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Think BIG! News
Be Happy In Your Work
 Being a business professional can at times seem so demanding. Providing a product or service for others and doing so with an added-value attitude can become stressful, challenging in its delivery, and very physically tiring, Thus, it becomes difficult to maintain a positive, upbeat demeanor. Regardless of the strain, the demands and challenge, you owe it to yourself to always “be happy in your work.”
Happiness is a unique quality that follows everyone but must be “grabbed’ to be enjoyed. It has been described in many ways:
“Happiness is an inside job.” Wally “Famous” Amos, Business leader and founder of Famous Amos Cookies.
“Happiness is a conscious choice, not an automatic response.” Mildred Barthel, author and poet.
“Happiness depends upon ourselves.” Artistotle, Greek philosopher and scientist.
“Happiness is looking at all the good and bad in any given moment—both within us and around us—and then choosing to focus upon the good. John Rogers and Peter McWilliams, self-help authors and trainers.
Happiness is not a possession we seek; but, it is a blessing that we find in our daily experiences. It is a “feeling” that we owe to ourselves for our efforts, our deeds and our determination to provide value to others. It is that driving force that guides our pathways to a better place for our mind to dwell and our physical being to experience.
In business, being “chipper” and promoting a positive and inviting attitude whether in person, on the phone, in social media interaction or email correspondence enables us to better promote who we are and what we have to offer. People enjoy doing business with those who make their day brighter and enable them even for a brief moment to inhale the air of happiness. In essence, it is as author and publisher Ted Nacesaid, “The secret of happiness is not discovered in the absence of trials, but in the midst of them.”
Here are three keys to “being happy in your work” that should enable you to quit searching for happiness but start realizing and enjoying it right where you are:
1) Realize it is all about the experience. Every situation we find ourselves engaged will produce a measure of success and shortfall. Our happiness depends upon how we direct our mind to view the situation. In successful undertakings, positive things jump out; but, even then, not every aspect worked as it should. In periods of shortfall, there can be a spirit of happiness as we zero in on what worked not what fell short. In both encounters, it is imperative that we realize in the final analysis that it is the experience we encounter that will make the difference in our future endeavors. Experiences educate us so that we might better discover what can be. Remember, it is the priceless wealth in the experience of happiness that matters most.
2) Realize passion must be your guide. As the saying conveys, “Let passion be your guide.” If you love what you do, you will never work a day in your life. Work to those who allow their passion for the role they play to guide them seems flawless. It becomes a natural undertaking as each day is faced with eagerness and anticipation. You simply do not get out of bed each morning, you literally jump out of bed with enthusiasm to explore the opportunities that you know the day will surely bring. Passion opens the mind to better understanding and discovering what really matters to others. In a business setting, once you know the needs and wants of others, you can then work to fulfill those demands. Passion provides the power for that effort. If you do not find passion for your work, how can you then be engaged in your work? It can’t be all about the money, Passion must be evident or the stress of the money will have untold adverse consequences for you physically, emotionally and mentally. Have passion for what you do or find other work where passion is present.
3) Realize you must have a change of heart. If you want to find happiness in your work and life itself, it will require a change of heart. There is a story told that conveys this fact. The story focuses on a mouse who, like most of his kind, was fearful of cats. His fear caused him to be unhappy. He came upon a wizard who engaged the mouse in conversation. Hearing his fear and unhappiness, he thought he would help by turning the mouse into a cat. When the mouse became a cat, he discovered his fear and unhappiness of dogs. He turned to the wizard again who turned him into a tiger. As a tiger, the mouse discovered his fear and unhappiness of hunters. He again turned to the wizard for help but unfortunately, no help came. The wizard became disgusted with the mouse and told him that it was hopeless. What he needed was a total change within his heart and for that, there was no magic. It must come from the mouse himself. If we wait around for our fears to vanish and our dreams to come true before we consider ourselves happy, then just like our friend the mouse, we have sealed our fate. Change your heart about your business and you change your outlook. With a changed outlook, you can find happiness.
