Chief Happiness Officer Strategy #3: Encourage Wellness by Simon T. Bailey

Paul Zane Pilzer wrote a book titled The Wellness Revolution: How to Make a Fortune in the Next Trillion Dollar Industry. Pilzer is a Harvard-trained economist and thought leader around this whole wellness movement. One of the things he talks about is how businesses don’t want to be in the healthcare business because healthcare costs too much on the back end. 

The job of the Chief Happiness Officer is to encourage wellness and well-being on the front end. Invite people to think about things like: Are they eating properly? Are they taking mental breaks? Are they getting enough rest? (Arianna Huffington has written a plethora of articles and devoted a whole book to the idea of a “sleep revolution” that shatters the exaltation of the sleep-deprived executive. Huffington argues that sleep is the new competitive edge, and she encourages everyone to get more sleep in order to succeed in work and life.) 

For the good of both the holistic person and the organization, the Chief Happiness Officer must be the proponent within the organization of prioritizing things like meditation and sleep rooms. People are spending 8 to 10 to 12 hours a day in the business. They’re at work more than they’re at home, so businesses have to be places that really care about their employees in order to earn the right to their best work. 

Another example of something the Chief Happiness Officer should consider is, how do we think about nutrition that’s offered in the employee cafeteria or in break areas? One of my favorite examples is my experience at the Lynda.com offices. They have probably one of the healthiest employee cafeterias I’ve ever been in. There’s no fried food, everything is green, there’s a lot of kale, and what that said to me is they care about what employees put into their bodies. 

Provide an abundance of physical fitness resources that will cater to multiple interests. For example, go beyond just having a fitness center relationship with one gym. Consider: How do you begin to collaborate with other gyms that have a different format, like CrossFit or Pure Barre? 

The Chief Happiness Officer literally can increase employee happiness and boost the bottom line by offering preventative measures. They can help people think about what they need mentally and how much sleep they’ve had, and they can help ensure that people exercise and eat well. Show people the benefits of living a healthy lifestyle, because if they live a healthy lifestyle they’ll have longevity—not just for the business, but for their loved ones and for themselves. 

The original post appeared here on Simon T. Bailey’s website and has been slightly modified for republication. For more inspiration from the author, pick up a copy of his books Shift Your Brilliance: Harnessing the Power of You, Inc. and Brilliant Living: 31 Insights to Creating an Awesome Life 

Elevate Your Mind by Jim Stovall

I hate to be the one to give you the bad news, but life is not fair. Life is great, it’s grand, and it’s wonderful, as well as being the only game in town—but it’s not fair. We don’t always get what we want, need, or even deserve, but we will always eventually get what we expect. 

Our vision drives our expectations, which drives our performance, which creates our results. You cannot outperform the vision you have of yourself. You may think it odd to be getting advice from a blind person about vision; however, vision is the opposite in many ways of sight. Sight tells you where you are and what’s around you. Vision tells you where you could be and what is possible.  

My mentor and friend Jack Nicklaus often says, “I never hit a successful golf shot until I visualize it in my mind going exactly where I want it to go.”  

In order to supercharge our vision, we often need to get away from the mundane and ordinary elements of life to explore the realm of possibility. Pablo Picasso said, “Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.” Oftentimes, we get so caught up in maintaining the status quo that we forget to consider the universe of options and opportunities. It’s easy to become so busy making a living that we forget to make a life.  

There are certain works of literature and pieces of music that can elevate my thinking and get me away from the day-to-day routine of responsibilities. It’s important, periodically, to rise above the fray, gain a new perspective, and evaluate your course. Habits are good and can serve us well within our daily routine, but we must form an additional habit of re-examining the routine so that we can be not only productive but creative.  

My friend and colleague Paula Marshall and I wrote a book together entitled The Executive Entrepreneur. Paula is the third-generation CEO of a multimillion-dollar, multinational company, and I am a startup entrepreneur. Paula and I discovered that executives need elements of entrepreneurship to stay current and creative, and entrepreneurs need executive training to manage what they have built.  

As you go through your day today, take care of the here and now, but consider the realm of possibilities. 

Today’s the day! 

This and other motivational pieces by bestselling author Jim Stovall can be found in his latest collection of columns, Wisdom for Winners Volume Four, an official publication of the Napoleon Hill Foundation.  

Should I Be Creating a Life for Myself or My Ideal Self? By Jennifer Janechek

I just finished reading Cait Flanders’s The Year of Less (Hay House, 2018), which is an incredibly moving memoir about the year the author put herself on a shopping ban, decluttered and gave away 70 percent of her belongings, left her corporate career to pursue her freelance writing work full time, and attempted to locate her authentic self—without the fillers of consumerism, alcohol, and toxic relationships. 

