What’s Your Happiness Factor?
July 6, 2008 | Posted in Leading Hartfully, Wealthy Woman | By Gaia Hart
Do you expect things to go your way – is the universe conspiring in your favor?
Do you have loving, supportive relationships?
Do you lead a purposeful life and live consciously?
Do you feel like you have some control over your time, your stuff, your space, your situation, your life?
Do you feel like you are in the flow of your work or personal interests – challenged enough to be interesting and enjoyable?
Do you have a positive outlook and practice some form of spirituality?
The more questions you could answer with a resounding YES, recent studies show that you are more likely to be happy than those who couldn’t answer an affirmative. Happy people exude energy. Energy begets energy. If you are not at the peak of your happiness factor; take a look at the areas in your life you could change. Surprisingly simple internal factors such as having a healthy self esteem, a sense of optimism and hope, gratifying relationships and meaningful purpose in your life have the most influence over your well-being.
Let go of the things that are out of your control and practice these bliss-booster tips to improve your happiness quotient:
- Upbeat attitude. When you change your mind, you change your energy and when you change your energy, you change your life. It all starts with a thought – make it a positive one. Setting your intentions to desired outcomes makes all the difference – we attract what we most think about. Where intention goes – energy flows.
- Create a loving, supportive network of your favorite people – get connected – see #5 below. To get good friends, you need to become a good friend. What are you doing to cultivate your relationships and make people’s days? A sense of belonging is not only good for us personally, but professionally as well. Having a good friend at work is one of the key essential elements of a good working environment.
- Hone in on your purpose – know why you are here and act in alignment with your purpose. Purpose brings passion.
- Think solutions – not problems. Your brain will answer any question you offer it. Instead of asking “What else can go wrong?” or “How did I get into this situation?”, ask “How can I turn this around?” or “What is my lesson and how can I learn from this and avoid it in the future?”.
- Cultivate an attitude of gratitude. When you’re grateful, you’re not fearful – count your blessings. Send a card to somebody to let them know you appreciate them at www.BizBuilderCards.com.
- Find your flow and get into it. Become engaged and focused in your activities – where challenge meets knowledge, skills and abilities.
- Cultivate healthy habits – eating, sleeping, exercise, spirituality and smile about it. When we smile, it stimulates the thymus gland, which makes us more resistant to disease. This little practice also tricks our physiology into thinking we are already happy and boosts our mood. As a Certified Laughter Leader, my research has found that laughing and smiling do indeed aid in your happiness factor.
Now take your own inventory and see which areas in your life need a boost. We create a happy life by stringing together happy moments and feeling in control of our life. Take control over the areas that are less than desirable in your life and go get happy. As Eckhart Tolle says, “Unhappiness is unintelligent”.
Have the Courage to Move Forward and Say “YES” Despite the Odds
July 2, 2008 | Posted in Leading Hartfully, Wealthy Woman | By Gaia Hart
The word “courage” has come up a lot lately in my life. My good friend (and “twin sistah”) Sue has done paintings about it. My wise counsel Bill told me I needed to have lots of it since every single thing in my life on every level was in flux right now. My BFF Barb and I have discussed different versions of it nearly every night for the past 10 months. And now my friend Paul sends me the following excerpt and video link about the courage to say YES and the courage to not quit.
I think I’m getting the hint to have the guts to keep moving forward and figure out creative ways to energize myself and my life no matter what may shift, change, crumble, not materialize or be taken away from me.
I’ve had lots of training in courage and finishing the game. I’ve done triathlons, marathons, century rides, 30-day backpacking stints to survive in the wilderness for a month, and a 220 kilometer bike ride through 3 countries in 1 day. Those were peanuts compared to the following video. I’ve learned that shifting gears and re-assessing or doing the race in your own style is not quitting – it’s twisting the situation to best fit your needs, even though it may not be the norm. Having faith in yourself and the bigger picture is what pulls you through sometimes. I also realize that no matter how big a race I think I’m racing, there’s always something much bigger, and that energizes and inspires me. So what keeps you energized and motivated to not quit?
For any of you who have thought about quitting your dream – check out this video below. Instead of entertaining the thought of quitting, perhaps just take a detour or side step a little on your path forward and watch this video. Fair warning – I had tears in my keyboard before the first few words were uttered.
A son asked his father, ‘Dad, will you take part in a marathon with me?’
The father who, despite having a heart condition, says ‘Yes’. They went on to complete the marathon together.
Father and son went on to join other marathons, the father always saying ‘Yes’ to his son’s request of going through the race together.
One day, the son asked his father, ‘Dad, let’s join the Ironman together.’ To which, his father said ‘Yes’ to.
For those who didn’t know, Ironman is the toughest triathlon ever. The race encompasses three endurance events of a 2.4 mile (3.86 kilometer) ocean swim, followed by a 112 mile (180.2 kilometer) bike ride, and ending with a 26.2 mile (42.195 kilometer) marathon along the coast of the Big Island .
