Until you understand how you really want to feel you are running in the dark.

Believe me it hurts.

When you know how you want to feel then you can work backwards to reach this goal.

I struggled with my work happiness for the longest time because I thought that no one listened to my ideas, which was partially true. But it was also my fault because I didn’t believe in my own ideas. I didn’t fight to make them a reality. I let other people dictate my day instead of going after my own happiness.

You have to look at what brings you the most happiness and fight for it.

Don’t back down because someone at work puts your idea down.

Don’t give up because there is too much red tape.

Don’t stop believing in your idea because other people are scared by it.

If you want to feel a certain way the only thing in your way is you.

Do you want to feel…?

• Excited
• Loved
• Challenged
• Rich
• Appreciated
• Smart
• Funny
• Relaxed

Whatever feelings you want from your work it’s up to you to make them happen.

*Image courtesy of jggbella

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Editor’s Note: This is a guest post from Gus Zambrano.

Every morning, you awaken to a new day and you launch into your familiar routines as you hustle to meet your daily obligations. 

Ideally, your work excites you, energizes you, and brings joy to your life. If your work brings you more stress and fatigue than joy then now is the time to make some changes. You can introduce a renewed vigor into your work and upgrade your attitude.

You know that taking care of yourself should be your number one priority. Yet you often let your health and fitness levels fall by the wayside if you are consistently working 50 or more hours a week.

As a society, at what point did we take the wrong turn by focusing on work place productivity and relentless goal setting at the expense of our happiness and well-being?

Productivity does not have to be measured solely by the number of hours logged at work. Happiness will not be attainable when consistently working 50 hours a week. Furthermore, our choice, as a culture, to sacrifice fitness or physical play for other goals has had an impact on every part of our lives, including our fitness level and our overall happiness at work and outside of work.

With the majority of adults—and an increasing number of children–now overweight or obese, and with some teenagers now showing signs of Type II diabetes, high cholesterol and blood pressure, we need to re-examine our priorities and our lifestyles.

Our modern advances have made life “easier” in that we now do much less manual labor, reducing our ability to burn calories at work. Many of us find ourselves in sedentary office jobs, with computers and gadgets we need to function at our fingertips. Office jobs force us to sit at our desk every day—sometimes all day! The longer you sit, the slower your metabolism becomes and the more difficult it becomes to rev up your metabolism again to burn fat efficiently. Beyond metabolic issues, a sedentary lifestyle also turns off protective mechanisms that keep us from developing some chronic diseases. Being overweight has serious health consequences including depression. Adding more activity into your life will help reduce your weight and improve your mood.

10 Tips to help Reduce Your Stress and Have More Energy

Below are some ideas I have incorporated into my daily routine to keep my metabolism working, appetite under control, body in shape and mind alert.

1. Stretch to get the blood circulating.

A good 10 minute stretch will increase blood circulation and help relax your rambling thoughts.

2.  Add healthy proteins to your diet.

Nuts, fish, chicken, low fat dairy, lentils and beans are all great choices. Note that the higher protein in your diet will help you control your appetite, lower your weight, and reduce the amount of carbohydrates you consume.

3.  Eat six times a day

By eating three meals and three snacks, you will be healthier. This will help your metabolism to run smoothly and control your appetite.

4. Focus on “clean eating”

Eat food which is minimally processed, natural or organic, and with few additives especially sugar and salt. When you shop for your food at the grocery store, you will make better choices if you avoid the center aisles that are filled with processed foods.

5.  Eat a protein rich breakfast.

Please do not skip breakfast; your body has just been fasting for 7 to 8 hours. High fiber cereals, low sugar yogurt, whole wheat bread, eggs, fresh fruits and nuts are all good options.

6.  Stretch and hydrate throughout the day.

Stand and move around every 30 minutes and, if possible, go outside and breathe fresh air.  Prepare foods in advance so there are no surprises. Keep a glass of water at your desk and take a sip every 30 minutes.

A good habit to get into is to stand up, take a good sip of water, stretch for 2 minutes, and take a quick walk before you get back to work.

7.  Eat a healthy mid-morning snack.

High water volume fruits like melons or apples, or nuts, such as almonds and walnuts, are a great choice.

8.  Eat a hearty lunch, again rich in protein and high in fiber

Fish, chicken, vegetables, and water. Make it your next biggest meal after breakfast, and make dinner a light meal.  Eat an afternoon snack: it can be similar to the morning snack, depending on whether you use your afternoon snack as your pre-workout snack or not.

