Change Your Mind, Change Your Energy, Change Your Life
November 28, 2006 | Posted in Leading Hartfully, Living Hartfully | By Gaia Hart
When you change your mind, you change your energy and when you change your energy, you change your life. As we enter the holiday season and I see all kinds of news stories about the stresses of the holidays, it reminds me that much of the energy drain and stress is something we create for ourselves. When we change our mind about something and made a decision to think or not thing about it in a certain way, our entire energy about that thing changes. We can also change the energy of the people around us. After all, we are part of other people’s environments.
Make some decisions about salvaging your energy this holiday season and set guidelines for yourself that make sense to you and your family. It’s too late to make a decision not to cook a huge Thanksgiving meal, but not too late to make a decision about how to handle holiday parties, family, gift giving or experience giving, new traditions you can start, old traditions you can change or ditch all together and how you can improve your situation, your sanity and your energy in the coming year.
Try making a written 120-day plan and then keep it handy to keep you focused on what you want to be doing with you life, then celebrate when you see all the checkmarks after 4 months. It will certainly change your mind about what you decide to do with your time. If something isn’t serving you well, make a decision to change it for the better and keep moving forward.
Cheers!
Gail
Energize Your Holiday Card Sending System
November 21, 2006 | Posted in Living Hartfully, Wealthy Woman | By Gaia Hart
I wanted to share this amazing new system with you for sending out your holiday cards, keeping in contact with clients or just remembering friends and family. Check out http://www.BizBuilderCards.com to take a look at the thousands of cards you can send using your computer. Somebody else in Utah prints your card, yep, it’s a full-fledged card-stock card you can hold in your hand, stuffs the envelope, seals it, stamps it and drives it to the mailbox to send to your client or loved one.
There’s no other system out there like it. You can create your own customized card, even put your own photo on the front, write your own message inside and include more photos or even a check or a gift card inside the card and the best part is that you can have your own handwriting font installed and your own signature so the cards are all very personalized. What’s even better is that you can customize the card and have it merged with your database so that every person gets their own card and it takes you only a couple minutes to send thousands of cards. Forget post office lines, office store runs to buy labels and hours of licking stamps, printing labels and signing cards. You can have your cards done in less than 5 minutes. What’s even better is that you can make money by sharing this awesome system with others.
As your holiday gift, I will offer our readers their own gift account to test-drive the system and send out some cards on my dime. I will pay for the cards and the postage so you can see how fun it is to energize somebody’s day. The Send Out Cards system even imports your database and sends you an email reminding you of that special date.
Send me an email at Gail@GailHahn.com to set up your account. It will take about 15 minutes to set up your account. Go to www.BizBuilderCards.com to send some cards youself, my treat. It’s fun and easy to create custom cards. While you’re online, check out this video on the power of gratitude and sending to give: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQqtVobx1oI&list=PLtUVv9eXCdIKmF4MMCOVMBuzeZ1nrrUQF
Gaia
Last Words on Creating an Unmotivating Work Environment
September 8, 2006 | Posted in Leading Hartfully, Living Hartfully | By Gaia Hart
Here you go, the final installment of how to torment your team members. Be sure you read this in the mirror so you know that if you do everything backwards that this article says, then you should be successful at creating a motivating and meaningful environment for yourself and your team.
41. Have all the answers ready for them so they don’t waste their time and brain power figuring it out themselves. They can be more efficient if they aren’t testing new solutions and just do it the way you said it should be done and trust that your answer is the only right answer.
42. Don’t compliment their work. It can only lead to over-inflated egos and you certainly don’t want another peacock strutting around fluffing their feathers thinking they’re better than anybody else. That’s why you’re there- to show them that none of them are heads above the rest.
43. Take care of your own career and reputation before those of your colleagues. Be the one to kiss up to all those above you, emulate them and talk trash about your teammates so you look better in the eyes of your boss.
44. Act more privileged than your employees, after all, you’re a manager that is above them- you’ve earned it. Come in late, leave early and take your fair share of longer lunch breaks. Show them your importance by letting them know you’ve got other things to do and people to see.
45. Let it be known just how busy you are by constantly checking your cell phone or Blackberry during meetings, interviews or over lunch. Show others that you can multi-task with the best of them- there’s no need to lose productivity by focusing on just one person at a time.
46. Hire insecure people so you can easily manage by intimidation and through your tone of voice and snide comments. They will just be grateful to have a job at all- remind them that their paycheck is their reward.
47. Just for fun, use all the industry acronyms you can think of during the first days of orientation. Play practical jokes on the new hire for your version of disorientation just to see how their sense of humor will fare in your work environment.
48. Proceed to tell the new recruits the background stories, gossip and history of everybody on your team to get them up to speed on their co-workers. You will save them the hassle of getting to know people and making their own informed decisions.
49. If you need to discipline a co-worker, do it in front of the whole team. That way, it will give everybody an idea of what you don’t want and will save you the effort of disciplining others who may have been thinking of doing the same thing. Getting everything in the open shows a sense of family.
