life

What Could Happen if You Didn’t Hate Mondays?

2014-04-21 By Monica 2 Comments

If you don’t like Mondays, you’re not alone. Many people experience higher levels of anxiety before they head to work at the start of the week. If that sounds like you, one reason might be that you’re in the wrong career, so you dread returning to your job.

You may not realize how much this affects every day of your week. The anxiety begins to build on Sunday and doesn’t lessen until Tuesday or Wednesday. Then when Thursday and Friday roll around, excitement and anticipation for the weekend begins. It’s a vicious cycle, and you’re never truly in the moment – always either looking forward to the future or dreading it. This situation leaves little time for enjoyment of the “now.”

That was me. In my early thirties, I worked in an executive position at a managed care company. I enjoyed spending time with my co-workers, and I was good at my job, but the work itself left me feeling hollow inside. After striving for years and years to get to that position, how could I hate being there? I started to develop weird stress-related health issues and I was miserable. Looking back now, it seems so obvious. I was simply in the wrong career and in the wrong environment.

Are you in the wrong career? If so, realize that it doesn’t have to be that way. Everyone has bills and obligations to meet, but you can create a life and a career you love. I’m not necessarily recommending that you run out and quit your job tomorrow, but you should thoughtfully and intentionally design your future. A future that includes a career you love. [Read more…] about What Could Happen if You Didn’t Hate Mondays?

7 Steps to Reaching Your Goals with Visual Goal Setting

2014-02-17 By Monica 4 Comments

Imagine reaching your full potential, having a successful career, being happy, and living the life of your dreams. What does that look like? How would that feel? What steps do you need to take to make that dream a reality?

It is possible to live the life of your dreams. In my eBook, Design Your Dream Life, I talk about the importance of creating a clear vision for your life and being as specific as possible with how you would feel. I also discuss how to create a plan, and the importance of taking the right actions to help you get there.

How Visual Tools Help You Reach Your Goals

The use of visual tools, including vision boards, mind maps, and dream charts can be very helpful in designing and achieving your dream life. They activate the creative right-side of your brain and help you see new possibilities. Visual tools also help create an optimistic, positive mindset that is helpful in changing your habits and behaviors into positive ones that will help you reach your goals.

Author Patti Dobrowolski created a visual tool that is perfect for this, and shared it in her book, Drawing Solutions: How Visual Goal Setting Will Change Your Life. I had the privilege of meeting Patti recently, and attended one of her workshops. [Read more…] about 7 Steps to Reaching Your Goals with Visual Goal Setting

Joy is Not a Luxury, It’s a Necessity – Why You Need to Allow More Joy into Your Life Today

2014-01-17 By Monica Leave a Comment

It seems like a no-brainer that we should allow ourselves to be happy and create more joy in our lives, but it’s not that simple. Some of us still believe we don’t deserve to be happy. Or when we do allow happiness in, we worry that it won’t last. Or we spend time thinking about all the things that could go wrong.

Why do we do that? Part of it is our culture and the way we were raised. Well-meaning parents, teachers, and coaches sometimes try to manage children’s expectations so they’re not disappointed. We’re often taught that if we allow ourselves to be too happy, we’ll end up suffering in the end. Well-intentioned or not, these messages often cause us to unintentionally block or sabotage our own happiness. We may also have self-doubts or insecurities about our own worth. Do we even deserve to be happy? [Read more…] about Joy is Not a Luxury, It’s a Necessity – Why You Need to Allow More Joy into Your Life Today

Following Your Passion – The Story of One Wildlife Photographer Who Does Just That

2013-10-30 By Monica Leave a Comment

A few weeks ago, I had the privilege of seeing Suzi Eszterhas speak at a Science Pub event in Portland, Oregon. Suzi is able to live a life that many of us dream about: traveling to exotic locations to photograph rare and endangered animals in their natural habitats. Suzi is one of the only women in her competitive, adventure-filled industry, and is well known for her unprecedented work with newborns, including lions, cheetahs, tigers, gorillas, orangutans, penguins, bears, and sea otters. Her work is helping bring attention to the plight many of these animals face every day as they live on the verge of extinction.

In addition to being inspired by Suzi’s amazing photos, I was struck by how passionate she is about her work and how she’s been able to do things that most of us would be too afraid to do. Suzi has traveled to some of the most remote and potentially dangerous locations on her own to pursue her passion. She lived on location in Africa for several years, spent five and a half months living at a jackal den, and spends a significant amount of time living and working in extreme conditions in the desert, arctic, jungle, and natural elements.

Finding Joy – 21 Happiness Quotes to Live By

2013-10-02 By Monica Leave a Comment

Quotes On Happiness

People have contemplated happiness since the beginning of time and there are many thoughts and theories out there on what makes us happy. In reviewing the best known quotes on happiness, however, definite themes begin to emerge. Some of these themes include, happiness is what all humans desire, and that sometimes the pursuit of happiness may actually keep us from finding it. Many also talk about the importance of love for happiness, being open and sharing with others, and how our thoughts determine our happiness levels.

As you read through these quotes, what themes do you see? How can you apply them to your own life? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.

1. Happiness Seizes Us: “The moments of happiness we enjoy take us by surprise. It is not that we seize them, but that they seize us.” ~ Ashley Montagu

5 Ways to Be Happier and More Productive at Work

2013-05-20 By Monica 2 Comments

“Life is not about making others happy. Life is about sharing your happiness with others.” ~Everyday Life Lessons

Do you want to be happier and more productive at work? Martin Seligman, a positive psychologist and author of Authentic Happiness, concluded that happier people get better performance evaluations and higher pay. Other studies have shown that happy people are more positive, creative, tolerant, constructive, generous and non-defensive. They also have lower medical costs and less absenteeism. Here are five things you can do to increase your happiness and productivity at work:

1. Focus on people and relationships: That’s really what it’s all about – good relationships with your family, your clients, and your co-workers. Take the time to connect with others and you’ll find more meaning in your career as well as improve your happiness.

2. Celebrate Often: Many people delay happiness until they reach a certain goal, close that big sale, or list that dream property. Studies show however that the happiness from these seemingly “big events” is short lived and that true happiness is more about frequency than intensity.

While it’s simply not possible to be happy all the time, research shows that people who are happy 80% of the time are the healthiest, most successful, and live the longest. To get to that 80%, you need to take time to celebrate the little things.

3. Feel and Express Gratitude: This is the single most effective thing you can do each day to increase your happiness. Simply taking the time to appreciate what you already have, the people in your life, and the opportunities that present themselves to you will significantly increase your happiness, even if you do nothing else.

4. FOCUS and Stop Multi-Tasking: While checking email while your on the phone or texting during a sales meeting might feel like you are getting more accomplished, multi-tasking actually slows performance, increases mistakes, and over time causes you to lose your ability to focus when you need to.

You will find that your happiest times at work may be when you are in the “flow.” Flow is the mental state of operation in which a person performing an activity is fully immersed in a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and enjoyment in the process of the activity. In essence, flow is characterized by complete absorption in what one does. Interruptions and mult-tasking disrupt the flow process.

5. Be “Actively Optimistic” : Happiness is a choice and the whole concept of “Fake it till you make it” has been shown to work for increasing happiness. Take a few minutes to write down your best possible future, visualize it and feel it. Describe it in breathtaking detail, creating the full experience. Some of the most successful atheletes in the world use this technique because it works.

What are your techniques for increasing your happiness and productivity at work? Share your thoughts below.

Looking for More? You Can Also Read:

21 Days to Improving Your Happiness and Productivity

5 Ways to Include More Celebration in Your Life

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