9.  Make time for Exercise.

Regular exercise will keep your heart and mind healthy. Exercise with a friend for accountability. Keep a gym bag handy.  Whether you exercise in the morning, at lunch, or the evening, “get it in”.  The exercise can be a 30 minute run, 45 minutes of weight lifting, a spinning or zumba class, boot camp or cross fit. Try to get a balanced mix of aerobic and anaerobic exercise during the week. Whatever you choose, make it something you cannot skip, you cannot deny yourself, a routine event you do every single day.  Plan for your exercise time every day because “life happens”. “Getting it in” is a cornerstone to this fitness approach because consistency is key to your success. You will soon feel the benefits of your increased activity. You will release the stressors of your day, especially if you work-out at day’s end.  Those who do morning workouts find that it often energizes them for the day, and the midday workout warriors find that it helps them get through the rest of the day with renewed energy. For those of you who are “weekend warriors” – you need to “get it in” during the week too!

1o.  Take time to unwind from your day before you go to sleep.

Create a routine for yourself in the evening. That means nothing simulating right before bed like checking your work email or watching TV. Try reading a book, meditate, or have a conversation with a loved one. You also need a bedroom that induces sleep – one that is dark, cool, and with all electronics turned off.  Some people read to doze off, whereas others just need to put their heads on a pillow and they fall asleep.

Try these strategies for four weeks as that is about how long it takes to establish new habits. To increase your likelihood of success, work on only a couple of new habits at a time so you don’t get overwhelmed. Keep a journal, recruit a friend or family member to join you, make it fun and the changes will be easier.  If you are consistent with your new habits, your health will improve dramatically and, if you are like me, you may never look back as you embark on a new lifestyle that will bring you many rewards.  Good Luck!

Your Turn

What daily routine can you share that makes you happier at work?

Gus Zambrano is married and a father of four children. After the birth of his son 12 years ago and 60 lbs overweight, Gus decided to make a change by taking up walking, which led to running. He has logged over 10,000 training miles and completed 24 marathons over the same 12 year period.

* Image courtesy of Careesma Group

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Editor’s note: This is a guest post from Julie Bradlow.

Back in the 1980’s, it was common for interviewers to ask the now-cliched question: “What’s your greatest weakness?” The first time someone asked me this, I immediately quipped, “Chocolate.” While that was, and still is, true, I later learned that one is supposed to describe a former weakness that one has made over into a strength.

So here is the story of my former greatest weakness – difficulty with public speaking.

When a former boss, who was slowly going blind, wrote on my annual review that my presentation skills needed work, both I and the company I worked for took it seriously. For the following several months, I was assigned to report at my department’s weekly lunch meeting on new developments. Week after week, I had to give these reports. I read. I outlined. I sweated. I paced my office, giving my talks out loud to the four walls. And slowly, I got better. The last talk I gave – this past January, over 20 years later – I spoke for 45 minutes with nothing but four pages of notes, and got a standing ovation. And that made me very happy.

Here are my suggestions for giving presentations that will make your audience happy:

1. Know your subject.

If you know the subject matter well, you can talk fluidly about the topic at hand. So if someone asks you to give a talk on a subject with which you are unfamiliar, either (a) decline (b) research the living daylights out of it, if it is in your field of expertise. If nothing else, giving the talk will make you better at your job.

2. Outline your talk.

Making an outline beforehand will help you organize your presentation. As with essay writing or storytelling, have a beginning, a middle, and an end. But don’t write out and read your entire speech, unless you are fortunate enough to have a TelePrompTer in front of you. (See also my point about slides, below.)

3. Don’t rely too much on slides.

Now that PowerPoint has made it easy to make slides, it is all too common to give presentations that lean too heavily on slides. Although this may be another post in its own right, try and (a) make your slides short – no more than 3 to 5 lines of text (b) avoid slides that are overly busy (too many graphics, etc.) and (c) whatever you do, please don’t read your slides to the audience.

4. Getting to Carnegie Hall.

There’s an old joke that goes something like this: One man stops another on the street on Seventh Avenue in New York, and asks, “How do I get to Carnegie Hall?” The second man immediately responds, “Practice.” To get to Carnegie Hall in the oratorical sense, this is true as well. Rehearsing your talk out loud not only helps you practice giving the speech, but also helps you discover the weak points in your talk so you can shore them up before you go out there and say “Um…ah…” It goes without saying that you should avoid colloquialisms like “Like,” and “You know,” as well as highfaluting words like “colloquialism.”