Father and son went on to complete the race together. View this video for lessons in not quitting
Manifest Now, Don’t Ask How
June 27, 2008 | Posted in Leading Hartfully, Wealthy Woman | By Gaia Hart
Have you ever wondered why so many people are stuck these days? Or why there are so many How To books, but nobody seems to be getting it and continue to stay where they are?
For a couple decades now, I’ve walked the path of “Once you know the why and the what, the how’s will figure out themselves.” It’s the how that keeps us stuck. Just have the faith that it will be figured out as you go. The momentum is in the forward movement and the faith that if you move forward and take those steps, the hows will present themselves in ways you’ve never dreamed possible.
I’ve experienced this phenomenon several times in the past couple months – taking the steps forward and not necessarily knowing how I was going to get there. It takes courage and belief and sometimes some back sliding. Yep, I’ve had my share of panic moments, breakdowns, and holy cow what am I gonna do moments. It’s amazing what has come of it and the things that I manifested have been nothing short of amazing.
One of the thought leaders in this area I’ve recently been introduced to is David Neagle – the multimillionaire coach to entrepreneurs and solopreneurs. I believe if you want to stretch and grow your business, you need to stretch and grow yourself. If you work more on yourself than on your business, the rest will take care of itself. It’s all in your thoughts, perceptions and beliefs.
David’s belief is that we get stuck in the how. If we just knew the way, then we could get out of our own way and tap into the universal consciousness, which knows the way and will manifest what we need. A little woo, woo, but it truly is the secret behind The Secret. Instead of getting stuck in the how, just know the why and the what and as you move forward, the how’s will take care of themselves. Gather up your guts and believe it will happen, then get going.
You do this every day when you drive your car. You probably don’t know how that engine works, but you have faith that it will work and believe that when you step on the gas, it will move forward. You know the why you want to drive someplace and the what is the car or what you need to drive to, then you just act as if that car will move forward for you and it does. No need to have all the how’s figured out. You don’t need to have it all figured out in order to move forward – just MOVE!
Take a look at this video on how your future is NOW: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FbNbfu85hUs&list=PLtUVv9eXCdIKmF4MMCOVMBuzeZ1nrrUQF
Are You Living in Your Right Brain or Your Left Brain? Piles or Files?
May 21, 2008 | Posted in Leading Hartfully, Living Hartfully | By Gaia Hart
Where are you most comfortable living… in your left brain or your right brain?
Left brainers, elbies, are more comfortable linear thinking, number crunching, logical, facts, details, math, science, rules, thinking, reality based and safe.
Right brainers, arbies, are more creative, free flowing, mind mapping, artsy, musical, big picture, visionary, risk taking, feelings, imagination and fantasy.
I recently was directed to this website from an Australian newspaper that has a graphic of a dancer. Whether you see her spinning clockwise or counterclockwise can tell you which side of your brain you’re living in at that very moment.
Check it out: http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,22556281-661,00.html
I found I could only see her spinning in one direction. I couldn’t for the life of me visualize how she she could be seen spinning in the other direction…. until I started reading the words that represented the other side of the brain. When I read those words, I could then see her spinning in the other direction automatically and immediately. How weird is that??!!
That’s how fast you can switch from using one side of your brain to the other. From all these kinds of tests over the years, I’ve found I sit right in the middle on the fence and can easily swing from one side to the other depending on the situation.
To help you access and integrate easier for problem solving, creative thinking or number crunching; try throwing something between your hands or juggling. Throwing something back and forth helps you integrate. Growing dendrites on both sides of your brain can also be accomplished by little activities such as brushing your teeth with the opposite hand, eating with the other hand or European style, crossword puzzles, Soduko or other memory games.
Elbies and Arbies also store things differently. To be most efficient, figure out which side is more comfortable for you to live in. Elbies tend to store things vertically behind closed doors such as file cabinets, closets, drawers, hangers etc. These are the neat desk people.
Arbies tend to store things horizontally and within plain view – these are called piles. Right brainers need the visual stimulation to remind them to do something. If it’s out of sight, it’s out of mind. They prefer hooks to hangers and shelving to drawers.
The rest of us in the middle are the anal retentive creative types – horizontal stacking in-boxes that are labeled. A mixture of both styles.
Figure out your style and your preference, then organize your space around your style to feel most at ease, to find things more easily and then know how to access your other side of your brain and call in the reinforcements when you need them.
Time Management vs. Self Management
April 19, 2008 | Posted in Leading Hartfully, Living Hartfully | By Gaia Hart
After reading and ruminating on the book The 4-Hour Workweek for a few months; I’ve been keenly aware of how I spend my time. Time, unlike money, once spent can never be recovered and so I guard my time more fiercely than ever these days and really watch my boundaries. Putting boundaries on my time and allowing people, things and stuff to enter the forcefield is more of a conscious decision at this point in my life.
We really cannot manage time, we can only manage ourselves in the space of our time. That means getting very clear on what to do and what to drop and what to outsource and what is important and what is urgent and what doesn’t really matter that much at all. My business partner often says, “If you don’t have enough time, you don’t have enough team.” I also think if you don’t have enough time, re-think the things you’re stuffing into that time and make hard choices.