Like half of her blog readers (she runs caitflanders.com, formerly blondeonabudget.com), whom she says fill her comment sections with posts about admiring her dedication to minimalism while expressing doubt that they could ever do the same, I found myself reflecting while reading about how I engage in similar destructive consumer behaviors—wasting a considerable portion of my “free time” on online shopping sites and frequently making impulse purchases that leave me less than satisfied and that detract from my ability to save—but not sure whether that exact approach was right for me. After all, as a fashion lover, I am someone who derives great pleasure from certain clothing and shoe purchases. At the same time, her book made me realize that I definitely need to bring more mindfulness to my purchasing practices. But what should mindful purchasing look like for me? And how might it look different for different consumers? 

In a chapter aptly subtitled “letting go of the future,” Cait offers the following guiding question: “Who are you buying this for: the person you are, or the person you want to be?”  

This question really gave me pause. I felt—and still feel—conflicted about it. On the one hand, I recognize the importance of honoring the person you are and not trying to buy things to fill a void or to present an inauthentic version of yourself just to be accepted. On the other hand, I also see the importance of being the best version of yourself, which entails, to some degree, creating a life for the person you want to be—not necessarily the person you are at the moment.  

I understand Cait’s dilemma: she, like all of us I’m sure have done at some point or another, bought clothes, books, and project materials that she never used simply because she wanted the be the sort of person who wore, read, and did those types of things; so those purchases ultimately were a waste of money and became clutter (both emotional and physical). And there is a real trap, especially in the modern influencer-led world of social media, in marketing strategies that make you feel bad about your life so that you will make purchases in the hopes of achieving an ever-elusive ideal (read: more photogenic) life. 

Perhaps mindful purchasing has more to do, then, with not buying items to be more like another person, opting instead to direct funds only to those things that are really for you, whether the you you are now or the you you want to be (as long as that you isn’t someone else). Obviously, disentangling the best or ideal version of yourself from the “best” version of someone else as presented in ads, social media, or even friendships is incredibly difficult, because marketing messages and ideologies of consumerism operate at such complex psychological levels that it’s often hard to discern the true roots of “wants.” But if that mental and emotional work can be done even in part, it seems like that would go a long way in determining whether a particular purchase will add value to one’s life. After closing the book, I decided to institute a waiting period before making any discretionary purchases—to spend three days mulling over why I wanted the item, what it will be used for (and how much use it will get), and whether it would add enough value to my life to justify the cost. It’s not the 30 days that Cait recommends, but I think it’s enough of a safeguard to prevent impulse—or what she terms “blackout”—buys. 

Even if I can’t full decontextualize “ideal me” from the web of marketing ploys, it is possible for me to shift from being a “binge consumer” to being a more mindful consumer. To this end, I found Cait’s near-to-closing remarks encouraging: “Remember that all you’re committing to is slowing down and asking yourself what you really want, rather than acting on impulse. That’s it. That’s what being a ‘mindful’ consumer is all about.” 

How do you determine the “value” of purchases? What decluttering/minimalism strategies have worked for you? Where do you stand on the issue of making purchases for your current self vs. your ideal self? 

Character vs. Strategy by Simon T. Bailey

In life there are moments that create a cause for a pause. Here’s one that I just had to share with you. 

A while back, I was sitting in a board meeting for one of the non-profit organizations I serve, and the president and founder posed this question: “In business, which one is more important—character or strategy?” 

Everyone around the table chimed in and gave an opinion. It was evenly split down the middle. 

However, the president said that character is more important than strategy. A profound silence swept through the room as we waited to hear his rationale. 

He then said, “Anyone can come up with a strategy, but if they lack character, it is nothing more than a man in an empty suit with a hallowed soul.” I sat there in astonishment doing my best to process the deeper meaning. And then I had an epiphany: 

Character is forged when no one is looking. 

Character is doing the work of work for no prize at all. 

“A person of character is willing to do the right thing and walk alone than to do the wrong thing in order to follow the crowd.” 

I’ve discovered people over the years who talk a good game. They can blow smoke in your ears and do everything they can to see and be seen. They want everyone to know that they are important, smart, and special. 

I was that foolish person once upon a time. 

Then one day, I met a man of impeccable character. He was the type of person who gets personally invited to the White House. As I watched him from afar, he walked into the room and didn’t make a big fuss or a scene. 

His presence spoke volumes, and I learned that when you are “the man,” you don’t have to tell people that you’re the man. Your very essence will speak louder than words. 

Be mindful of a person whose mouth runs faster than their mind. True character speaks less and listens more. 

That man invited me to join this non-profit board, and my life has never been the same. 

The original post appeared here on Simon T. Bailey’s website and has been slightly modified for republication. For more inspiration from the author, pick up a copy of his books Shift Your Brilliance: Harnessing the Power of You, Inc. and Brilliant Living: 31 Insights to Creating an Awesome Life. 