5. Keep your chin up.

Even in a room of a thousand people (and hopefully, your first presentation won’t be to that large a crowd), it’s important to connect with your audience. Even if you rely on your carefully-prepared outline, try to keep your gaze up and not down, making periodic eye contact with audience members on all sides of the room. This is like learning to use the mirrors in your car – it also gets easier with practice.

6. Use humor sparingly.

One of the worst talks I ever heard at a professional conference was from a speaker whose presentation was little more than a string of jokes – with hardly any substance in between. So I would say that humor in a speech is like hot sauce on food – a few drops go a long way.

So what are some of your suggestions for giving effective presentations?

* Image courtesy of benchilada

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Have you ever seen a young kid struggle to build up a tower of blocks only to have them fall at the same point every time?

He seems to think if he can just find the right angle or go slower he’ll get past his previous height. Only to get more and more frustrated. He looks at you with tears in his eyes that says, “You better help me right now or I’m going to have a melt down!”

So you go over to him and begin to show him his different options he has. You show him how he could build a wider foundation.

He gets it. The pressure eases off of him. He’s happy again and pick up the next block to start all over again. This time you stay with him and help him through the process.

That’s the beauty of asking someone for help. The hard part is being willing to step back before the frustration before your mind explodes, setting aside your ego and asking for help.

If you can ask for help in the right way you can actually build a stronger relationship and improve their happiness.

My Story

Asking for help isn’t easy. I’m a prime example of this. I was laid off from my fulltime marketing job and I was happy, but very scared. When I was let go I thrust myself into building up my business.

I’ve always wanted to take care of everything from A – Z to make sure it’s done right.

In the process of trying to do it all I realized I was neglecting Work Happy Now, a passion of mine for over four years. I convinced myself to just forget about Work Happy Now because I needed to make money for my family.

The old adage goes, “Help people make money and you will make money.”

I know that I’m a savvy marketer, so I’ve been helping amazing thought leaders connect with their audience through social media and sell products. It’s been a wild ride so far, but work happiness is always pulling on my heart strings. I get at least an email every week about someone who struggles with their job and doesn’t know what to do next.

After talking with a friend I decided to ask the community of Work Happy Now if they would be willing to help me bring the love back.

I got 23 people who volunteered to help me. 23! I was amazed and so excited. I didn’t expect that type of reaction. I thought 1-2 people would be interested.

I never thought to ask for help until my friend convinced me to give it a try. Work Happy Now will be coming back to life and is about to get stronger than ever.

All because I asked for help.

There are some steps and rules to asking for help.

3 Steps Before You Ask for Help:

1. Make sure you Google the problem and see if there is a solution out there on the web.

Before you ask for help you have to do the research to make sure you can’t do it yourself. No one likes to be asked questions that can be found on the web on in a book, especially when they are busy with their own work.

You can find a lot of information on the internet, so make sure you do your due diligence before you ask for help. Not all of it’s good or exact, so be careful and find sources that you know you can trust.

I’ve learned meditation techniques from some very good books and websites, but it wasn’t until I went to a meditation studio that everything began to click for me. Talking with people who have built up a meditation practice helped me understand certain ideas that I couldn’t find else where.

2. Give the problem your full effort.

I’ve had people come up to me and ask for help and I know they were just being lazy. Oh, this bugged me. They just wanted me to do the work.

You have to put in your full effort otherwise people aren’t going to want to help you. People are amazing and willing to drop everything to lend a hand if they know you truly tried your best and still need their help.

3. Let the problem settle then figure out who is the best person to ask for help.

Now that you’ve exhausted all your options. Take a step back, let the dust clear and see if you might be missing an obvious solution. If not then begin to figure out who would be the best person to ask for help.

Make sure that you ask the right person. Many times I’ve gone to the wrong person at work because I was all frustrated and not thinking clearly.

By taking a step back you can process your emotions and make a clear decision on who would be the best person to help you.

5 Rules to Asking for Help:

1. Put your ego aside

Your ego usually wants to figure out a solution on your own or gives up too quickly. Either way you need to let go of your ego. You have to trust that you have picked the right person to help you.

That means going to them with an open heart and the willingness to do something that you might not quite agree with.

2. Find a person who you believe has expertise that you don’t have.

You have to find someone that thinks differently then you. Many people make the mistake of going to someone similar to them because they have the same values.

You have to find someone that can see the situation from a different angle. I like to go to a Maven type. A maven is usually great with details and has a personality that loves to dig into a problem. Since I’m a Connector type I find that the Maven’s superpowers help me find a fresh solution. Check out Charlie’s post over at Productive Flourishing. He explains the 3 main types of people in business. You should notice that one of these personalities fits your own.

