How to be happy and more positive

How to train your brain to be more positive and happier

When our brains go negative that can eat away at our productivity, creativity and decision-making skills.

1. Be aware of your negative thoughts

Once you know what negative thoughts are bothering you the most, you can start working on a solution to resolve the problem. For example, if you’re really bothered by a co-worker, then approach your boss with the problem and ask if you can be moved to another part of the office where you don’t have to interact with them as much.

2. Find 3 things to be grateful for

Reflect on your day and think about three good things that happened to you that day. Whether if it was someone buying you a cup of coffee, a beautiful sunset or landing a new client. Even the smallest things, like being paid a compliment, having lunch with an old friend or watching your dog roll around are more than enough to make you happy.

3. Help other people

Whether it’s helping a swamped colleague on a project, holding open a door, buying a stranger a cup of coffee, donating money or volunteering, any acts of kindness can boost happiness.

4. Surround yourself with positive people

Since emotions are contagious, it only makes sense that you would want to surround yourself with positive people who inspire, empower and motivate you.

5. Take care of your body and your mind

Research has found time and time again that taking care of ourselves physically and mentally can influence our happiness and train our brains to be more positive.

6. Do something you love

This may be easier said than done, but one of the best ways to become more positive is making time for something that you absolutely love.

The action doesn’t matter. Just make sure you love it. It may be reading, cooking, playing a sport, going to the movies, planning a camping trip with friends or picking up a new hobby.

7. Give somebody a shoutout

Sharing your gratitude is far very beneficial.

It could be anything like thanking an employee or colleague for all of their hard work, a quick catching up email with a friend, complementing your barista or having a nightly discussion like “What was the best part of your day today?” with your spouse.

It may seem a little awkward at first, but trust me, you’ll feel excellent when you give someone a shoutout.

This books are great to expand on the topic of happiness and being positive:

The Book of Joy by the Dalai Lama and Desmond Tutu. Amazon.com

The video was created using VideoScribe

Quote about Innovation

“Innovation does not happen on a spreadsheet, slide show or product line.

Innovation occurs in the interaction between people.”

 

Quote about the need for Change

“We have to assume that everything we think is right today will be wrong

tomorrow. What this demands is a nuanced understanding of the timeless and

the timely.”

 

Quote on Leadership

“If we are trying to get humans to do something together, we need to

understand our and their humanity. Such is the nature of holistic business.”

 

Quote about diversity and innovation in organization

“The less diverse an organization is – whether in the sense of race, class,

gender or personality type – the less it can empathize with people outside of it,

and the fewer partnerships it can form.”

 

5 Leadership Rules

There are some basic leadership rules, that if followed, will make you a better leader today.

 

These are the rules

 

·         “Shape the future” – Develop, share and drive your vision of the future.

·         “Make things happen” – Execute. Turn talk into action and do it properly.

·         “Engage today’s talent” – Develop abilities in others and inspire them to commit to the success of the organization.

·         “Build the next generation” – Think about the future: Who will lead and sustain the organization after you leave? Consider and nurture the leaders and the skills leaders will need in the years to come.

·         “Invest in yourself” – Commit to growing “intellectually,” “emotionally,” “physically,” “socially” and “spiritually,” by staying engaged, learning, building relationships, and by knowing and following your values.

 

If you want to make sustainable and timely change, make sure to follow these rules

 

Thomas Edison quote

"Achievement provides the only real pleasure in life."

Quote on making your life better

"Ideal is the beacon. Without ideal, there is no secure direction, without direction, there is no life."

- Leo Tolstoy

Anything is possible quote

"The future is simply infinite possibility waiting to happen. What it waits on is human imagination to crystallize its possibilities"

- Leland Kaiser

Motivational quote

"Some of the world's greatest feats were accomplished by people not smart enough to know they were impossible"

- Doug Larson

Quote about success

"Limitations live only in our minds. But if we use our imagination, our possibilities become limitless."

- Jamie Paolinetti

Quote about Happiness

"The secret of being miserable is to have the leisure to bother about whether you are happy or not."

- George Bernard Shaw

Dalai Lama - Quote

"This is my simple religion. The is no need for temples, no need for complicated philosophy. Our own Brain, our own heart is our temple. The philosophy is kindness"

- Dalai Lama

Quote about Change

"When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves"

- Viktor E. Frankl

Quote on Personal Development and Improvement

You cannot start the next chapter in your life if you keep re-reading the
last one

-Unknown

Perfection is an ongoing process - Wiston Churchill Quote

To improve is to change,
To be perfect is to change often

    - Wiston Churchill


This quote is excellent to understand that perfection is not static, but rather a continuos process involving change.

How to engage your employees for more successful results

When trying to engage employees, avoid the following:

Don't assume that, because someone has one good quality, the person is great at everything. This prevents managers from seeing the opportunities for improvement.

Don't speak negatively about other team members, their peers or senior management and leaders.

Don't withhold feedback because you assume your employees already know where they need to improve or will "figure it out" on their own.

Don't avoid regular communication, the best tool is to set up ongoing one-on-one conversations to build trusting, more productive relationships with your employees.

Don't assume your team knows what is expected from them, remind them in a positive way on a regular basis what your expectations are and how successful results look like.

Don't assume people understand your reasoning behind decisions. By the same token, don't blame any decisions on "upper management," "the HR department" or anyone else. Employees see right through that.

 Don't forget that praise is about them, not you.  Praise every day if possible, for a good presentation, they way a conference call was conducted, the way a customer complain was handle, this only takes 20 seconds.....example: John when you addressed that customer complain this morning in such a professional way, you contribute to the image or our company, thank you for that.
That's it, short and simple.

Don't discipline or demean in front of others, provide improvement feedback in private. Learn to provide feedback both positive an negative

Work Quote

Let the beauty we love be what we do
-RUMI

Getting things Done - Create a routine - Kata

It takes only three months to create a habit, good or bad. Routine builds good habits. Just look at a
successful major league baseball pitcher. In all likelihood, he can tell you his game day routine
down to the minute. He eats his pre-game meal at the same time, arrives at the ballpark at the same
time, and does his stretching exercises and warm-ups at the same time. He has programmed
himself to succeed by using this routine. Imagine a teenager who has a messy room, but who sincerely desires to become neater. If she starts by tidying her room 15 minutes every day, eventually the results will encourage her to do more. Soon, she'll find herself straightening up instinctively. Sometimes, a lack of routine is the only thing that stands in your way. Even something as seemingly mundane as checking e-mail can be turned into a productive routine. Instead of checking your e-mail every 15 minutes, only check it twice a day. Pretty soon that will be a habit, too.

Getting things done - you think you know it all.. think twice

Many managers, especially those recently promoted to positions of authority, think they always have to be right. They believe everyone will scrutinize them now, so they can't afford to be wrong because that would show weakness. They believe their credibility will be affected if they make a mistake or don't know something. Quite to the contrary, a manager who admits mistakes and is willing to accept team members' suggestions graciously will gain infinitely more respect and become a source of inspiration.
Who is right and who is wrong doesn't matter.
Reaching goals and achieving success is the ultimate barometer. Great leaders make mistakes all the time, but the key is whether they are able to extract the very best from their people.