Many have heard the story of The Bluebird. A woodcutter’s kids kept a blackbird in a cage. However, what they really wanted was the bluebird of happiness. They decided to search for this elusive fowl. They wandered throughout the land but returned home disappointed and discouraged as their search proved futile. More discomfort came when they realized the blackbird they had given to the boy next door had in fact turned into the very bluebird they were seeking. They had what they had sought all the time. The moral of our story is simple. We need to quit searching for happiness and start realizing and enjoying the happiness we can find right where we are.
What perception of happiness are you portraying in your business setting? Are you truly happy in your work? How are you utilizing your passion for your role to bring happiness to those impacted by your products or services? Are you benefiting by the experience itself? As author and speaker, Luci Swindoll said, “To experience happiness, we must train ourselves to live in this moment, to savor it for what it is, not running ahead in anticipation of some future date nor lagging behind in the paralysis of the past.” Make happiness an everyday event. You owe to yourself to be “happy in your work.”
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Energy Leadership and You
 Many of us walk around feeling like we have limited choices in many aspects of our lives. Take notice of how many times a day you say the words have to, should, and need to. Whenever you feel like you must do something, you’re in Level 1 energy – you’re a victim to your thoughts or circumstances.
In fact, when you’re faced with a task or something to do, there are five basic ways you can respond, and of them, only one is by full conscious choice.
The five ways of responding are “I won’t,” “I have to,” “I need to,” “I want to,” or “I choose to.”
When you say “I won’t” do something, you’re saying that you have no power, that life happens to you, no matter what you do or believe. You don’t believe that you have a choice. You also don’t really think there’s anything in it for you – so why do it?
If you say “I have to,” you’re looking at the short term perspective. You “have to” complete the task in front of you, or else you will experience dire consequences. You feel forced to do it, and that you have very little to no choice.
The third response, “I need to” is a more powerful place to come from. Here, you’re aware of your choices and you seek to find the opportunity in the challenges presented to you. This perspective brings more chance of success, but it’s still catabolic, because you don’t feel like you’re fully at choice.
So these three responses involve either non-action, or action by force. Since you are not energetically bought into a situation, goal, or project, and because you are bringing catabolic energy to it, you are also bringing a recipe for failure. So in these catabolic levels, even though you may think you are choosing to do something, at your core, you chose not to do it, or not to do it well.
The next response, “I want to,” is anabolic, because it indicates that you are mostly at choice. But, “want” still comes from a place of lack.
The most powerful response is “I choose to.” When you respond this way, you feel you have complete choice. There’s a powerful connection between who you are and what you do.
So how do you get to choose to? Simply come from a place of having everything, and choosing to experience, rather than fill a need. Easy? Not at all, but you can choose to try it.
The Energy Leadership process will allow you to examine the energy blocks in your leadership presence that are holding you back from reaching your unlimited potential. If you’d like more of an explanation of Energy Leadership coaching, read Bruce D Schneider’s bestselling book, Energy Leadership and join in the Think BIG! Book Club. This book will be discussed. Watch for details.
For more information on how Energy Leadership can help you become the influential leader you want to be and to get information about our book club, contact us at: herman@thinkbigcoachingandtraining.com; call us at 843-879-3740; or, visit us on our website: https://thinkbig-coaching-training.coachesconsole.com
BIZ Bits
Work/life balance, yes! : http://www.businessinsider.in/Maintaining-Work-Life-Balance-From-The-Start-Of-Your-Career/articleshow/39871370.cms
Keep Customers Loyal: http://www.inc.com/erik-sherman/7-ways-to-keep-customers-really-loyal.html
Are You Ready For Some Stress?: http://www.thinkadvisor.com/2014/08/08/financial-stress-takes-toll-on-us-workers-study?eNL=53e51504140ba0475c0fca66&utm_source=dailywire080814&utm_medium=enewsletter&utm_campaign=dailywire&_LID=164891902
Herman Dixon / 304-839-5101 / herman@thinkbigcoachingandtraining.com / https://thinkbig-coaching-training.coachesconsole.com
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