3. Frame your question in a way that compliments them and shows that you are humble.

When you go to someone for help, you can’t think of it as a weakness on your part. You have to think of it as a compliment to the person you are asking for help.

You must ask them for help in a way that compliments them and shows you are ready and willing to use their suggestion.

People love being asked for help. It shows that you value their opinion and judgment. That’s one of the biggest compliments that anyone can bestow on a colleague

4. Watch and Learn

You must think of this as a learning opportunity. Every time someone helps you it’s a chance to learn about their superpower for future needs and develop yourself as a leader.

Watch how they think through the problem. Do they take a bird’s eye view? Do they dig in and break apart all the different scenarios? There is a wealth of knowledge to be gained. Don’t let your ego get in the way of growth.

5. Give tons of gratitude to your helper

Everyone wants to feel appreciated. It truly is one of the most underused leadership tools in the working world.

So look at your colleague and let them know how much you appreciate them. The more detailed the better. If you can compliment how they came to the solution it shows how you were paying attention and how much you care.

Your Turn

What techniques do you use when you are asking for help?

* You may want to sign up for our Work Happy Now email e-course that takes you step by step through the process of finding your superpowers and finding/creating more fulfilling work.

Download the Free eBook Work Happy the Google Way * Post from: Work Happy Now!

I need your help. As you probably know I’ve had Work Happy Now up and running since 2008. It’s been an amazing resource for myself and my readers.

Many of you don’t know I was laid off last year, so I’ve been working hard on my marketing company Party Biz Connect, soon to be Domino Connection. It’s been taking up the bulk of my time. I’ve gained a lot of traction, but as many of probably know it’s not easy to get a company off the ground. I’m helping companies create a domino effect in their business through smarter marketing efforts.

I’ve been unable to focus on generating much new content for you. I’m so sorry about this. I get emails every day about people who are struggling with their careers.

I’m asking for your help. I’m looking for about 3-4 volunteers to help me keep this site up and running.

Would you be interested in helping me keep this resource alive for you and a lot of unhappy people who need help?

Work Happy Now gets about 10,000 to 15,000 page views a month. I would be happy to give you credit for your help. I’m thinking about creating a separate page to highlight all volunteers.

If so please fill out this form. I’m not sure what to expect, but in case I get a lot of people I created a form. I would like to answer a few questions. The 3-4 best candidates will be chosen to help me keep this website up and running.

I’m not making any money from this website right now. In fact I’m losing money by paying for hosting. I don’t plan on making any money off this site any time soon, but if I do and you stick with me then I’ll be glad to make you a partial partner after we establish a relationship.

Our group will meet on the phone once a month for an hour to discuss improvements. There will be a few rules, but nothing to restrict freedom of expression.

You are a huge reason why I want to keep this site going. No one should be unhappy at work. So please help me keep this site alive.

Please fill out this the Work Happy Now application if you are interested.

Thanks for all your support,

Karl

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Editor’s note: This is a guest post from Jon Rhodes

Timeboxing is a clever little technique that I have been intuitively using for years before I even knew it had  name. It is great for helping those who are working for themselves to avoid procrastination and get things done.

In a nutshell, it is giving yourself a deadline in which to complete a task, then doing it to the best you can with the time you have available. Here is an example of how I use this technique with my daughter to encourage her to tidy her room.

Examples Of Timeboxing

My daughter is 13 and not the tidiest of creatures, so her room is often a “tip”. When faced with the task it can understandably be daunting, and she doesn’t want to tackle it. However I have solved this by saying to her I will time her and she has only 10 minutes to make it as good as she can. It’s like a challenge, a sort of a game. I say you don’t need to finish it, just make it as good as you can in 10 minutes.

This makes her happier because she knows that she won’t be spending hours laboriously tidying. It’s only 10 minutes. Plus it makes it more fun as there is a game element to it, plus she will get praise for how much she has accomplished in such a short space of time. Every time we have done this she finished tidying her room and it is immaculate. It’s amazing what you can do with this technique.

Recently my wife got up late (around 11am) and needed to do her college homework, then go into town to buy a Christmas present. She also had college early that evening, so didn’t have a great deal of time to play with. I suggested to her that she does an hour homework right now, then we will go into town together and pick a present, then go to lunch. Although her homework was only half complete, we were eating lunch by 1pm with a present on the floor next to us. By 2.30pm we were home and she had more time to finish her homework. What could have been an unpleasant and stressful day was turned into a nice day with some leisure time, plus she achieved her objectives.  Without this technique she could have instead spent the day worrying, and getting little done.

