Author: Janae Bower

There is a growing recognition even among the hardest-driving companies that they pay a price for not engaging their employees. A disengaged workplace can manifest itself in low morale, high turnover, burnout, frequent stress-related illness, and rising absenteeism. Many years ago the Gallup Organization discovered that, “disengaged” or “actively disengaged” employees which make up 64% of the workforce, could cost organizations overall up to $355 billion a year! The smartest organizations – and employees – are revitalizing their workplaces to become supportive and inspirational environments. When employees are encouraged to release their passions and potential, they become fully engaged in the work and committed to the organization. As a result, the possibility for organizations to produce greater productivity and profits is significantly increased. By being engaged you can create a vibrant place to work not only for yourself, but for all those around you.

So how do we engage in our work?

Energy

The first way is be aware of your energy level. Think of the workplace as each of us walking around as balls of energy emitting waves of vibrations to each other. While you can’t physically see these vibrations you can feel and hear how they impact other people’s energy levels. For example, the workplace is filled with “energy vampires” just waiting to suck the energy from you and everyone else around them. The workplace is also filled with “energy fairies” wanting to sprinkle their magical, positive “gold energy dust” on all those they come into contact with. While workplace vampires drain us of our energy and thus disengage us with our work, the workplace fairies uplift our energy making us feel lighter and more connected with our work.

Enthusiasm

The other way is through enthusiasm. I’ve always appreciated that the Greek root of this word means God within. To be enthusiastic is something that we need to be from the inside out. We resonate our enthusiasm to others once we know how to radiate it first within ourselves; connecting with the heart of we are, our divine selves.

Choice

To fully engage in our workplaces is a choice we make each day. Poet David Whyte shared an analogy that has always stuck with me. He said how we need to bring our wholeselves to work because many of leave most of who we are in the car when we go to work. Yet when we are engaged, fully engaged in ourselves, we tap into our highest energy and enthusiasm levels; allowing us to work wholeheartedly!

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For more resources, see our Library topic Spirituality in the Workplace.

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Janae Bower is an inspirational speaker, award-winning author and training consultant. She founded Finding IT, a company that specializes in personal and professional development getting to the heart of what matters most.

It’s one thing to believe in the Divine and it’s another thing to believe in the guidance that the Divine is giving you. According to the authors of the book A Spiritual Audit of Corporate America, almost everyone who was interviewed believed in a higher power or God. However, when it came to feeling the presence of that higher power or God at work about half felt it and the other half didn’t.
When we can tap into the Divine that constantly surrounds us is when we can really experience a greater sense of meaning, purpose and joy in all we do. One book that really opened my eyes, hears, heart and soul around this concept is the book Divine Guidance: How to Have a Dialogue with God and Your Guardian Angels by Doreen Virtue.
According to Virtue, “How you receive guidance from God and your guardian angels isn’t important. What matters is that you notice them, can verify their Divine source and act on it. God always answers the questions, requests and prayers we hold in our hearts. Since God knows everything about us; we might as well be completely candid when requesting Divine guidance.”
There are four methods or channels to receive divine guidance. We each have the ability to receive guidance through all of these methods. Most of us have one or two channels that tend to be stronger. As I share the methods and examples of how I’ve used this channel for guidance in my work, I want you to think of your own examples at work.

1. Clairvoyance (clear seeing) – guidance comes as still pictures/images or moves in your mind’s eye. Examples include dreams, mental pictures, mental movies, seeing colors/auras, visual signs from heaven, and symbols. My example: Before I wrote created my You’re IT Tribute Book in honor of my mom, I saw her opening up this book in which each page was from someone whose life she touched telling a story of how my mom has made a difference in their lives.
2. Clairaudience (clear hearing) – hearing from the outside or inside your head – still, small voice within; auditory messages. My example: I was guided to write my first book The Little Girl Who Found IT: A Story of Heart and Hope by a small voice within that told me to write a poem, which many years later turned into my book.
3. Clairsentience (clear feeling) – receiving guidance as an emotion or physical sensation such as a smell, tightened muscle or a touch; feeling or hunches. My example: When I was meeting for the first time with the team for a training design project that I’ve been hired for a wonderful integrative health and healing program called Renewing Life, I got chills over my body, which is a clear signal for me that I’m being guided by a heavenly purpose.
4. Claircognizance (clear knowing) – suddenly knowing something or ideas for a fact, without knowing how you know. My example: This is a calmness I have inside that I know something will manifest when the time is right. This came true for me at a professional development meeting for the University of Minnesota as I’m adjunct faculty in the College of Continuing Education department. I just knew that it would be just a matter of time before I would be the one presenting to the other instructors some of the techniques I’ve been implementing in my classes.

