Category: Professional Development

I recently provided a training on Supervising Millenials. We discussed whether in our digitally driven life we are becoming more attention deficit that in previous eras. There are so many opportunities to be distracted- such as reading interesting blogs! If you feel you must answer that email, text or IM immediately, you may want to examine how cluttered your life and/or your brain is.

Huge chunks of time are wasted over the course of a day by switching from one task to the next. It takes mental energy, and time, moving from one activity to the next. I’ve read it takes anywhere from 15 seconds to 2 minutes to regain your thoughts after an interruption. Pay attention to how much time you may be wasting switching back and forth between tasks. You can take control of your time and your energy by uncluttering your life. In many cases you can decide whether to let the phone ring into voice mail. Same goes for answering an email message or IM. Regardless of your generation, Millenial or otherwise, the essential point is that YOU CHOOSE what you focus on.

What brings you peace? Have you been able to still your mind? Do you want to?

A few bold companies are claiming one day a week where people cannot answer emails (and presumably can’t IM or text). That day is spent in conversation, reflection, planning etc. It’s time out that can create opportunities for new ideas to emerge, relationships to strengthen, or general rejuvenation and renewal for the brain. There’s research that suggests that our greatest breakthroughs or “Aha’s” happen when our brains are in slower brain waves, such as when we are just waking up or in the shower in the morning.

Here are some simple suggestions for finding some peace and stillness in the midst of your work day:

1. Let the phone ring into voice mail and bless the person who is calling you. Know that you can call them back when your mind is more clear and focused.
2. If you must answer the phone, let it ring one extra time and take a deep breath before picking up the phone. Allow yourself a little space to bring your awareness on your breath.
3. Turn off your IM and email alerts if your job permits. Choose when and how regularly you will check emails or IMs.
4. Every time you sit back down in your chair, focus on your feet touching the floor. Feel your back in the chair. Focus on how your body is feeling in that moment. No judgments, just notice.
5. Stretch your arms and legs and take a deep breath at least once an hour. Allow your body to relax even for 10 seconds.
6. As you walk to a meeting or out the door, snap your fingers to bring your awareness into the present moment.
7. Allow yourself a few extra minutes to get to where you are going and make it a walking meditation. Intentionally slow down your pace. Breath 3 deep breathes before you enter the room.

Quietness by Rumi

Become the sky.

Take an axe to the prison wall.

Escape.

Walk out like somebody suddenly born into color.

Do it now.

You are covered with the thick cloud.

Slide out the side. Die,

and be quiet. Quietness is the surest sign

that you have died.

Your old life was a frantic running

from silence.

The speechless full moon

comes out now.

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

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Linda is an author, speaker, coach, and consultant. Go to her website www.lindajferguson.com to read more about her work, view video clips of her talks, and find out more about her book “Path for Greatness: Spirituality at Work” available on Amazon.

Stake your online real estate NOW!

The internet and social media is in its infancy, and you may never have this opportunity again. You now have the one-time chance to ‘claim to your online real estate’.

The internet is one big unclaimed territory. Each social networking community offers you and your brand a free account – your real estate. Imagine yourself a few years down the road, and you’ve decided to ramp up your social media presence. But you discover that the name you want – your BRAND – is taken!

Establish accounts in your name with key online and social media platforms before your brand and/or your name is taken by someone else. Once they’re taken, they will not be available again. You have this one chance to establish a full portfolio with your unique brand – do it now!

Outsource Social Media Identity Protection

A few online companies offer this service. AllDoneForYou.com offers ‘Social Media Identity Protection’ services for $59.00, proclaiming;

“There are 150 social media sites where securing your identity is mandatory. Just one breach in your identity in these sites can cause a tidal wave of trouble for your image and reputation. Our job is to secure your own identity in all of these social networking areas before someone else comes along and claims your identity. We will sign you up personally at all 150 networking sites. We will prevent someone else (perhaps even your competition) from claiming your identity. This way no one can use your identity in malicious ways.”

Basic Social Networking Sites

You’ll want to cover the basics, as well as those in your business niche. You can do this yourself, if you’d prefer to save the money. A few of the top social networking sites include:

1. Twitter
2. MySpace
3. Facebook
4. Bebo
5. Friendster
6. Hi5
7. Orkut
8. Zorpia
9. Netlog
10. Propeller

To find sites related to your industry or niche, search for “Top ____________social networking sites” – fill in the blank with your niche descriptive word.

Have you protected your brand? What other sites do you recommend?

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For more resources, see our Library topics Marketing and Social Networking.

.. _____ ..

ABOUT Lisa M. Chapman: With offices in Nashville Tennessee, but working virtually with international clients, Lisa M. Chapman serves her clients as a business and marketing coach, business planning consultant and social media consultant. As a Founder of iBrand Masters, a social media consulting firm, Lisa Chapman helps clients to establish and enhance their online brand, attract their target market, engage them in meaningful social media conversations, and convert online traffic into revenues. Email: Lisa @ LisaChapman.com

What perfect timing it is for me to write this blog entry on happiness. I just came back tonight from an event for women alumni sponsored by the university I attended for both my undergraduate and graduate degree – the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota – and met one of the author’s of the newly-released book What Happy Women Do: A Salute to Sisterhood and the Rituals That Sustain Us. Dr. Carol Bruess is a wonderful example of a “happy woman” as she has found joy in sharing her work.
I’m always attracted to books on happiness because just like the great philosopher Aristotle said that happiness is the goal of all goals. “To be happy” is often the answer you’ll hear to the questions asked about what’s most important to you or what do you want most from life. So what does it mean to be truly happy? And how can we bring happiness to our work?