To help manage myself in my time, I use a color coding system in my hard-copy Daytimer. I also use a Google Calendar so my virtual assistants can see my schedule and when I need time, I just block it out on the schedules so nobody else can grab that time slot. I use a paper method as well as digital because I’ve had many computer gremlins and I need to know I have a back-up system in case the computer or internet goes down. Select colors that represent personal, professional, deadlines, obligations etc. If one color is dominating your schedule – analyze why that is and make changes.
Since moving to the beach, I’ve decided that I won’t take any incoming calls or work until after 9am. A purposeful choice that this is the time zone in which I live and just because the East Coast is up and running, doesn’t mean I need to be at my desk by 5am so they can call me at their convenience. I’ve also adopted the motto – no more rushing. I’ve rushed to catch planes, make deadlines, be available to everybody’s emails and calls for over 20 years and I needed a break, hence no postings for a couple months while I decompressed after I moved out to California. I realized it was me allowing all those other things to take my time and it was only me who had the power to take back my time. It’s our choice.
I’m reminded of the demonstration I saw about time management in a workshop – by having sand represent all the little schnitzy things you need to do and having ping pong balls represent the things that matter in your life. If you fill a vase with sand and then try to put in the ping pong balls, they won’t fit. But by putting in the ping pong balls first – putting the things that matter most to you first in your life, then pouring the sand into the vase; the sand fills in the empty spaces and everything will fit in the vase. It fits snugly, but it fits and anything that doesn’t fit is only the sniggly things that don’t matter so much anyway.
So how are you managing yourself inside your time zone? My friend Kathie makes phone dates to catch up with friends – she uses her beach walking time to talk on her cell with good friends so she can exercise while talking. My friend Beth uses her treadmill time to chat. A realtor buddy takes no incoming calls before 11 – he reserves the morning for himself. I’m working on only taking calls and appointments Tuesday – Thursday so I can have Mondays and Fridays completely to myself. I’m not totally there yet, it’s a work in progress, but I’m conscious of it. If I need to do things on these days, then I’m blocking out time during the week to do as I choose.
I will not get to only working 4 hours per week- I don’t thing I would even like to choose that. I truly enjoy what I do and it keeps me energized. Often people ask me if I work “full time”. Full time and part time are mindsets of the W2 working world. As an Entrepreneur, I just do my life. I have several companies and I just do some more than others as things dictate. Sometimes I focus on my work 60 hours in one week and sometimes 3 hours in one week – it all depends on what is happening in my life at the time – go with the flow. Entrepreneurs don’t do rules very well.
So how do you set your personal boundaries, your time boundaries and how do you manage yourself within the time you have? What is your time zone? Are you in the zone in the mornings or evenings? When are you brain dead and when are you most sharp and creative? Work your stuff around your bio-rhythms and when you are most productive and be very conscious of who and what you allow inside your boundaries in order to keep your energy for the things that really matter most.
London Times Features Fun at Work – Good Times Lead to Good Business
September 17, 2007 | Posted in Leading Hartfully, Living Hartfully | By Gaia Hart
I’m thrilled to announce an interview I did for a recent article in the London Times on the business of fun at work. We’re ready to get the British energized and pumped up for some play in the workplace. People all over the world are finally getting it that work made fun gets done and good times lead to good business.Check out the full article below or click on the link.
You Make the Call – Gruntled or Disgruntled
June 24, 2007 | Posted in Leading Hartfully, Living Hartfully | By Gaia Hart
We always have a choice – a choice to be an energy radiator or an energy drain. We also have a choice to either accept or reject somebody else’s energy they are projecting onto us. We have a choice to take it personally, or to mirror back their energy, or to let our own light shine onto them whether it will be connected to their own bright light or overshadow their dark light. When we let our own light shine on, we increase our resilience and cast a light on others.
Light opens up darker spaces, so I choose to let my light shine into some of the shadows that may come into my life. For instance, I once spent a blissful holiday in Santa Fe at a B & B that fell a little short of the expectations for the room, but the breakfasts were aaaaaahmazing. Their chef on the first day was simply charming, had incredible food and was a delight to be around. It set the tone for a perfectly heavenly day with divine company on a glorious sunny day in their courtyard. Her light shown onto her food, her guests, and you could feel it in the air.
The next day a different chef put a decidedly negative flair to the whole affair. Her demeanor was much more of one who had to be there for her job, rather than one who delighted in serving her artistic creations to others and bask in their delight. Her edgy, prickly attitude tried to sneak into my deliriously happy day and get me cranky.
We have choices to be either gruntled or disgruntled, to live our life and invite work into our life we are leading anyway, or to make work out of life. One chef shared her love of life through her cooking and the other just worked at it, and it showed that she had to be there to pick up a pay check.
When you have a choice, why not choose between being happy and deliriously happy instead of happy or grumpy. We don’t always have control over what comes to us (in fact, very little control over what comes to us.) but we do have a choice in how we react to it. How are your reactions lately? What do you choose to be… gruntled or disgruntled…it’s up to you. You can make the call and you decide on your energy level and what to do with it and how others affect it. You can mirror back their light or let yours outshine the darkness. Focusing on shining your light will boost your resilience when you decide to be gruntled.
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….