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For more resources, see our Library topic Spirituality in the Workplace.

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Janae Bower is an inspirational speaker, award-winning author and training consultant. She founded Finding IT, a company that specializes in personal and professional development getting to the heart of what matters most.

My description of spirit in the workplace is that it allows you to feel a greater sense of connection by bringing your whole self, the essence of who you are, to a supportive environment. People are yearning for connections on multiple levels – connecting with a higher purpose, connecting lovingly with yourself, connecting deeply with others and connecting meaning with your work.
“Spirituality is the deep feeling of interconnectedness of everything. To be spiritual is to examine the connections between one’s products and services and the impacts they have on the broader environment. The recognition of interconnectedness constantly forces one to expand one’s vision,” according to the authors of the book A Spiritual Audit of Corporate America.

THE CONNECTION OF THE BUTTERFLY EFFECT
The “butterfly effect” is a wonderful example of this interconnectedness principle. What started out as a myth and legend in 1963, has now been proven scientifically through the Law of Sensitive Dependence Upon Initial Conditions. What this means is that the mere flaps of a butterfly wings can set “molecules of air in motion and continue to do this until eventually it’s capable of starting a hurricane on the other side of a planet.” Andy Andrews in this book The Butterfly Effect: How Your Life Matters explains this theory and shares wonderful examples of this interconnectedness of our lives. It’s a fascinating book and makes me think about how incredible it is to know that we are connected to everyone. He says, “Every single thing you do matters. You have been created as one of a kind. You have been created in order to make a difference. You have within you the power to change the world.” Click here to watch an inspiration movie of it along with more information about the book.
THE BUTTERFLY EFFECT IN ACTION
So here’s where I need your help to test out this butterfly effect theory. My husband and I have been selected as one of four finalists for a national marriage contest. We share in our five minute video the connectedness we felt when we first met and knew that we had “found the one.” The original inspiration for writing our love story was to share this “divine connection” with our three sons. Then our inspiration grew to inspiring others to show their love for each other by writing their own stories. Now my inspiration is to test out the butterfly effect theory with your help. Will what we did with our story matter to someone else in the world? Will our actions impact others who have never met us? Please take five minutes to watch our video and post a comment. I’ll check back with you in another blog to share what we found out. It’s a win-win by doing this; we all get to test out this spiritual law of connections and it’s a win for us if our love story gets the most comments!

I greatly appreciate being connected to you!

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For more resources, see our Library topic Spirituality in the Workplace.

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Many of you have probably heard the famous quote by Joseph Campbell to “follow your bliss.” So what is bliss? And how do you follow it, especially at work?

Ecstasy, paradise, heaven are a few of the synonyms used to describe bliss. I’ve heard bliss being described as the ultimate level or intense happiness. We all have had those moments of intense happiness when we feel true joy in all the cells of our body and being. When we are experiencing this blissful state we are fully alive and fully experiencing what makes us most happy. The challenge for many of us is being able to translate the feelings of bliss at work. How can we really do this?
Here is how I’m learning to do just that. If right now I had to put a face on bliss, it would be of my son, Garrett, who is 8 months old. He is pure bliss and emanates bliss from the inside out. Bliss is our natural state of being. It is what we are when we are born and what we can continue to access when we “just be it.” He teaches me how to follow bliss wherever I go pursuing whatever work is in front of me.
I’m learning how to get into the state of bliss more often while working. For me it’s easiest to do so late at night when it’s completely quiet while I’m inspired to write or create. I’m so present and in the moment that I don’t even realize that it’s 2am. I am completely just being and have become one with my work. It’s a blissful state. It’s like being what athletes might describe as the zone or experiencing the flow state.

