The Art of Hartful Living
Are You Crazy or Lucky – How’s Your Energy?
May 8, 2007 | Posted in Leading Hartfully, Living Hartfully, Wealthy Woman | By Gaia Hart
I just returned from an amazing week in Cabo – among some of the finest minds I’ve ever witnessed. The energy in the conference room of 250 entrepreneurs, wealth builders and investors was palpable. Most of our guest speakers commented on the energy in the room. Being a professional speaker, I could relate to what they were saying about feeling the energy of the room. It’s electric in some crowds and void in others. The reason why this crowd was vibrating on a higher fequency was that we all knew that we are in charge of creating our own future and we have a plan to get there.
Unlike so many other audiences who are joined together because of an employer, this group was there by choice and they were in tune because they have the wealth road map. It’s amazing how much more energy you have when you are on the path to wealth and life’s riches – not just money riches, but prosperity in all forms.
One of our speakers was a developer in Los Cabos – on the Baja Penninsula – owning a reported huge percentage of the land down there. He said when you do things against the norm of the masses, you are considered crazy. When it begins to see that things are working out for you, then you are called a visionary. One of our other speakers was Steadman Graham. You may have heard of his significant other, Oprah. He also spoke on the belief in yourself and your vision. See photo of me showing him my vision board I created on a card to carry with me at all times at www.BizBuilderCards.com.
When all is said and done and your pathway has lead to success, you are considered lucky. So are people calling you crazy? Are they calling you a visionary? Or are they telling you that you’re lucky? That may just be the evidence you need to show just how far you’ve come.
When you’re on your right path, your energy will soar. My hair stylist today said now that she has her own shop, she bounds out of bed and comes to work early. She said her old co-workers would never believe it because she was always late when she worked with them. It’s amazing the energy you find when you work for yourself and are in charge of creating your own future.
Energize Employees Through Appreciation with a Twist
April 30, 2007 | Posted in Leading Hartfully, Living Hartfully | By Gaia Hart
When supervisors dole out praise, it’s often very vague and focused on the entire group such as “You’re doing a great job, keep it up.” Sometimes managers just don’t know what to say or how to say it. After all, you don’t want to say the exact same thing to each person – it can sound contrived. Take a clue from the flight attendants who have mastered the many ways to say hello and goodbye to hundreds of passengers a day. Put a twist on how you praise. These sentence stems should get your brain jump started:
I’m impressed with…
What I particularly liked was…
Our team is better because of your…
You’re on the mark with your… (or the British would say, “You’re spot on with your…”)
You can be proud of yourself for…
I’ve noticed the quality of your work, specifically…
Your contribution of……on that last project was amazing
One of the things your customers rave to me about you is….
Your colleagues have sung your praises about…..
I’ve been noticing your attention to detail and in particular….
How awesome are you to do…..
You rock! Would you like to share some of your trade secrets with our managers….
You really made a difference by….
Our top management has been noticing your work and have commented on….
Take the rest of the day off for your fantastic effort with the…..
One of the things our team enjoys most about working with you is…..
I appreciate your….
You make my day by….
You’re quite a role model because of your….
I’d like to acknowledge your specific role in doing…
This place would not run as effectively if it weren’t for you and your…
That should get your started – go ahead and print this out for your cheat sheet and then write down each of your team member’s names on a day of the week in your calendar and use one of these sentences with each person on their day. Make it a habit.
Now goodbye, see ya, bye now, bye bye, so long, thanks for flying with us, tootles, adios, ciao, auf wiedersehen, see you soon, see you on your next flight….
Beat Boredom at Work
April 23, 2007 | Posted in Leading Hartfully, Living Hartfully | By Gaia Hart
Have you ever been bored at work? I can’t remember being bored for the past decade since I became psychologically unemployable and started my own company. But I do remember those days in my W-2 job where I would be chomping at the bit to do something meaningful, take action, talk to customers or just have some forward motion. I’m thrilled to be interviewed for a recent article in Vitality Magazine – www.Vitality.com on the topic of how to beat workplace boredom.
