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A review of 225 relevant studies in the current issue of Psychological Bulletin, published by the American Psychological Association, finds that it's actually happiness that makes you succeed. Not the other way around.
The review found that happy people are more likely to attempt new challenges, to push themselves to strive for fresh goals. They are also more likely to be liked by their peers, and thus recruited to better jobs and promoted to higher positions.
"Our review provides strong support that happiness, in many cases, leads to successful outcomes, rather than merely following from them," said one of the report's authors.
"Happy individuals are more likely than their less happy peers to have fulfilling marriages and relationships, high incomes, superior work performance, community involvement, robust health and even a long life."
Makes sense to me!
The road to success starts with yourself. An inside out approach is the effective strategy.
Posted by Kevin Kelly at 09:18 AM
What could they do to improve the take out coffee experience?
Ever consider that question?
Well entrepreneur Tom Burns has and invented a device that plugs the sipping hole in a hot beverage lid so completely that spilled lattes and coffees will soon be a distant memory. In addition to preventing spills, it reduces heat loss by up to 40 percent so your hot drink stays hot until it’s finished.
But the entrepreneurial mind doesn't switch off there!
Rising one inch above the rim is a disk that can be custom printed with a logo, a brand, a promotion, a charitable cause or just about anything you want. Unless other mediums this advertisement hits the spot!
It appears that no matter what industry you are in there is always room for improvement.
And with improvement comes opportunity.
Posted by Kevin Kelly at 09:14 AM
Just read with interest Fortune's Daniel Roth's insights into what makes any company a special place in which to work.
"For starters most of the things that make a workplace great turn out to cost employers absolutely nothing. Next a great workplace benefits more than just employees: Over the past five years the stocks of the four companies I worked at trounced the market, up a compunded 24% v S and P 1% gain."
In the Four Seasons hotel, acting naturally with an aversion to canned presentations was the way forward:
"We want individuals to think and be natural rather than robotically doing things," says Christopher Hunsberger, the general manager.
In Fedex empowerment is the way forward:
"Once the employee leaves the depot, he is his own boss," says Shelley Simes, senior manager.
Not rocket science but how do we get people to act naturally in the workplace.
Attention and affirmation - listen to your employees and affirm when appropriate. Affirmation can come in many forms - a simple sincere thanks, acknowledgement of best practise or positive efforts, opportunity to upskill via training or time off to pursue any personal projects.
It is imperative to discuss with your employees the match between their hopes and expectations for the job with the companys dreams.
If you think listening is a little clicheed just sit down in your local cafe or look out your window and watch people communicate with each other. Note how many people are actively engaged in the conversation. It will represent a minority. Good listeners are and will continue to be very popular people in the community.
Empowerment: Give people the scope to fail in their tasks. This allows them to tap into their innate potential. Furthermore the pain associated with failure will grow them as a person and a resource for the company. Moreover if they believe that they have this latitude in an organisation they know they are trusted and valued. Remember the creation of a high trust culture should be the goal in any organisation.
If you pay attention to your employees, affirm where appropriate, empower them through your different strategies, you will notice a positive effect on their self esteem. People act naturally when they are totally comfortable with themselves.
Build your people, build your profits naturally!
Posted by Kevin Kelly at 09:39 AM
Enthusiasm.
Great sales people infect you with their enthusiasm for their product/service.
(Greek translation of enthusiasm - filled with God interestingly enough.)
Posted by Kevin Kelly at 08:49 AM
A person’s level of happiness before marriage is a good predictor of whether he or she will divorce later in life.
This is one of the interesting results from research carried out by Richard E. Lucas, a professor of psychology at Michigan State University,
“People who would eventually divorce were less happy than people who would stay married, even before either group got married,” he says.
The study was based on data collected on 30,000 people in Germany over an 18-year period. Lucas analysed data on the 817 people who got divorced during this period.
Though the lyrics of many songs may lead a person to believe that a relationship can make them complete, research and reality has shown that taking responsibility for our own happiness is the first step in the process. The more we embrace this and walk the narrow path, the more we build our self confidence. The consequence of this is that you begin to attract a different type of relationship into your life - brighter and better.
