begin…
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Unconventional Guide to Self Acceptance
This post was inspired by Chris Guillebeau’s Unconventional Writing Contest.
What holds you back from accomplishing your dreams?
If you could pin down the one thing that is keeping you from reaching your most glorious dreams where you travel like Chris Guillebeau, make money like Oprah, or work a crowd like Bill Clinton…
What would it be?
Your education?
Your relationships?
Your…
It’s none of those things.
It’s your fear.
The fear within you is holding you back from making your dream life a reality. Now I’m not claiming to know it all; I myself have been guilty of giving in to my fears many times, but the important thing is that I recognize what’s holding me back.
Believe me, even Oprah and Bill Clinton have fears, but the difference between them and us is that they lean into their fears until they aren’t afraid of the fire any longer.
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How to Enjoy Staying Late at Work
I remember one winter a few years ago when I had to stay a few hours later at work. It was dark by 5pm. My co-worker also had to stay late. Nothing but grumbling came out of his mouth.
That could have easily been me, but there was one difference.
I felt lucky to have a job.
My co-worker had been with the company two years longer than me. He was a bit jaded to say the least. He complained that he wouldn’t have time for dinner, complained about being tired, and not feeling appreciated.
I felt lucky to have my job because we just went through layoffs. I wasn’t sure I was going to make the cut. I did and was working my butt off to prove I deserved my job. So for me those few extra hours meant I got to prove my worth.
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