Happiness Resources

I’ve read a lot about this subject and have presented on it as well. A couple of my favorite resources I’ll share with you, like the society of happy people. A scientific perspective on happiness that really resonates with me and many other happiness experts out there is the work of Sonja Lyubomirsky in her book The How of Happiness: A Scientific Approach to Getting the Life You Want.

Her scientific research demonstrates that we all have a happiness set point and the ability to determine about 40% of our happiness. According to Lyubomirsky, 50% of our happiness is determined from our genetic make up, 10% from our circumstances and then the other remaining 40% is up to us! While I’ve been wired with a happiness gene, I’ve also chosen to learn about and practice being happy.

Marci Shimoff’s book Happy for No Reason: 7 Steps to Being Happy from the Inside Out is another wonderful resource on happiness. One of the things she stressed is that happiness is something you have to be intentional about and practice. Just like you can’t expect to be a master pianist without dedicated practice, you can’t expect to master happiness without consistently making concentrated efforts.

Happiness Habits

I love Shimoff’s concept of having happiness habits. Being happy is a choice and a habit that each of us has the opportunity to make each day. I’ve been starting my daily affirmations with this beginning phrase, “I’m so grateful and happy….” Every time I say the word happy, it physically makes me smile, which in turn helps me feel more happy. I heard once that it takes many more muscles in your face to frown than it does to smile. Smiling to me is one outside indicator of happiness. Lasting happiness however needs to come from the insideout. Shimoff describes being happy for no reason as “an inner state of peace and well-being that doesn’t depend on our circumstances. It’s just an inner backdrop that you carry with you. Rather than trying to extract happiness from your life, you bring your happiness to all of your experiences.

One of her happiness habits from the heart is to spread loving kindness. “You’re your heart flows in love, you naturally feel happier. You can restart you heart’s flow by sending lovingkindness to anyone and everyone you meet.” After hearing about this concept, I’ve been intentionally practicing this throughout the day. When people are working or walking down the street I will look at them in the eyes, smile and silently send lovingkindness from my heart to theirs. I’ll never know if this makes them happier with my positive energy and love flowing their way, but it sure does make me feel happy doing it!

What happiness habits will you practice at your workplace?

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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.

I’d like to continue the theme from Janae’s post last week on gratitude, to explore more applications at work and highlight three ways it works.

Focusing on What you Have

For starters, gratitude gets your minds off of all the things that worry you, annoy you, or challenge you. Instead, when you focus your attention on all that you have in your life, you channel your focus on all the ways you are blessed and supported.

I’ve done meditations where I listed all the things that work in my house – that keep me comfortable and cozy- water for my shower, electricity, my warm bed, plumbing and pipes that work, my refrigerator that keeps my food cold and fresh, toothpaste so my teeth feel clean. You get the idea. You could do a 30 minute meditation on gratitude for everything in your house from the smallest light switch to your AC system. And while you do it, send prayers for all those on our planet who do not have that item or comfort in their home. By the time you get to work after doing a meditation like this, you’ll know you have many things that fill your life with goodness and comfort.

You get to choose how you want to see things. You can focus on what you lack or you can focus on what you have. You will almost certainly feel better focusing on what you have than what you lack.

You can be pissed off that you didn’t get the report you needed or you can’t find the tool you need, or you can choose to focus on what you were able to finish and how grateful you are for the people who help you with your work.

Supporting What You Have with more Energy

The second reason gratitude works is that when we focus our attention on something, we feed it energy. Or to put another way, what you give away you receive back (some would say you get back 3 fold what you give away).

So you can either feed the thought – ‘I don’t have enough; I don’t have what I need” or feed the thought ‘I am bountifully supported; All that I need is available to me’. As I was appreciating a beautiful day last week, a guy who I had been meaning to call across town happened to stop by my office and give me exactly what I was looking for. How cool is that?

Receiving Joyfully

The last part of gratitude is that when we practice living and working in gratitude, we learn to receive with joy. How open are you to receiving? Can you receive joyfully? Can you accept goodness in your life? Or do you push away offers for help, people offering to pay for your lunch etc.? Pay attention to how you are blocking the flow of energy and support vs. receiving gifts and support from others – in large or small ways.

As you practice receiving in joy, you recognize the abudant flow in your life. From that place of abundance, you draw in more abundance – of helpful people, of small acts of kindness, of physical things appearing in your life- rather than shutting them out.

When you focus on gratitude, you shift your energy – physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually.

What have you seen happen in your life when you receive joyfully or express gratitude for what you have?

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

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Linda is an author, speaker, coach, and consultant. Go to her website www.lindajferguson.com to read more about her work, view video clips of her talks, and find out more about her book “Path for Greatness: Spirituality at Work” available on Amazon.