Deepak Chopra in his book Creating Affluence: The A-Z Steps to a Richer Life, discusses the qualities of the unified field, the self – pure Being, which is the source of all abundance and affluence in the universe. He says that bliss is the most important quality of the unified field, which should not be confused with happiness. According to Chopra happiness is always for a reason. You are happy when you get something. But bliss is about being happy for no reason. “This bliss is where we come from; it is the nature of existence itself. In this state of pure bliss is the expression of pure love. It just radiates from you, like a light from a bonfire or dreams from a dreamer” And I would add like my son’s smile.

How are you following your bliss?

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For more resources, see our Library topic Spirituality in the Workplace.

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While reading Deepak Chopra’s book Creating Affluence: The A-Z Steps to a Richer Life, I thought it would be fun to write a series of blog posts using the same type of approach. Each week I’ll share the A-Z inspirations for bringing your spirituality to work. When I thought of what “A” would be many possibilities came to mind – authenticity, alignment and abundance were some great examples that I could use. However, I decided to go with aliveness.
A friend gave me a great card titled “How To Really Be Alive.” When I started reflecting on what being alive at work really means or looks like, it reminds me of the essence of what spirituality in the workplace is really all about: to be fully alive by bringing your whole self to work.
Here are some thoughts as to what an acronym for the word alive could be along with some lively descriptors in quotes from the card.

A = Accomplishment. For many of us feeling alive is related to the notion of accomplishment. Whether it is internal or external, the sense of working hard toward a meaningful goal and eventually accomplishing it is what helps us to “live juicy.”

L = Love. Love for someone or love of something usually brings us more meaning and helps us feel more alive. Yet how can we show our love for others at work? I showed in a training the other day a behind-the-scenes video of the world famous Pike’s Place Fish Market in Seattle. The owner of the store shared how he has the best crew since the 35 years he’s been there. It struck me that he actually used the words, “I love them and they love me.”

I = Infinity. The card challenges us to “believe in everything” because “the miracle is you.” When we can tap into our never-ending reservoir of belief the possibilities are endless.

V = Vitality. How can we bring more spirit, spunk, fervor and zest into our work? According to the card, we should “spin ourselves dizzy” or “hang upside down.” This high-energy approach to work is contagious, keeping us and our coworkers engaged!

E = Ecstatic. The card even describes ideas of how to be extremely happy. “Be ridiculous.” “Drink sunsets.” Or better yet, “keep toys in the bathtub!” When we are ecstatic with our work and co-workers we automatically increase our satisfaction level.

How do you come alive? If you had to pick which words brought you life at work, what would they be?

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For more resources, see our Library topic Spirituality in the Workplace.

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Have you figured out how to get the heart of what matters most amidst the chaos of our overstuffed lives? Lately I’ve been using this affirmation as a reminder in my pursuit of what is most important in my work and life. “I make time for what matters most.” This affirmation helps me to know that while I can’t get to everything that I want to on my daily to do list, I am intentionally carving out time for those most critical things each day. Sometimes that includes making time for being and not doing.
Stephen Covey refers to this concept as his third habit to put first things first. For Brendon Burchard, author of Life’s Golden Ticket, it’s about living each day fully by being able to say yes to these three questions. “Did I live? Did I love? Did I matter?” Val Kinjerski, PhD, shares another perspective of how important it is to fight for what really matters. Check her out as she speaks about it on YouTube.

Here’s how I determine what matters most:

• Finding IT: How to Lead with your Heart. First you have to discover what matters most to YOU by finding the deeper meaning, joy, and purpose of life.
• Living IT: How to Create and Live an Inspired Life. Next you need to decide how you’ll live. When you understand how to live the inspired life principles from the insideout, you will learn how to live your life the way you ought to be; full and richly.
• Giving IT Away: How to Make a Difference. The final aspect is to determine your legacy. How will you be inspired to leave your mark by giving away your time, talent and treasures to serve others and be part of something larger than yourself?

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For more resources, see our Library topic Spirituality in the Workplace.