My article isn’t shown on their website, so if you want a copy send me an email with the subject of Vitality and I will send you a copy of the article to help you energize your workplace environment. I would also suggest my card deck 51 Winning Ways to Have Fun at Work. It’s a real card deck that has a fun tip on each card, so you can play Go Fish and select an idea to improve workplace morale. And if that falls through, then you can always win some cash by playing a rousing round of poker with the cards.
Here’s a tip to beat boredom – find work that is in alignment with your authentic self, your values, your beliefs and the big picture you envision for your world. What is your big picture and how do you fit your knowledge, skills, abilities and talents into that big picture? Where is that delicious intersection of what the world needs and wants and your special gifts? Find that intersection and you will never be bored, in fact, there won’t be enough time in the day to do everything you want to do to move your vision forward. You may even find it hard to sleep because your mind is racing with new ideas of expanding and growing your dreams and desires.
Check out my other articles on fun in the workplace and improving motivation, morale and meaning at work at: http://www.funcilitators.com/resources.htm. Let me know what else you are doing to beat boredom at your workplace. I’d be delighted to hear from you.
Laughter, Levity & Longevity
April 20, 2007 | Posted in Living Hartfully | By Gaia Hart
As a Certified Laughter Leader (Yes, that’s an authentic credential!), I’ve been researching the benefits of laughter for over 10 years and using it with success with my clients. The field of laughter and fun are eeking their way into the mainstream of industry and society. Today is a milestone, as we make headlines with a 2-minute video as well as 3 articles on the benefits of laughter on the popular website WebMD: http://www.webmd.com/video/laughter-heals.
Laughter connects us, and that alone has health benefits. Victor Borge said that shortest distance between two people is laughter. Average adults laugh around 15 times per day, while studies suggest that children laugh around 350-450 times per day. Laughter energizes us and no wonder children have so much energy. When you see that laughter is draining from your daily routine -take stock of what is going on in your life and plug those drains. Laughter builds resiliance to stress and will help us cope with our challenges. Not that we are laughing at our stressful situations, we are laughing through them – it’s a coping mechanism.
What have you laughed about today? What are you doing in your life to bring on more laughter and bring on better health? Laughing helps boost our immune system, decrease the stress hormones of adrenaline and cortisol and stimulates the blood flow and heart and decreases pain. It’s like internal jogging and easier to do. Check out my card deck – 52 Ways to Have Fun at Work for one tip per week on putting more laughter and fun into your workday. I also have Zip Kits: Fun Aid Kits for Stress Rescue and Recognition on the ParaFUNalia page at http://www.Funcilitators.com.
Laugh Long & Prosper!
Energize Your Life Through Job Satisfaction
April 18, 2007 | Posted in Leading Hartfully, Living Hartfully | By Gaia Hart
How happy are you in your job? What is your job satisfaction? Duke University’s study found that job satisfaction was listed as the #1 factor in living a long life. Job satisfaction beat out 788 other factors as the key to longevity – beating out good health habits and good genes. Now there’s more evidence. The 2006 General Social Survey (GSS) at the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago cites the most satisfying jobs are mostly professions, especially those involving caring for, teaching and protecting others and creative pursuits after interviewing over 27,000 workers.
Top 10 most gratifying jobs and the percentage of subjects who said they were very satisfied with the job:
Clergy—87 percent percent
Firefighters—80 percent percent
Physical therapists—78 percent percent
Authors—74 percent
Special education teachers—70 percent
Teachers—69 percent
Education administrators—68 percent
Painters and sculptors—67 percent
Psychologists—67 percent
Security and financial services salespersons—65 percent
Operating engineers—64 percent
Office supervisors—61 percent
10 least gratifying jobs, where few participants reported being very satisfied:
Laborers, except construction—21 percent
Apparel clothing salespersons—24 percent
Handpackers and packagers—24 percent
Food preparers—24 percent
Roofers—25 percent
Cashiers—25 percent
Furniture and home-furnishing salespersons—25 percent
Bartenders—26 percent
Freight, stock and material handlers—26 percent
Waiters and servers—27 percent
How satisfied are you with your job? What can you change if your current position if it’s not the most satisfying? What do you love to do and how can you incorporate that (appropriately) into your work? How about not having a job at all? How about making a living without a job? More on that topic later…..
