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About Karl Staib >>

A happy environment is more productive and profitable, and that is something everyone can do to improve the company culture. Hire Karl and you too can learn how to create an environment that encourages great work.



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Laugh Until It Hurts – Cartoon

I’m a big believer in creativity at work. We need to expand outside our comfort zones to reach the good stuff. That’s why I draw. It forces me to find new angles on my career. How do you find new angles?

I was at SXSW interactive (blogger heaven) the past few days and my head, heart, and feet are about to explode. So many thought leaders pushing me outside my comfort zone that I am more focused than ever.

I hung out with some big time bloggers. I’m not going to drop any names because that’s not what this post is about.
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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 8^th 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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Welcome Forbes Readers

Welcome Forbes.com readers. You will see articles based on building a better career, but what separates me from others is my core belief.

I believe that to do work that we love, we must develop our skills at our present jobs. Too many of us jump ship only to hate our next job.

A new job isn’t going to solve our problems. More money won’t either. What does make us happier is connecting to the work that we do. We have to learn discover our strengths and passions then figure out how to mold them into a career.

It comes down to doing work that we believe in.

Once we can connect our hearts with our minds, we then can pursue the career that excites us.

Here are a few articles that will help guide your career:

- How to Write a Career List
- How to Build Better Relationships at Work
- The Ultimate Guide to Dealing with Anxiety at Work

The article Bring Joy Back To Your Job was published at Forbes.com today. Originally it was published at Megan’s blog It’s All About Joy. Thanks Megan. I promise I’ll buy you a latte next time you are in Austin.

The 100-100 Divide

In a perfect work environment we give 100% and our company gives 100%. Of course this never happens because we make choices based on how well we think we are treated. If your company didn’t give you a promotion, that you thought you deserved, would you still work as hard the next day?

No?

Wow, big shock.

When your manager/boss sees that you just don’t have the pep that you once had, they also pull back their desire to help you. This creates a divide that leaves everyone searching for answers

You may pull back and only give 75% of your energy, maybe taking slightly longer breaks or surfing Amazon for a new book. Your company wants you to work harder, but they’ve seen this reaction 700 times before and they don’t try to open a conversation to improve the disconnect.

Now that you’ve pulled back to 75% and no one cares, you realize that you can pull back to 50%.

You’re now working at 50% of your capacity because you can. You avoid work on some days and accomplish a lot on others, but on average you are giving 50% of your energy.

Your employer is troubled, but thinks it’s probably just a phase and before they do anything about it they realize that they’ve just created your expectations about what kind of work you need to do to get by.
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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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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.

Need an Edge Up on Your Career?

You want that promotion? You need to wow your employer.

You want to land that client? You need to impress them.

That’s why I asked Frances Cole Jones for an interview. I read her book “The Wow Factor,” and I knew that a podcast would be a good resource for people who want to get an edge up on their career.

I’m going to be honest. You can skip over some of the chapters. There is one on proper hygiene that most people don’t need to read, but this is easy to do since the chapters are so short. You can pick and choose what you need.

My favorite part of the book is the last third. She has so many good ideas that will help you improve your life. You won’t be disappointed.
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Hard, Fun and The Beautiful – Beautiful Brain Edition

(Can’t see the video? Then try watching it at Work Happy Now - Hard Fun and The Beautiful – Beautiful Brain Edition)

Where we are free to talk about the hard, the fun, and the beautiful of our work week.

This week has been more positive than negative. Since starting this blog, that has been the continuing trend that seems to occur each week. By focusing on helping other people become happier at work, I’ve increased my own happiness. That’s the beauty of passion. It stops being about “me” and starts being about “others.”

It’s why people love sports. We get to root with all our heart and souls for people we don’t know. We learn their stories and find a way to care. Movies, TV, and books have that same emotional hook. We stop worrying about our own lives and care about other people and animals (I love nature shows).

Let’s begin.
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