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If you were asked the question, what are the most special moments from work you had this past year, would you be able to answer that question? Or does your work just sort of blur together? When we are truly present with our work we have the chance to make a moment that we’ll be able to remember and appreciate for a long time.
I call making these moments “grateful heart moments.” This concept started to form inside me when two things kept happening. The first is when multiple people, including strangers, kept telling me to cherish the moments that I have with my children as time goes so fast. The other is when I would receive many emails that tell you to cherish life as it’s short or some variation like that. So I thought, how can I really do this? How can I really stop to cherish the moments in my life I want to remember forever? That’s when I came up with the concept of “grateful heart moments.”
Here’s how it works. When I’m in the middle of experiencing a moment I want to embed in my consciousness and memory, I stop and take a deep breath to breathe in the moment. I focus on capturing all the details I can – who I’m with; where I’m at; and what I’m seeing, hearing, feeling, and smelling. Then I put my hands on my heart and give thanks for this moment. I might say (silently to myself), “Thank you for this moment. Thank you for the gift of experiencing something so beautiful that I’ll remember forever.” It literally only takes a moment to capture the moment, and the best thing is that it really works! Times when I’ve wanted to experience that moment again, I’ve been able to go back to that moment in my mind and it feels as if I am there now.

Here are two recent grateful heart moments I had at work. When I doing my first teleseminar Living IT: How to Create and Live an Inspired Life, before and after I teaching one of the sessions, I would really experience the joy of doing what I had dreamed about doing for so long using my grateful heart moment approach. The other example is when I was doing my larger work in society. I was on a walk with my three boys, a beautiful sunny day at the park. We were helping my six year old was collect caps for school and picking up garbage at the same time. He said, “We are doing good for school, for the earth for the park and for us as we are getting exercise. Reuse, renew, recycle.” I then said, “You’re right, Gavin, we are. This is like the fourth habit (I’m teaching him Stephen Covey’s Seven Habits of Highly Successful People) win/win. A win for the school, a win for the earth, a win for the park and a win for us.” This teaching moment was one I will never forget.

Debbie Ford in her book, The Best Year of Your Life: Dream It, Plan It, Live It shares a similar concept called “claim this moment.” “When we are committed to claiming the moment, we look upon, create and invent our ordinary experience as something extraordinary. We become a magnet for the unique and special. The lens through which we view life shifts, and we become seekers of the divine in every moment. To see with new eyes, to become aware of the blessings we hold, to create new intimate moments each day – these constitute a spiritual quest. This is the art of making the ordinary moments of your life extraordinary.”

What are your grateful heart moments? How can you claim this moment today at work?

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For more resources, see our Library topic Spirituality in the Workplace.

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One spiritual practice that I continue to learn about and grow into is the practice of gratitude and appreciation (I’ll be writing a lot about this topic). When we are in a state of appreciation we are transmitting some of the highest and most spiritual energy vibrations as possible. As appreciation elevates our own energy levels, our energy levels with others elevates as well. We then attract more of the kind of energy we are putting out there. Like Louise Hay says “the more grateful you are the more you have to be grateful for.”

One author who has taught me a lot about appreciation is Mike Robbins. He wrote a book Focus on the Good Stuff. In his recent blog post and audio message he shares with us wonderful insights on appreciating the simple things. You’ll want to check his blog out.

One of the insights he shared was to be easily impressed. This happened to me this morning as I went with two of my sons to the grocery store. I was easily impressed with my experience. I shop at a large grocery store in Minnesota called Cub Foods. It’s a do-it-yourself approach when it comes to bagging your groceries and bringing them out to your car. Yet today I had multiple workers who had the spirit of appreciation in their mindset at work to help me out. One of the workers helped me bag my groceries and I even had two gentlemen fight over who was going to help me take my other cart (yes, I needed two carts since my boys took up most of the first one) to the car. He also helped me put my groceries in my already full car. I’ve only had this happen to me one other time at this store in the ten years I’ve been shopping here. The other time it happened was within the past couple of months. I believe what’s happened is that I’ve recently been easily impressed with Cub and raised my energy level to a state of appreciation when I shop there. Thus, I’m then attracting those to help me as my spirit of appreciation flows out to others.

