*This article was originally published on SWAAY.com on September 11, 2020.
It’s probably not a surprise to you that happiness leads to success in nearly every domain of your life, including health, friendship, community involvement, creativity and, specifically, your job, career and business.[1] Happy workers have higher levels of productivity, produce higher sales, perform better in leadership positions, and receive higher performance ratings and higher pay.
We are in a unique period of history. Success in our work today is not necessarily defined by our ability, but by the skills that set us apart. We are expected to be more adaptable, pivot quickly, and become effective remote employees while also focused on achievement and career success. We need to be flexible, working around the schedules of children and spouses who also need to be efficacious as remote workers and students. Unemployment numbers are rising while there is a pervasive message to “work harder.” This is a challenging environment to work and live in.
Asking for feedback is hard.
I completely lost it last night…over chocolate covered, peanut butter pretzels. Now, you may be wondering, how can you lose it over something with chocolate AND peanut butter? I know!! Right?!
You log off your computer after a long day of work and immediately start thinking about your day and all of the things that did not go well or you did wrong. You scanned that document upside down. You hit reply all on that e-mail. You barely managed to stumble through the presentation you spent hours preparing for over the weekend.
In any relationship there are boundaries that need to be set. We must define what we want from the relationship, and, whether it is explicitly delineated or not, it’s important that we make clear our intentions and needs while also accepting and understanding the needs of the other person. This mutual agreement is the bedrock of our society and of our ability to form lasting connections and mutually beneficial partnerships with the people around us.
How do you talk to your friends? What issues do you care deeply, passionately about? How do you relate to others so they feel seen, heard and valued?
