Tag Archives: energy

Are You Fully Charged?

Are You Fully Charged? The 3 Keys to Energizing Your Work and Life, by Tom Rath, Silicon Guild Press, 2015.

I always enjoy seeing a new Tom Rath book on the shelves. Rath (author of StrengthFinder 2.0) has a wonderful perspective on today’s challenges in our fast-paced work world. In his newest book, Rath emphasizes “daily well-being” – what makes the critical difference in feeling fully engaged each day? Rath identifies three key conditions that make all the difference in our personal and professional lives: finding meaning, positive interactions and maintaining our health & energy.

The chapter on finding meaning and purpose in our work particularly resonated for me in light of my work in Lima, Peru in June. Pick up this highly readable book up and enjoy becoming more “fully charged” starting today!

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3 Ways to Retrain Your Brain Each Day!

All through my professional work history as a child abuse social worker, psychotherapist, corporate trainer and career/leadership coach, I have always embraced the power of positive emotional health. It is critical in all areas of our lives. And we as individuals have the responsibility to protect but also strategically develop our emotional well-being each and every day.

Taking care of ourselves in this way has a wonderful positive ripple effect on our families, our work and in our communities. Here are my favorite 3 ways to retrain our brains each day.

  • Before you get out of bed in the morning – identify 3 things that you are grateful or thankful for in this new day.
  • Do a small act of kindness each day . . . and don’t tell anyone else about it.
  • When you go to bed at night – identify 3 things that went well that day (Seligman’s What Went Well exercise).

Do these three things for a full week. What do you notice? How has your thinking shifted? I hope you are noticing less negative thoughts and a few more positive ripples in the chatter we all hear in our heads during the day. Enjoy the change!

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Flourish: A Visionary New Understanding of Happiness and Well-Being

Flourish: A Visionary New Understanding of Happiness and Well-Being, Martin Seligman PhD, Free Press, Simon & Schuster Inc. 2011.

Martin Seligman’s newest book is fascinating! Seligman (world renown for his work in positive psychology) takes his past extensive studies of “authentic happiness” and expands it into the concept of “well-being”.

Seligman’s believes that one’s own sense of well-being has five measurable and sustainable elements: positive emotion, engagement, relationship, meaning and achievement. And this is not only true for individuals but equally measurable in businesses, teams, families, neighbor communities and even for whole countries. I was intrigued to read the research findings on which of 23 EU countries ranked the highest in citizen “well-being”. Pick up the book to see where we all should be moving! Leadership.

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Emotional Intelligence: Use It or Lose Your Career!

You may think I’m exaggerating but it’s true. The #1 reason professionals stumble in their career advancement is because of their lack of social and emotional intelligence. They may have all the knowledge, skills and even years of experience but they have earned a reputation for not being able to get along with their colleagues, direct reports or even their bosses.  In short, their own self-awareness; empathy for others and ability to manage their own emotions is limited or nonexistent.

These folks (are we talking about you?) are just known for being difficult – they don’t listen, are confrontational, unpredictable and even arrogant in their beliefs. They may be in a supervisory or middle management position because they have been with the company for so long but now their career is on thin ice and they wonder why.  But others know why . . .

So what exactly is “social and emotional intelligence”?  Here is a excellent working defination from the Institute for Social & Emotional Intelligence (ISEI), Denver, Colorado.

  • “Social and emotional intelligence is the ability to be aware of our own emotions and those of others, in the moment, and to use that information to manage ourselves and manage our relationships”.

I’ve been giving workshops on emotional intelligence (EQ) for years – it’s truly my favorite topic because it impacts every aspect of our working and personal lives.  I’m delighted now to be in an intensive coach certification course (October – November) through ISEI with my Australian coaching colleagues to learn even more.  I’ve already started to pull new ideas and tools into my training courses and with my individual coaching clients.

So let’s remember that 80 – 85% of our career success at the upper levels depends on our ability to connect, communicate and collaborate with others. Our own personal work experiences confirm that research.  We have all known industry leaders who have those qualities – they inspire, motivate and engage their teams and employees resulting in people working harder with energy, creativity and greater flexibility.  The result? Less employee turnover; higher productivity and greater profits for the company.

This is emotional intelligence competencies in action. Let’s be known as one of those leaders!

 

 

Posted in Career Tips & Strategies, Communication Tips, Emotional Intelligence, Inspirational Leadership, Navigating Change, Personal Development | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

A Simple Smile Shifts Energy

I’ve been experimenting with this idea for several months now . . . does the simple act of smiling to yourself shift your own energy?

This experiment came about quite innocently when I would be feeling a bit frustrated (like lots of us) when trying to take care of household business calls that seem to have no end.  It’s not the fault of the person on the other end of the phone (when I actually am able to talk with someone) but it seems like nothing is simple and almost always one call necessitates another two or three calls.  I’m thinking of calls like scheduling medical appointments for family members; sorting out errors on bills, arranging for car/dog/house maintenance etc. etc. You know what I mean.

So I tried experimenting with putting a smile on my face (none can see me) to observe what would happen. Interesting, several things would almost always occur quite quickly. First, I noticed that my voice would soften and become a little lighter. It also had a warmer quality to it.  My shoulders relaxed a bit and I sat back slightly in my chair.  I also was more attuned to the conversation and was listening a bit closer.  And if I really wanted to test the waters, I would find a moment to just laugh slightly to see if that created a nice connection with the other person.

I was pleasantly surprised at the result of my experiment.  Each time I coached myself to smile, my energy had clearly shifted in a very subtle way.  It was not dramatic – I hadn’t done anything extraordinary but my energy had simply shifted to a more positive and collaborative posture.

Did the smile get business done any faster or better?  Maybe not or maybe so.  But it does make it easier on me.  I’m being a bit kinder and gentler on myself.  Now on to more phone calls . . .

 

Posted in And a Bit More, Communication Tips, Emotional Intelligence, Your Time & Energy | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments