Hello,
Today here is another interesting subject for today’s leaders: Happiness. How to generate happy moments? It is clear that, as humans, we are not able to spend 100% of the time being happy (I would like it :)). Personally, I find it very hard sometimes to be happy, for different reasons. For those moments when I am not able to be happy, my work, my family, and my life are impacted. It is just not the same when I am not happy; I take more time to do things, I am not able to listen as I should, I miss the focus and more.
I also learned some time ago that my state of mind could be “transferred/transported” to others very easy, so if I am happy, I can bring some quotes of happiness to others and help them to change their state of mind. However, if I am sad, upset or unfriendly, I will transfer that to others as well. More than once, I finished discussions in the meeting room and was complaining a lot or without anything to do in the meeting (bored). At the end of that day, when I realized my state of mind, I could not get anything good from those meetings/days. Today, when I am not in a good state of mind, I try to be calm in meetings, I don’t talk a lot until I internally understand why I am sad/upset/unfriendly. As soon as I get it, I try to find the solution. This does not means that right away I am able to be happy, but I can set my mind for a solution/constructive mode. Of course, sometimes all this fails and the worst in me comes out. Have you already had experience with this type of behavior?
This year, I found this TED video from David Steindl-Rast, where he explains one easy exercise: “stop, look, and go”. He is right, it is very simple, as we were told as children when we learned to cross the street: Stop. Look. Go. The exercise will allow us to be more grateful for the simple things in our life/work. And if we are grateful, we will generate happiness, and if we are happy, we can transfer our happiness to others and so on, and so on.
If you are looking for 20 min of inspiration to start to put “stop signs” in your live or work, this is the right video to see:
I hope you like it and feel free to share your comments or feedback here. Remember, in 2014 and going forward, we need to put “stop signs” in our lives and our work.
Thank you,
Omar