Applications To Work

You can use timeboxing to help you with almost any given task. If your desk is untidy, then you might give yourself 10 minutes to make it look as good as you can. A big stack of filing can be made into a game if you give yourself 20 minutes to file as many as you can.

You can also use it to write articles, which is what I often do. Of course you want to write high quality articles (or at least I hope you do!), but this is OK. You can give yourself a realistic time line to complete a draft of an article. Somewhere around 2 hours is good. Then once it is finished, you can take a break, or give yourself some sort of a reward, before re-drafting. You may even want to give yourself a time limit for each redraft. I don’t seem to need to do this, as when I have finished an article, I actively enjoy the process of redrafting – sad I know! The point is that we are all different, and as you get to know yourself better, you will use this technique more and more effectively.

Why Timeboxing Works

Timeboxing works because it helps you get started with something, instead of worrying about how you are going to do it. It also helps bypass the pressures of perfectionism, which can hamper us from starting, continuing, and finishing a task. Jobs that at first appear intimidating can seem far simpler with timeboxing.

About the Author

Jon Rhodes is a clinical hypnotherapist, plus a successful internet marketer in the hypnotherapy field. In his blog he shares some of his secrets. Find more of his tips for successful business on his blog Affiliate Help.

* Image courtesy of KWDesigns

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I’m getting very tired of people not believing in their superpowers. It’s why I hate the word strengths. It’s the most overused word in business today.

We focus on things we are good at instead of doing work that we care about.

You may crunch numbers because you are good at it. You may sell toner because it’s what you know. You manage projects because people keep asking you to do it again and again.

This is so wrong on many levels. You shouldn’t be doing work based on your strengths. Yes, this should be a factor, but not the whole basis of your work. It’s also why I hate strengths test. They don’t make you think about the work that excites you. They force you to fit your work into square holes.

You have powers to change people’s lives.

It’s why we are here – to affect people by making their lives better.

The only way you are going to change people’s lives it to do work that you are good at, you care about and gets you in the zone. It’s why I created the Unlock Your (Marketing) Superpowers manifesto. There are people that are using their superpowers to change the world. It’s this connection that brings them more joy than they ever thought possible.

You need all three factors. If you don’t care and you just want to coast so be it, but it’s the worst way of living. Of course you need down time; you can’t create 24/7 or even 8/7. You need to find your time that gets you in your hot zones. Those zones when you can’t do any wrong. You must feel like your work is just plain fun.

When we are kids we learned by experimenting, failing, then trying again. We didn’t care about perfection. Then there was this point that we got it in our heads that failure is bad. We gain this conscious that holds us back from using our superpowers. We stop believing in the infinite and start limiting our imaginations.

You have to stop letting your arch nemesis hold you back. YOU HAVE SUPERPOWERS. It’s these powers that you need to share with the world.

It’s really not that hard. It takes a little work each day, but it’s the fun type of work.

Ask yourself these 3 questions:

1. What type of work gets you in the zone? (List at least 10)
2. What type of work matters to you? (List at least 10)
3. What type of work comes naturally to you? (List at least 10)

By digging deep into where your past successes are you can find work that will help you unleash your superpowers that will change the world.

Now you look at your list. Which actions show up on all 3 lists? It’s these actions that you have to use every single day.

Your fear may hold you back at first, but just ask yourself, are you using your superpowers to make a difference? Does making this difference matter more than your fears? If the answer is yes you know what you need to do.

If you want to learn more about your superpowers check out my free manifesto – Unlock Your (Marketing) Superpowers. Marketing is in the title because it’s what I help people do. I help them connect with people so they can change the world.

You must start using your superpowers right away otherwise you won’t accomplish the great work that will change lives.

Once you are living your superpowers that’s when your career starts becoming fun. People can leverage your superpowers and you can leverage theirs. That’s the key to a happy career. You learn to trust other people’s superpowers and they trust yours, creating life changing stuff together.

So you need to promise me to find one small task each day that you love to do, gets you in the zone, and comes easy for you then email me [karl (AT) partybizconnect (DOT) com] in one week and let me know how your career/life is improving.

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I have two ways to clear my mind when I need to focus on a big launch coming up.

I…

• Meditate.
• Write something just for the fun of it. (i.e. poetry, short story, etc)

I did both today.

The meditation allows me to settle my thoughts so they are crystal clear. The writing then comes easy. The words flow out in a cohesive article.