Remember people like each other that are like each other.
This fact is relevant in both business and personal lives.
Posted by Kevin Kelly at 08:51 AM
Two studies by Ohio State University researchers, conclude that exercise and a reduction in marital hostility may speed up the healing process.
The November study, published in the Journal of Gerontology, found that regular exercise speeded the recovery of sedentary older adults aged 55 to 77. The 15 adults in the non-exercising group healed in an average of 39 days; the 13 exercising adults healed in about 29 days.
Charles Emery, lead researcher said, "Exercise may simply lower stress allowing the body to heal more efficiently. But the results could also suggest that exercise triggers an enhanced immune system response," he said.
The other study, which was published in the Archives of General Psychiatry, found that "hostile marital behaviors" impede wound healing, according to the findings.
Forty-two married couples, ages 22 to 77, were admitted to a hospital on two separate occasions - once to talk normally and a second time to discuss a disagreement. At the time of the visits, they were inflicted with blister wounds on their forearms.
Couples who had "consistently higher levels of hostile behaviors across both the interactions" healed at 60 percent of the rate of low-hostility couples, the study concludes.
Wounds in the marital study "took a day longer to heal than it did when they weren't fighting," said Ron Glaser, co-author of the study.
Because the exercise findings are preliminary and the wounds tested were minor, the authors don't know if the results are "generalizable to someone who has been in an accident or who has had surgery," said Emery. But it's likely that "the quicker someone gets up (and becomes physically active) following a wound of any kind, probably the better," he said.
Stop arguing, start exercising and kickstart the healing process.
Posted by Kevin Kelly at 08:52 AM
"Amazingly, when we know a child's happiness set point at the age of five, providing nothing exceptional happens, we can have a pretty clear idea of how happy they'll be for the rest of their lives."
A finding from research undertaken by the producers of the excellent BBC series "Child of our time."
Many students in this area would argue that a child's personality is developed by the age of five.
Consider the implications of these two peices of research.
If you believe as I do, that our personality is in the main sculptured by our environment; how detrimental to the childs development is a lack of quality time spent by the parents with their child.
Can the child minder instil his/her attitudes and beliefs into your child?
Can a teacher leave positive or negative imprints on the childs psyche?
Is the video game or television having a major impact?
Can the credit card substitute for time?
Does the child mirror your every deed or words?
Positive Parenting is the most challenging and rewarding skill that exists, one that determines the world in which we live.
Yet ironically, no qualification required!
Posted by Kevin Kelly at 10:13 AM
Consider the following situations:
1.
"Why do you always give that person a drink, he never brings any with him to our parties? I wish I could be that generous, but I cant afford it," lamented Mary.
Fact: Mary inherited over a half of million two years ago and owns three houses.
2.
A family of four attending a Gala Dinner in the most exclusive hotel in their country. For the duration of the meal the father, mother, son and daughter played on their mobile phones.
Question: Is this quality family time?
A recent study by a Noelle Chesley at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, found a link between the use of mobile phones/pagers and increased psychological distress and lower family satisfaction.
3.
Over the past few months, I have project managed the construction of my new home. When asked about the experience, in the main I describe it as a positive learning experience that has involved a minimum of ups and downs!
Fact: I got a skin allergy during the process that dissapeared the week I went on holidays. Thus the conscious mind was spinning one story but the real truth was manifest in the skin reaction. It obviously has been a stressful experience.
Indeed, I felt like a new man after my holiday with a deep understanding of how people who don't enjoy their work must feel as the holidays draw to an end.
Take Action Readers - Choose a job you love.
One of your goals this year should be to uncover your unconscious truths - what you truly feel about everything in your life.
Identification is the first stage, choosing differently in the future comes next. Your limiting unconscious truths then start to lose their power, atrophy like a muscle and die.
As I scan the world in which we live, there is no doubt that we have become expert spin doctors.