How can you grow your spirit of appreciation in the work that you do? What simple things do you appreciate? How will you be easily impressed?

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For more resources, see our Library topic Spirituality in the Workplace.

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There are many reasons that contribute to this movement around spirit in the workplace. Here are a few reasons I’ve found on why it began.

Employees want more from their organizations and organizations demand more from their employees. With all the corporate downsizing and restructuring, employees who are left tend to work longer hours. As a result, they want to bring more of their outside self to work. As organizations continue to struggle to find and keep talented employees, they need to offer more than just “a job.” Employees yearn to feel part of a mission, to add value and to contribute in a meaningful way.

Previous movements in the 1980’s and 1990’s such as the new age, work/life balance, simplicity and others have paved the way for this one as well as newer ones like the green movement.

Different generations are contributing to it as well. The majority of the population, 78 million baby boomers, are reaching mid-life and looking at spiritual issues such as: What is my legacy? What is my purpose? What is really important to me? Generation Xers are driven toward a what’s-in-it-for-me mentality and are willing to make organizational changes to meet those needs for work-life balance. Generation Y is the other dominate generation with 76 million. This value-based, team-focused generation is influencing the workplace in many positive ways, one being wanting flexible workplaces that provide meaning and growth opportunities.

In general it is also a reflective time in society as we experienced the first decade of the millennium. As we are living this momentous time in history, society as a whole is reflecting on matters related to spirituality, ethics and humanity.

Why do you think the spirituality in the workplace movement began?

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For more resources, see our Library topic Spirituality in the Workplace.

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Research shows the impact spirit in the workplace can have for individuals and organizations. Here are five key outcomes that everyone can benefit from:

1. Boosts morale. Engaging in practices that support spirit in the workplace can uplift the spirits of everyone involved.
2. Influences satisfaction. Since spirit in the workplace encourages each individual to bring their whole self to both work and home, it increases the satisfaction level in both areas.
3. Strengthens commitment. Being aligned with an organization that fosters the essence of who you are enables you to feel and display a tremendous sense of loyalty.
4. Increases productivity. When you feel a greater sense of connection to your work, you are more motivated to produce good work. Which in turn increases the overall productivity of an organization.
5. Improves the bottom line. According to a nation-wide study on spirituality in the workplace, organizations which integrate another bottom-line into its practices – like spirituality – actually increase the financial bottom-line. These organizations believe that spirituality could ultimately be the greatest competitive advantage.

For example, Southwest Airlines is often described in terms that would identify it as a spirit-driven organization. This was the only airline to be profitable after the September 11th tragedy that had an incredible financial impact on the airline industry and continues to remain profitable. They have a triple bottom line – People, Performance & Planet. “It takes a lot of dedication, perseverance, and hard work to do the right thing for our Customers, Employees, and Planet. We began operations in 1971 with a revolutionary idea that everyone should be able to afford to fly instead of drive and to enjoy the Safety, comfort, and convenience of air travel. For the past 38 years, we have devoted ourselves to meeting that goal. ”

Since 1987, when the Department of Transportation began tracking Customer Satisfaction statistics, Southwest has consistently led the entire airline industry with the lowest ratio of complaints per passengers boarded. Many airlines have tried to copy Southwest’s business model, and the Culture of Southwest is admired and emulated by corporations and organizations in all walks of life.

According to their Southwest Cares Report: Doing the Right Thing, “To better understand why we at Southwest try to do the right thing, it is important to understand how we do business and how we integrate our Core Values into everything we do. It is the Southwest Culture that sets us apart.

The 35,000+ Employees of Southwest Airlines are the heart and soul of our Company. Doing the right thing for these Employees includes providing them with a stable work environment with equal opportunity for learning and personal growth. As we “Live the Southwest Way,” our Employees are recognized through several Employee recognition programs for the hard work and caring Spirit they show to each other and our Customers. Not only do we work hard with what we call a Warrior Spirit, we work smart.” Part of living the Southwest way is also by having a servant’s heart and a fun LUVing attitude.

How have you seen the value of spirituality in the workplace play out for you individually or in your organization?

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For more resources, see our Library topic Spirituality in the Workplace.

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