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Ithaka by Constantine Cavafy

January 2nd, 2012

Maria Helm

I first heard of the poem Ithaka by the Greek poet C. P. Cavafy at the funeral of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. I was moved when I heard it not only because it was used as an elegy, but how meaningful it is to our modern lives.

When someone reads the Odyssey he/she should pay close attention to the symbolic meaning of this poem. The Odyssey has a much deeper meaning than what it seems to someone that reads it for the first time. It is not just a story about a fantastic voyage and a guy overcoming some imaginary difficulties and going back home. In the Greek view it is an inner-self quest for rediscovering who you really are; at the same time it is a celebration of the human nature and the capability of achieving your goals, even if it means that you have to go through the most difficult and unexpected obstacles to reach those goals.

As you set out for Ithaka
hope the voyage is a long one,
full of adventure, full of discovery.
Laistrygonians and Cyclops,
angry Poseidon – don’t be afraid of them:
you’ll never find things like that on your way
as long as you keep your thoughts raised high,
as long as a rare excitement
stirs your spirit and your body.
Laistrygonians and Cyclops,
wild Poseidon – you won’t encounter them
unless you bring them along inside your soul,
unless your soul sets them up in front of you.

Posted in Goal-setting, Motivation

Tags: Attitude, Goals, Ithaka, Journey, Success

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Contagious Joy

December 8th, 2011

Maria Helm

As the days get shorter and colder, my thoughts turn to cozy nights in front of the fire, hot cocoa, and of course, meals shared with loved ones. The air practically vibrates with good feelings–and not just figuratively.

A study conducted by UC San Diego found that positive emotions–such as happiness felt during the holidays–are contagious. Researchers learned that one person’s joy spread to not only those in his or her immediate circle but also extended to friends of friends too. What they discovered was that happiness creates a domino effect through social networks, and the good feelings that are passed along can last for up to one year.

So I did an experiment of my own to test this theory. I met friends for happy hour. As we traded stories, our conversation was punctuated by outbursts of laughter. A woman not in our group turned to us and said, “You guys are having such a great time, it’s making me feel happy, too!” Apparently our joy that evening was palpable, and her comment proved that our happiness during our happy hour directly impacted more than just those immediately connected with us. Now I may never know if she in turn passed it along to others in her own network. But even if I was able to simply brighten that woman’s evening, I’d call that a success.

Just imagine how many people could be affected this holiday season if each of us spread a little joy to those around us; the positive repercussions are limitless. If our moods have the ability to spread like a virus, it means we’re accountable to more than just ourselves. The old adage “Always remember to be happy. You never know who’s falling in love with your smile’ now takes on a new level of meaning.

Photo Credit: adwriter

Posted in Communication, Motivation

Tags: Attitude, Joy

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How To Motivate Clients To Do The Right Thing

August 10th, 2011

Maria Helm

As business owners, we want our clients to stay with our company and to pay their bills on time, or even early. While you may consider penalties or the proverbial stick for bad behavior most of the time the true motivator for clients is the carrot. Not to worry–that carrot is often inexpensive or even free.

Reward clients for paying on time and for staying. If I want a late-paying client to pay on time, I would give him a bonus to pay on time. That’s more likely to give him an incentive to do it. For long-term contracts of a year and more, why not give 10 percent off your hourly rate?
Celebrate their success. If you learned that one client is a voracious reader and is marking his 10th anniversary with your company, then get him a first-edition book signed by the author. This will make such a good impression. When your clients do something special in their volunteer work or achieve another milestone, write a note or otherwise highlight the accomplishment.
Combine a carrot with your follow-up invoice. When needed, offer clients a carrot along with a subtle reminder that payment is due. Here’s how that combination might work:

Posted in Communication, Customer Service, Motivation

Tags: Small Business, Stay motivated, Tips, Values

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Go Ahead, Take a Vacation!

June 16th, 2011

Maria Helm

Yes, everyone needs a vacation, even small-business owners and solo entrepreneurs. Don’t think you can’t take one, just because you run a small company or a home-based business, and don’t feel you can’t extricate yourself from it. You can — and should — take time off if you want to stay in business very long.

Here are 10 tips to help you plan that get-away.

1. Call or e-mail your key contacts at least one week before you leave. “Key contacts” are your partners, employees, and key service providers. Let them the dates you are going to be gone, and someone they can contact in your absence. A week’s notice allows them to reach you with any urgent business that needs your attention before you leave.

2. Designate people in charge while you are gone. Obviously, if you have employees, you want to designate someone to run the company while you are gone. Your employees need to know who’s in charge during your absence. You also need someone to handle communicating with key clients, partners, vendors and/or employees. This may or may not be the same person as the one in charge. You may have your No. 2 run the business, and your No. 3 handle external communications, for example. In any case, these must be people you can trust, to lead and represent your company well.

3. Designate a contact person for you. Along the same lines, you need to designate someone to reach you in cases of — and only in cases of — an emergency. If you have employees, that may be your No. 2. If you don’t have employees, it may be your accountant, attorney, a close relative or someone else you can trust. This person has been entrusted with how to reach you. You want someone who knows when and when not to call you.

4. Make a list of your employees’ work priorities while you are gone. Besides designating the people in charge, you need to establish a list of what tasks and projects you expect your employees to have completed when you return. This sets your agenda, and helps your employees know what is expected of them. It need not be excessively detailed, but it must be clear and understandable.

Posted in Motivation

Tags: Attitude, Entrepreneurs, Small Business, Tips

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Plan for Pleasure As Well As Pain

April 15th, 2011

Maria Helm

Listen, working for a living is always going to be a mixed bag. The higher up you go the more true this is. As a lowly file clerk, way back when, I got used to being bored, ticked off, frustrated, idle, and quite frankly, sick of the job. By the time I had risen to be an HR division manager, I was strangely surprised to find myself also bored, ticked off, frustrated, idle and sick of the job. But whereas when I was starting out I didn’t expect any different, by the time I had risen to the heights I was totally unprepared for the same feelings. I guess I expected every day to be exciting, utterly challenging, demanding, dramatic (well, I admit – I had experienced many days of drama, being in HR), cutting-edge stuff. And when it wasn’t, I was – I suppose – disappointed.

Later, of course, I realized that not every day can be fantastic. Some days will be blah. Some days will be adrenaline-filled and exciting – but not as many will be boring. You have to be prepared for the pain and the pleasure. You have to adjust your expectation so that you don’t get ticked off when it is boring, and don’t explode with pleasure when it is too exciting for words.

Trouble is, if it is boring, you might be tempted, as indeed I have been many times, to liven it up a bit by being disruptive. It’s best to sit on your hands and let the feeling pass. As a manager or a business owner, you aren’t allowed to be disruptive – except in an innovative way of course.

“The secret of success is learning how to use pain and pleasure instead of having pain and pleasure use you. If you do that, you’re in control of your life. If you don’t, life controls you.” Tony Robbins

Photo Credit: Pseudo-Melancholy

Posted in Motivation

Tags: Attitude, Leadership, managing health, Pain, Pleasure, Self-help

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