50. Have a suggestion box, use comment cards, solicit input and feedback, then do nothing to carry out the comments and pay no attention to complaints.
51. Employ the one strike and you’re out mentality. It lets them know you mean business. No second chances for first impressions. Do it right the first time or don’t do it at all. No sense in encouraging experimentation, we’ve been doing it one way for years and it hasn’t been half bad.
So there you have it: fifty-one ways to ditch your X (or your Y) generations in the workplace. Fifty-one because you should always give a little more than expected and over-deliver what you promised you would provide. If you implement these fiftyone items, you will certainly be dubbed a tormentor who infects the workplace rather than a mentor who affects the workplace.
Being mindful of how not to manage can be just as affective as being aware of how to manage. If you should hear the words “micromanager” being uttered as you walk by, know that it is not a term of endearment and take heed. Read through this list again and see if any of these nifty fifty (one) items sound familiar. Then do what you must to turn it around, or else you will watch your new recruits turn around and head out the door. One last sobering thought, if you think you can just replace those who do walk… it costs one to three times an average salary to replace an employee, not to mention the downtime, stress and team development curve. Pay attention to your people and it will pay off.
To Your FUNominal Success!
Gail
New Books on the Streets and Online
August 23, 2006 | Posted in Leading Hartfully, Living Hartfully | By Gaia Hart
I’m so excited, I can hardly stand it – there are two new books on the website at http://www.funcilitators.com/parafunalia.htm. One is by a friend of mine, Marsha Lindquist called Why Are You Still Working Your A** Off? A Guide to Life Beyond the Cubicle. It’s filled with her insights and strategies to get a life outside of work and to make it meaningful. It’s filled with her wit and cheeky wisdom on the subject – she’s a ball of fire. It will make you think about what you’re doing – making a living or making a life.
Another book that will be on the site soon – is one that my colleague and speaker buddy, Jeff Tobe had compiled with about a dozen of us experts on the subject of communication. Titled The Communication Coach II – Communication Tips From the Pros for the Pros. It’s chalked full of high-level information for those who want a more advanced look into this thing we call communication. Perfect for HR professionals, managers, teachers, or those who just want to understand their neighbors, co-workers, spouse or teenager. Well, maybe not their teenager…you be the judge of that one. Let me know what you think of it – we’d love your feedback about how it helped you communicate better and also what you’re doing to not be working your a** off.
Cheers!
Gail
Fun & Laughter at Work
June 15, 2006 | Posted in Leading Hartfully, Living Hartfully | By Gaia Hart
Mixing fun and effectiveness at work is good business. Since helping people create that type of atmosphere is my business, I have been off the blogosphere for a while to facilitate just that for some clients recently. Facilitating an executive retreat at Lake of the Ozarks and combining work in the morning with play in the afternoon was a perfect combination to rivitalize the team as well as me. There’s something about being around the water and boats that makes people happy. Have you ever noticed how everybody waves at everybody else in a boat as they pass? The blend of laughter, sun, fun and shared experiences can pull a team together and have residual effects throughout the coming months and years. Creating memories and corporate lore helps cement the bond between employees.
Here’s a sneak preview of an article on my website – the link is above….showing the benefits of laughter and fun at work.
Cheers!
Gail
What’s so funny? This is a serious situation that Americans are in up to their eyebrows in stress and it’s killing them. If we’d just lighten up a little, step back, and take time to work out our funny bone instead of our growl scowl, we’d be much more healthy both physically and emotionally.
Choose to laugh at a situation now instead of years down the road. In many instances it is only the passage of time that makes something turn from unpleasant or embarrassing to hilarious. Why not decide to look at the funny side of it earlier on? Having a sense of humor will energize you and those around you while combating stress and disease. ….. more at http://www.funcilitators.com/articles/funnybone.htm
Practice Safe Stress, Relax & Renew Your Vitality
May 24, 2006 | Posted in Leading Hartfully, Living Hartfully | By Gaia Hart
Are you sometimes feeling that you’re on your last nerve? Have you been looking for a proven way to relax, refresh, and renew yourself? I was in a conference session with the makers of the Holosync system and I was blown away by their research and successful results and you will be too. I just had to share this secret with you to practicing safe stress.
It sounds like science fiction – it is science, but it is not fiction – it’s a very real process that helps you sleep better and your aliveness, vitality and energy increase and your quality of life will improve rapidly. Now there is a way to effortlessly meditate more deeply than a Zen monk, dramatically accelerating the meditation process and create profound changes in your mental, emotional, and spiritual health.
Studies show that 70% of our internal dialogue is negative and this system helps counteract those thoughts that are keeping you stuck in negativity.
The Holosync Solution ™ aides in increasing your mind-power and dramatically raises your threshold for stress. We feel stress when things in the world come at us faster than we can assimilate and handle at one time. Those who have had trauma in their lives at younger ages have a much lower threshold for dealing with these stresses than those who haven’t experienced such trauma. The coping mechanisms when we are pushed over our threshold show up as anxiety, anger, depression, overwhelm, sadness, substance abuse and many others…..doesn’t that sound like the American culture?
