Everything that you enjoy stems from your Emotional Quotient (EQ). When you can develop emotional stability, the creative side of your brain and good decision making habits flourish. It gives you a better chance at success. If you keep falling back on the same responses that you used last year or last month you are losing out on opportunities to make your career more enjoyable.

Improve Your EQ

Many of us look toward our working lives as a way to receive more than we give. When we don’t feel like we are being properly rewarded we take longer breaks or sneak some office supplies home.

We are doing ourselves more harm than good. Yes, we may be receiving more things for our time, but it’s not supporting our need for the two most important things that we all need at work.

Appreciation and Productivity

There was a study conducted between two groups of people and how they valued their job. One group was given tasks to do with no pay at all. The second group was given no tasks and they were paid for their time. At the end of the study the first group was more satisfied with their experience because they were accomplishing instead of just waiting around for something to happen.

Appreciation works the same way. There is a reason charity organizations can pay their employees less money. People are more satisfied with the work that they do for a charity than for a corporation whose mission statement is “Make as much money as we can.”

Give Way More Than You Get

The best way to improve your EQ is to learn to give more than you get.

• Give more appreciation than you get

• Give more laughter than you get

• Give more love than you get

When you give more than you get you are creating positive Karma. All societies are based on helping each other, even in a free market economy. So by giving more you’ll be receiving more emotionally and physically from people who want to return the favor.

When you are productive and you show appreciation for the people in your working life, eventually you’ll be rewarded because you are building a strong network that will help you find a new job, make an extra sale, or go that extra mile when you need help.

Articles Related to Emotional Intelligence:

• Emotional Intelligence Improves the Workplace
• Positive Belief
• How You Are Silently Signaling Your Co-workers to Treat You

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Steve Pavlina was the first blogger that I began seriously reading. He was recommended to me by the reverend who performed my wedding. I’ve been reading Steve’s personal development blog for over two years. His depth and unique framing has helped improve my life in many ways.

He has taught me:

• The value of being completely honest with myself

• How to dig a little deeper into my thought processes

• The power of my feelings

• Visualization techniques that I use on a weekly basis

• Confidence to do what I love

This post is a favor to Steve. We’ve had brief contact through email and he’s always been very gracious in his responses. He has a book coming out in October, Personal Development for Smart People: The Conscious Pursuit of Personal. Steve deserves free exposure. Plus I know the book will be good. Almost all of his posts give me some new insight that has helped me improve my life. I’m looking forward to reading a whole book on his views. In his blog he describes the book’s three main principles.

• Truth

• Love

• Power

From Steve’s post about pre-ordering his book, I can tell that he will knock our boots off with some amazing perspectives.

What does personal development have to do with working happy? I believe that work is based on a 50/50 system. 50% of our work happiness comes from within and the other 50% comes from outside influences. If we can maximize our personal happiness then we can at least be happy 50% of the time. When you can become secure within yourself it will start to affect other parts of your life. People will gravitate toward you and you’ll attract positive results. That’s a recipe for maximizing your career happiness.

If you want to pre-order his book due out on October 15, 2008 then click on one of these links to Amazon.com or BarnesAndNoble.com. If you’re not sure then check out his website and check out his brilliant perspectives for yourself.

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• Renew Your Thoughts to Improve Your Work Outlook

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Before your work day starts rolling, take a look around you and see if you notice a pattern. Do people have expressions that might convey that they just survived a bug bomb wake-up call? I know many of my past and present co-workers often have this look.

Do you feel like you might fall into the bug-bomb-facial category? Then try a little experiment for the next thirty days and see how it makes you feel.

Cajole Yourself Into a Good Mood

Don’t fall into your normal routine! That’s an order. You need to shake up your day right from the get go. If you like to take a shower in the morning and it brings you happiness, then by all means do it. However, if you turn on the news to wake up and there are nothing but depressing stories then it’s time to change the habits that have become routine but don’t bring you any joy.

I like to stand on one foot while I brush my teeth because it helps me focus my thoughts then I get in the shower. About ten years ago I thought that I would save time by taking a shower at night. It wrecked my whole next day. I felt dirty and could never get my energy going. So there’s no need to change the things that bring you joy because you may regret it. Instead, you should focus on those activities that bring you happiness and find a substitute for the ones that don’t.

Here’s an example of some of my favorite “good mood” activities. After my shower I prepare cereal for my wife and myself. It usually has fresh strawberries and bananas on top. It makes me happy just thinking about its glorious tastes. Then we exercise and get the blood pumping to wake ourselves up. I then take 20 minutes to do some Yoga. It relaxes me and allows me to continue the good mood cajoling. After 20 minutes of Yoga I have a hop in my step and then it’s off to work.

I get in my car and put on my cell phone headset and call the people that I love. It’s usually my mother, father, brother, cousin or a good friend. We catch up and make each other laugh. I sometimes fall into the trap of getting caught up in my worries. When this happens I take a deep breath and focus on all the splendor that I’m passing by - the trees, an old lady waiting to cross the street and the driver with a long red beard next to me at the red light.

Find Your Sweet Spot

We all have that sweet spot that can help our day start off on a happy foot. Sometimes it takes a little cajoling, but believe me, when you practice cajoling yourself into a good mood you’ll make your day so much more enjoyable.

What do you do to put yourself in a good mood before you start your day?

Other “Emotional Tools” Related Articles:

• Use Failure as Your Slingshot
• Create the Work Atmosphere You Want
• Renew Your Thoughts to Improve Your Work Outlook

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