Both of these tools help me flush my junk in my brain. I’ve tried the big bully approach to working on a launch and it never works. The only thing that does work is the two things on my list above.

What do you do to flush the junk?

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Finding my business clarity has taken me a lot of time. I’m on my 8^th blog and I’m just now figuring out what I love to learn, talk about, and teach. It’s this slow forward progress that has made all the difference. If I would have been stubborn I wouldn’t have created a company that was flexible to my needs as well as my clients.

You have to look at what how your superpowers align with your work. Eliminate the boring, tedious, and pointless work. Do work that excites you!

You must uncover all the layers of psychological crap and societal training that you accumulated over these last few years. It’s the only way you will be able to create something that people want to share with their friends.

Make sure you are asking yourself a tough question every single day. Questions that make you step back, evaluate, and make sure you are steering your business in the direction that makes you and your people happier. Your clarity will allow you to focus on the projects that truly matter.

What have you discovered about yourself in the last month?

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Editor’s note: This is a guest post from Mike Bundrant of iNLP.

“Do it, Mike! Just do it! Stop your whining and get off your butt!”

This is how I used to motivate myself. I carried around an inner high school football coach to bark at me whenever he thought I was slacking. The problem was, I constantly stressed myself out. Worse, half the time I “rebelled” against this inner dictator and became passive aggressive toward my own goals. How’s that for nutty?

Patterns

Actually, this is a common pattern. A “dictator” style of motivation has an undermining effect in the long run. Most people don’t like to be ordered around. In the workplace it leads to low morale and a low productivity, high-turnover workforce. Dictator-style parents tend to divide families and create harsh rivalries in the home. Ordering yourself around leads to the number one killer of personal development goals: self-sabotage.

Think about it. To your mind and body, a harsh, loud voice ordering you around is jarring, regardless of the source. You respond with stress and resistance whether from an outsider imposing his will or you imposing your will upon yourself. In the end, your brain experiences the commands in a similar fashion. Your mind places a lot less emphasis on the origin of an experience than you may think. All of us can make our mouths water just by imagining a delectable dessert. We’ve all reacted with fear to inner thoughts that had no basis in external reality. Ordering yourself around is being ordered around, period. Chances are, you don’t like it and will shut down, refusing to take any action at all.

The stress and resistance of dictatorial self-motivation is an expressway to self-sabotage. “I don’t have to do anything I don’t want to do!” is the common response to inappropriate commands, even when those commands are self-generated. It’s a perfect set up.

A New Way

Zen Motivation changes all this. The need to bark orders and force yourself to do things doesn’t even arise in a Zen motivation state. Motivating yourself to do things, even unpleasant things, is a normal part of living and comes quite naturally when in a more Zen-like state, connected to the present moment. Do this exercise and see what I mean.

1. Consider one thing that you need to motivate yourself to do, such as exercise, pull weeds, meet with a difficult colleague, and so forth. If you can, write down the name of the task in the middle of a piece of paper (if you have a pen and paper).

2. Become aware how you would typically motivate yourself to do this and write down (if you can) the thoughts and feelings that come next. For example, “Get it done!” or “Let’s move!” or “I just have to get this done!” or “Come on, Mike!” or (feelings, too) “Tension in chest and shoulders.” Write freely for a minute or so and don’t censor yourself.

3. Just clear your mind for a few moments. Shake it off.

4. Forget everything and enter a more present, grounded state by tuning into a mundane sound, such as the sound of distant traffic, the hum of your computer (or the white noise of a fan, refrigerator, running water, etc…). Don’t do anything else or try to relax – just tune into the sound. Keep listening for a minute or more, until you feel settled.

5. When you feel more settled, reconsider the task you need to get done. Write it down on a clean sheet of paper and notice the thoughts and feelings that come to your mind and body. Do you notice the difference? In this more calm state, what words can you choose to gently motivate yourself? How much easier is it to avoid ordering yourself around while you are feeling more settled and connected to the outside world?

For managers, the key to motivating employees rests with the quality of the relationship – how well do they treat their employees? Likewise, the key to motivating yourself is correlated with how well you treat yourself. Zen motivation allows you to motivate yourself from a more grounded, connected state. When you do, your tendency to order yourself around will vanish and your productivity will increase. Best of all, you’ll be respecting yourself more.

Mike Bundrant is an NLP trainer with the iNLP Center. Visit iNLP for a free personal development mini course and learn more about the Zen Motivation Twitter Party.

Image courtesy of phoeric.

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