I have this great, soft, gray t-shirt that just says “Nope” in black letters that I wear when I know I’m going to have a hectic and stressful day. When I wear it, I stand a little taller as if saying, “Go away world, I’m busy!” Just the fact that it says “Nope” on it makes me smile, and its softness makes my day that much better. Because my calendar is already jammed pack, I know there’s a high chance that I’m going to have to say no to something that comes up on my schedule. And that’s the real meaning behind the shirt.
Stress and Anxiety in the Workplace
What do you feel when you start to think about work? Are you filled with excitement and thoughts of opportunities, or do you suddenly feel stressed and drained? If you answered the latter, you’re not alone. According to an article from Bustle, one in four Americans say that work is a source of anxiety for them. The American Institute of Stress (AIS) reported that 65% of workers stated that workplace stress has caused difficulties of some kind and 25% of them view work as the number one stressor in their lives. One study done by the Employers’ Health Coalition found that lost productivity was at least 7.5 times greater than productivity lost from absenteeism. Presenteeism is when an employee is physically at work, but due to some unaddressed physical or emotional issues, they are distracted to the point of reduced productivity. This is bad news for both employees and employers.
Resolve to Improve
Are you living your dream life - doing what you want, when you want? Are you making the kind of money that allows you the freedom to do the activities you really enjoy while keeping you satisfied and fulfilled? Most of us will answer 'no' to this question, which makes the new year the perfect time to start making changes in our lives so that we can eventually shout 'YES!' when we see this inquiry.
Remember that everything is a choice. The life you're living is all based on choices that you have previously made. So why not choose to live a life that really makes you happy? By setting and focusing on goals you have for your perfect dream life, you can start to make progress towards it. Don't settle for "fine", merely looking forward to those couple of times a year when you really enjoy yourself. This is the only life you live, so why not choose to enjoy every day?
Set Your Intentions
Remember Christmas Eve night as a kid when you couldn’t wait for the morning to come? You were either too excited to even try to sleep or you would go to bed super early thinking that the sooner you go to sleep, the sooner the morning will be there. You had a plan where you were going to open presents and have the most amazing day ever. That was your intention. And it came true! Christmas morning would come, you tore open all of our presents, and you spent the rest of the day playing with your new toys. It was amazing! Why can’t every day feel like that? News flash – it can. Well, closer than you may think, anyway.
Part-Time Executive
As you know, every week I put out a blog post with ways or be more efficient or productive so you can spend more time doing things you want to do. What if you’re too busy to even breathe let alone stop for a second to take control of your tasks? That’s how it was for me last week when my new, very large, project kicked off. I’m primarily a Project Manager as I grow my Executive Coaching business. And as a part-time Executive thinking back on last week, I really should have followed my own advice. These following three things would have made the week a lot more bearable if I had done them.
It Doesn’t have to be Lonely at the Top
We’ve all heard the phrase “it’s lonely at the top”, and in a lot of situations it is. But it doesn’t have to be that way. In fact, I would argue that it shouldn’t be. Rather that sharing some resources that help executives, business leaders, and entrepreneurs overcome loneliness, I hope you see that you don’t have to feel that way in the first place.
Creating the Company Culture you Desire
We’ve all read articles about how a company’s culture affects its productivity, health, employee satisfaction, financial success, etc. We get all excited about the prospect of having a stronger culture, higher personnel motivation, and reduced turnover, so we make a plan to achieve this goal. After a few months or even weeks, though, the excitement fades and everyone falls back into their daily routine with very little to no change having occurred. What does “company culture” really mean and why does the push to create an impactful one usually fade?