Posted by Kevin Kelly at 09:28 AM
The following interview penned by Liam Horan was published in the Sun just before the New Year.
Enjoy!
As people the world over prepare to commit themselves to New Year’s Resolutions that may be broken inside 24 hours, Ireland’s leading expert on motivation has delivered a simple message – “get it right this could be the last year you’ll need to make a New Year’s Resolution.”
Roscommon native Kevin Kelly, who trains people in motivation and communication, and is the author of best-selling book How When You Don’t Know How, has urged people to “discover your life’s purpose, the reason you are on this planet.”
He said: “New Year’s Resolutions are great to get people engaged in life, but when people discover their life’s purpose they never have to put pen to paper again. They will be led on a life of magic and adventure.”
In this season of promising to eat better, drink less, and exercise more, Mr Kelly has recommended adding two resolutions to your wish list that will “truly transform you for 2006 and beyond.”
He said: “One is to set a goal to discover your life’s purpose, the reason you are on this planet. When you start to live with a purpose you will enjoy balance, meaning, financial fulfillment and more.
“Two is to set the goal of integrating time-out into your daily routine. The old thought process of believing 16 hours is twice as good as an eight-hour day productivity-wise has been well disproved. You need to work smarter, not harder.
“People who commit to this goal will enjoy the benefits of greater clarity in their decision-making and higher creativity levels. They will become more intuitive over time, and, at a more basic but essential level, they will enjoy better sleep patterns.”
Mr Kelly is adamant that though society now spends more, people are not happier, as stress now takes centre stage in many people’s lives. “Ask yourself what would you do if you had 48 hours to live? You would most likely engage in value-driven activities, so why not do it now?”, he says.
Many people talk about New Year’s Resolutions, according to Kelly, but they never take the first step.
“It is critical to take the first step. It is often the hardest, but take it! If people are willing to take the first step, I guarantee them they will definitely end up in a place they will recognize as better than before they set their goals.”
Kelly says one of the reasons people drop New Year’s Resolutions, even though they desperately wish to fulfil them, is “the annoying inner voice which says you are not good enough. This is a result of personal conditioning to date.
“If you work on building your self-esteem, this voice will begin to disappear and you will get closer to achieving your dreams.”
Kevin Kelly’s website is www.kevinkellyunlimited.com.
Posted by Kevin Kelly at 09:58 AM
Happy New Year!
My wife and I spent the New Year in Hotel Habakuk in Maribor, Slovenia.
What a hidden treasure. Imagine all of your requests being met with a humble, genuine, warm, congruent, "it is my pleasure" - this was our experience.
The hotel is managed by the dynamic, energetic, committed, warm Iris Kociper who truly leads by example. Many of her team are a mirror reflection of her.
Iris invited me to present to her staff after attending my seminar in Monaco during the year. When told that the slopes were right across the road from her five star hotel, the deal was done!
Regular visitors will remember the nightmare I endured while attempting to ski on the first occasion a few years back. Well this time within minutes, I was back in flow and enjoyed skiing on more and more difficult courses as the days progressed.
I realised that my experience truly mirrors someone who is trying to change a habit that isn't serving them. To change behaviour at the start requires serious commitment, an understanding that pain ( humiliation for me) is part of the process, and a laser like focus on the desired outcome.
And finally if something isn't working try a different approach.
"Insanity is where you keep doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different result."
What happens next - when you get it, change the habit, the new pattern is imprinted into your subconscious and available on request.
Already people around the world have thrown in the towel on their new years resolutions - persevere, be strong, commit, learn from pain, you will change your life forever.
Posted by Kevin Kelly at 10:58 AM
Happiness is a perfume you cannot pour on others without getting a few drops on yourself
Ralph Waldo Emerson
The glory is not in never failing but in rising every time you fall.
Chinese Proverb
You can transcend all negativity when you realise that the only power it has over you is your belief in it. As you experience this truth about yourself you are set free.
Eileen Caddy
Success seems to be largely a matter of hanging on after others have let go.
William Feather
Posted by Kevin Kelly at 04:07 PM