Archive for the ‘Motivation’ Category

Make Honesty Your Best Policy

HonestyThought I’d share with you a valuable lesson learned from a previous job I had many years ago.  Here it goes . . .

Immediately upon showing up for work as a mid-level marketing manager at a new company, I was told that everyone in the company flew coach on domestic flights unless the only seats available were in first class. I understood the rationale behind such a policy and had no problem conforming to the rule. One of my fellow department managers, however, wasn’t so accepting.

After we became better acquainted, he confided over a post-dinner libation that he flew first class on most longer flights and just put on his expense report that the coach section was full so he was “forced” to upgrade his flight status to first class. “No one ever checks,” he boasted. Being relatively new to the company, as well as being relatively honest, I told him I didn’t think his company air travel modus operandi was particularly admirable and that I’d continue to travel in the “cheap” seats. He just scoffed and accused me of being a “real sucker.”

Coping with Stress

Stress

Photo Credit: alancleaver_2000

Is there someone alive who doesn’t suffer from stress?  If there is, seek her out, ask her to share her wisdom.  When you find her, I’d be willing to bet she’ll offer the following suggestions:

  • Keep it simple
  • Don’t over-schedule
  • Create quiet surroundings at home and at work
  • Carve out an hour a day for solitude
  • Eat only when hungry
  • If it’s not delicious, don’t eat it
  • Always opt for comfort
  • Set achievable goals
  • Express love everyday
  • Stay away from negative people
  • Stop trying to please everybody
  • Start pleasing yourself
  • Be instead of do
  • For every “yes,” let there be a “no.”
  • Nurture friendships
  • Allow an extra half hour for everything you do
  • Move – walk, dance, run, find a sport you enjoy
  • Laugh more often
  • If you don’t love it, live without it
  • Remember, happiness is a living emotion

“In this world without quiet corners, there can be no easy escapes . . . from hullabaloo, from terrible, unquiet fuss.” ~ Salman Rushdie

Pace Yourself

Sometimes, when you look back over your day, you’ll find yourself focusing on what you didn’t get done.  That’s not helpful.  There is rarely enough time in a day to get everything done.  The best thing to do is to prioritize and pace yourself.  Even a marathon runner has to rest and refresh to keep going.

The early days in business are the toughest.  Every health professional says we need to get seven to eight hours of sleep a night.  But in the early days, while you are working your job and your business, a full night’s sleep will be a luxury.  Owning a business is great, but in the beginning it might own you.  You have to fight the tendency of the business to take over your life.

In a way, owning a business is like being in a marriage.  In business and in marriage, you can get lax about the fundamentals, whether it’s remembering to send flowers to your spouse or using monthly financial statements in your business.

Your business and your family will compete for your time and attention. Whenever you are, be present there.  Do not be the parent on the ball field looking at your BlackBerry.  The ups and down of balancing your life and your work will sometimes have you turning yourself into a pretzel.  But when you get that first sale, when you make enough profit to pay yourself, sharing that moment with your family will be priceless.

Giving Yourself Credit

One of the reasons we often don’t feel successful is we never give ourselves credit.  We tend to downplay our achievement, especially in front of our family and friends.  Before we know it, we’re practically denying we ever attained anything.  But many successful people do revel in their achievements, covering the walls of their offices and homes with their photographs, and magazine covers, displaying awards on their mantels.  They’ve succeeded, and not only does the world applaud them, they congratulate themselves.

I experienced an awakening one day when I was rewriting my resume for a new venture.  As I listed my accomplishments, I wondered “Who is this woman?  Do I know her?  Do I have multiple personalities?” For if detectives arrived at my door to search for her, they wouldn’t have found a shred of physical evidence.  So I started searching for clues, rescuing proof that mountains had been climbed from cardboard boxes buried somewhere in the garage.  I took some of my favorite memorabilia – my college graduation picture, college diploma, professional certifications – to the framers.  When I hung them up in our living room, I stood back and looked at them the way a stranger might.  Wow! It was astounding, exhilarating, stupefying.  Then I began to congratulate myself out loud for jobs well done.  Now I seize moments of achievement by making them concrete.  Having the physical evidence of accomplishment has gone a long way toward making me feel successful.

Although it may crown you Queen for a Day (or King), the world cannot confer the recognition that will make you feel fulfilled.  Only you can.  So chill a bottle of champagne and toast yourself upon the completion of a creative project, personal accomplishment, professional achievement.  Can we really afford to wait for the world’s approval?  “I am doomed to an eternity of compulsive work,” Bette Davis confessed in her memoir, The Lonely Life.  “No set goal achieved satisfies.  Success only breeds a new goal.  The golden apple devoured has seeds.  It is endless.”

Photo Credit:  Bruce Berrien CC

Get Your Employees Motivated and Productive

Who doesn’t want employees that are more productive in the workplace?  Yet personal issues, illness and family obligations often prevent employees from coming in.  That’s why so many employers are now enabling remote access to their network.

Whether you call it “working from home,” “virtual office,” or  “telecommuting,” the idea is the same; your network is configured to give you and your staff the ability to work from some location other than the office.

While telecommuting will not work in every situation, there is no doubt that technology has made working from home extremely practical whether a few times a month or every week.  As a matter of fact, offering work-from-home options can give you a competitive advantage in attracting and retaining the best employees.  Here are some additional benefits to allowing your people remote access:

  • Employees who are sick can continue to work without infecting the office or losing an entire day of work
  • Employees forced to stay home to take care of sick family members can continue to work instead of taking off long periods.
  • Inclement weather or heavily congested traffic won’t shut down your office.
  • Key managers with a heavy workload will actually be more productive if given the ability to work from home on evening and weekends.
  • Allowing employees flexibility during peak workloads (e.g., your accounting staff during tax season or periodic reporting dates) makes employees happier to put in the extra hours from a home office.
  • Employees with temporary or permanent disabilities can continue to be fully functional in a home environment.

How to Get Started With a Telecommuting Program

First, make sure you have a telecommuting policy.  Second, make sure that systems are in place to adequately support telecommuting.  There are several options for remotely accessing your network, however, there are two primary ways used by most.  They are:

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