Big Picture or Little Picture View of the World
April 12, 2007 | Posted in Leading Hartfully, Living Hartfully | By Gaia Hart
Do you have a big picture or a little picture view of the world? Are you stressing over the administrivia or are you focused on the big picture of your life and your career? Take a look at what types of things stress you out – are they the small details, the perfectionism, the imperfect people, the gray areas on the outskirts of the black and white? Sometimes we make our own stresses and create our own energy drains by focusing on things that have less impact than the power we are giving them.
It’s tax season and focusing on numbers is something we all need to do, but getting crazed if your account is 94 cents off isn’t such a big deal in the scheme of things. Of course waiting until the bitter end and not leaving yourself wiggle room can also make you crazed. Step back from some of the situations you find yourself in and see if you’re stressing out because you’re focusing on little picture stuff. Perhaps you need to take a look at the big picture and if the stressors that are affecting you now will really matter in the scheme of things a few weeks, months, or years from now.
The big picture sometimes can pull us through the little picture stuff when things get tough – keeping our eye on why we are doing what we are doing can keep us going. Are you focused on big picture stuff or little picture stuff most of the time? Are you drowning in details or do you have paralysis by analysis? Is it taking your eye off the main goal and draining your energy? You may want to hire out your little picture stuff and have someobody else who loves doing it do what they love and allow you to keep your energy focused on your big picture. It can sure help your sanity – especially at tax time. We can all use a little energy boost at this time of year.
Energizing and Empowering the Women’s Workplace
April 4, 2007 | Posted in Leading Hartfully | By Gaia Hart
Working with many entrepreneurs lately has been an enlightening experience. The raw energy, sheer joy, purposeful passion and commitment to do what it takes to follow their dreams is an enticing and energizing change from working with employees who are burned out, rusted out and just worn out from the corporate climate.
It revitalizes my spirit to know that the transition can be made from endangered exec to enthusiastic entrepreneur, but it does take a mind-shift and a different way of thinking to move from employee to renegade entrepreneur. Many of whom are women seeking heart-work now that they’ve brought home the bacon in some not-so-fulfilling career. The U.S. Census Bureau and Bureau of Labor Statistics cite the number of women-owned businesses grew by 20% betweeen 1997 – 2002. They generated $16.2 billion in revenues, while businesses owned jointly by women and men generated $18.3 billion in 1997. Women also make 80% of the buying decisions in a family.
So forget the glass ceiling and find a skylight, then open it up and create your own culture in any type of business you dream of. If you are looking for somebody to lend a hand, lend a step up or step out, then send me an email at Gail@GailHahn.com and I can help you get your life energized and empowered by sharing resources for creating a life you love and setting up your safety net for that transition into your own business.
To Your FUNomenal Success!
Corporate Kindness
March 30, 2007 | Posted in Leading Hartfully | By Gaia Hart
There are a couple books out on the topic of corporate kindness and how being nice can actually be a competitive advantage. In The Power of Nice: How to Conquer the Business World With Kindness by Linda Kaplan Thaler and Robin Koval, they explain how friendliness and common courtesy along with how you look affects people’s moods and attitudes towards you. Cheerfulness and being polite and respectful spreads more easily than irritability and facial expressions and body language convey more relevant information than a sales pitch.
It’s all about the notion of consequences and karma – people may forget what you say, but they never forget how you made them feel. They remember acts of kindness as well as rudeness. After all, isn’t business and all of the world about relationships and how we connect with others be it inside or outside our organization?
Another book, The Kindness Revolution: The Company-Wide Culture Shift That Inspires Phenomenal Customer Service by Ed Horrell identifies how companies with stellar street reps for service excellence practice extreme kindness, respect, fairness and genuine niceties. He notes that the opposite of kindness isn’t being mean, it’s indifference. When indifference sets in, then it gives people a bad experience and in a world of choices, the customer (internal or external) chooses to walk. In fact, you can say that about any relationship – when indifference and disrespect and unkindness sets in, most people walk.
With a little more corporate kindness and consideration, I would argue that we would have many more gruntled workers than disgruntled workers. And we could actually save lives…one statistic form the Department of Labor cites that the #2 killer of workers on the job is homicide by a disgruntled colleague or customer. What are you doing to impart kindness in your daily activities? What are you doing to add light to the world? What are you doing to save a life today?