By using Holosync, just putting on headphones and sitting with your eyes closed listening to the calming sounds, your threshold is pushed higher and higher the more you use it and your dysfunctional feelings and behaviors happen less and less often and it becomes less often that environmental stresses affect you. Many people experience dramatic improvements in a few sessions, then even more in a week or two and certainly after a couple months, your stress levels will be dramatically decreased and you will be much better able to handle what life throws at you in a more relaxed, less anxious, more centered peaceful state and be more connected to others. You can try this incredible system for an amazing one-year, no-questions asked, money-back guarantee. Check out this dynamic product by Bill Harris at Holosync.
Backed by a mountain of scientific research—and proven results for thousands of users, the proprietary Holosync audio technology placed on CD’s beneath soothing music and environmental sounds will help you get results faster and with less effort than you ever dreamed possible and it’s all guaranteed. Bill has researched this system for 18 years, plus 12 years of other scientific research before him. There are over 160,000 people in 172 countries using this system and not one person has reported any negative results – it’s heartily endorsed by doctors, naturopaths and mental health professionals from around the world. There is no risk at all – except the risk of not having a better life with less stress by meditating and slowing your brain waves to the theta and delta states, which bypass the filters of your left brain in order to achieve greater clarity and easier changes in belief patterns.
Here are some of the ways you’ll benefit:
* Stimulate the creation of new neural pathways between the right and left hemispheres of your brain, balancing your brain and leading you to a high-performance state scientists call “whole brain functioning”.
* Dramatically improve your learning ability, memory, intuition, creativity, and your ability to focus, concentrate and think more clearly.
* Create true quantum leaps in your personal self awareness.
* Significantly lower your stress levels and lower your levels of harmful brain chemicals related to stress.
* Create remarkable improvements in your mental and emotional health—even in areas that have stubbornly resisted change with other approaches.
* Dramatically increase your production of vital (and very pleasurable) brain chemicals related to your longevity, well-being, and quality of life.
* Test drive it yourself, you’ve got nothing to lose, except some stress…. Holosync Meditation.
Why’s, What’s and How’s
May 11, 2006 | Posted in Leading Hartfully, Living Hartfully | By Gaia Hart
As I do more research into mind-matters these days and how our mindset determines our life-set of circumstances. I wanted to share some insights about the why’s vs. the hows in our thinking and how it affects our movement through the world and the energy we derive from our decisions.
Not knowing how to do something is a direct result of indecision. If we are undecided, then we remain stuck in the realm of not knowing and keep asking how. Once we’ve made up our mind, then the how’s will present themselves to us. Once we know our why and made up our mind about the why of doing something, the why questions cut to the heart of the decision and of the person. Once we know that why, then we can easily manage the how’s of reaching that goal, decision, end-state, or lifestyle or whatever it is.
We need to pursue the why’s of our lives and don’t be seduced by the easy how questions…look deeper inot the why’s and if we can’t find relevance in what we are doing, then we need to find something else to do. So what is relevant in your life – how are you making a difference to the world and why are you choosing that path? Are you choosing the path of making a differeence or of indifference?
You will know by your energy you put towards a project, just which path you are taking. Where intention goes, energy flows and the amount of time you are giving something in your life is in proportion to the priority you are giving it in your life. What is taking up your time these days, what are your priorities, and is it really relevant to you or others? If you can’t find enough time in a day to do everything you want to do, then you need to hire out a life-support system in order to buy your time back.
I’m walking that path right now and hiring out more and more life-support systems so I can focus on the things that bring more relevance to my life and the lives of others. What are you doing to move forward on the path of making a difference to yourself and others.
Just my 2 cents worth on figuring things out and making big changes to get big results.
Keep in Touch With Online Snail Mail Cards
May 2, 2006 | Posted in Living Hartfully | By Gaia Hart
I’m on FIRE with excitement over another new way to keep in touch with everybody. Having moved about 13 times in about 20 years, it’s hard to keep up with everybody. I’ve just signed on with Send Out Cards – a fantastic way to keep in touch with clients, customers, partners, friends and family with the click of a mouse and it sends a real card they can hold in their hands from their snail mail box. You can customize the inside with your own greeting, your own photos, and your own handwriting and signatures. I even have Madison’s paw print as her signature. They give you 4 signatures in the program. All this for around a buck a card – and that even includes postage. All the cards are created one at a time, stuffed into envelopes, stamped, and mailed out of Utah – all you do is select people from your contact manager – which you can import from your other contact managers, create a message, click and send. No more going to the card store, waiting in line at the post office, or finding stamps…you can send a card in less than a minute. The longest time it takes is to select from the more than 5000 card styles they have. I will soon have my own personal collection on the site – I’m creating as fast as I can! Check it out – it’s awesome. Cards can only be mailed to US addresses…I think they can do APO’s, but no overseas mailing. If you want to test-drive the system, let me know and I will set you up with a free gift account – I will even pay for the postage.