4 Steps to Success with Small Wins by Adrean Turner

Most people achieve success one experience at a time. Leaders from Bill Gates to Barbara Corcoran attest that they were able to reach their career goals by individual steps or small wins. 

Business experts and social scientists agree that modest victories provide major motivation to stay engaged along the journey of success. Per the progress principle, based on a multi-year study by researchers at Harvard Business School, of all the things that can boost emotions, motivation, and perceptions, the single most important factor is making progress in meaningful work. And the more frequently people experience that sense of progress, the more likely they are to be creatively productive in the long run. Whether they are trying to solve a major scientific mystery or simply produce a high-quality product or service, everyday progress—even a small win—can make all the difference in how they feel and perform.  

“People who succeed have momentum. The more they succeed the more they want to succeed, and the more they find a way to succeed.” ~ Tony Robbins

Try these steps to small-win success: 

1. CREATE

According to the Harvard team, one factor that encourages small wins is related to how you work. The catalyst factor includes events that directly enable progress in the work. These actions include developing clear goals, managing your time and resources effectively, and practicing open communication to influence productivity. 

“Surround yourself with only people who are going to lift you higher.” ~ Oprah Winfrey

2. RELATE  

A second factor that encourages small wins is “nourishers.” Interpersonal support can ignite and expedite your progress. Build relationships with colleagues and mentors who provide validation and constructive feedback. Nourishers can have a powerful influence on your performance. Involvement in personal or professional groups that are aligned with your mission and goals will enable you to cultivate those interactions. 

“Success doesn’t always come from the big actions we take, but from the sum of the small actions we repeat.” ~ Robert Collier

3. STATE

Considering the challenges of pursuing your dream career, starting a new business, or taking on a large project can be overwhelming. Develop an action plan with intermediate goals. Break your activities into groups of small, manageable tasks. You’ll become energized each time you complete a goal.  

“I am a 20-year overnight success!” ~ Steve Harvey

4. ELEVATE

Keep a record of your accomplishments and setbacks. Maintaining a journal of your activities will help you recognize and celebrate miniature milestones that you might otherwise overlook. Tracking your advancement provides clarity to recognize conditions that affect your performance. 

Use the small win strategy for your grand visions to achieve the success you desire for a fulfilling career. 

Adrean Turner is a certified career coach, speaker, professional development trainer, and business consultant. She leverages 25 years of experience in management, marketing, operations, teaching, and training to partner with individuals, entrepreneurs, and organizations to achieve their maximum potential. Adrean is the author of a newly published book, F.I.T. for Success, which is based on her syndicated podcast that airs daily on a Philadelphia radio station and Internet channels.  

Being, Doing, and Having by Jim Stovall

We live in a world that is obsessed with having more things. One of the fastest growing industries in our society is the storage business. We are buying so much stuff we can’t hold it all. We have to rent places to put our stuff. There is nothing wrong with having things as long as the things don’t really have you. 

Unfortunately, we have a preoccupation with buying things that we can’t afford, using money  

we don’t have, to impress people who don’t care. Acquiring wealth and assets is a byproduct of doing work that creates value in the lives of others. In our consumer “buy-now world,” we have it backward. We want to have things that will make others think we are already successful.  

The universe is set up with three natural steps to success: being, doing, and having. First, you have to “be” the right kind of person who has the motivation, intensity, ethics, and values that would make you successful. Then, after you become this kind of person, you are ready, willing, and able to “do” the things you know are necessary to make you successful. And finally, after you have become the kind of person who is doing the right things, you will inevitably “have” all the stuff and things you want. 

In proper balance and as a reward for hard work, having nice things is wonderful. As a façade of smoke and mirrors using consumer credit to create the illusion of success, it is a hollow existence. Trying to have the result first is like the person who stands in front of the fireplace saying, “Give me some heat, and then I will throw in some wood.” Or the farmer who says to the field, “Give me a crop, and then I will plow, plant, and fertilize.”  

When you get the natural system out of order and want to have things before you become the person who would do the right things, you inevitably will still have to pay the price for those things; and if you do it out of order, the price will come attached to a staggering interest charge.  

As you go through your day today, focus on yourself as the ultimate tool that will perform the tasks creating value in our world that will inevitably result in you having everything you want and more to share with others around you. 

Today’s the day! 

This and other motivational pieces by bestselling author Jim Stovall can be found in Wisdom for Winners Volume Two, an official publication of the Napoleon Hill Foundation. 

Creating a Daily Work Rhythm by Jennifer Janechek

As the mother of a toddler, I have been reading a lot of parenting books lately, and I have been struck by a notion introduced in a few of them—that of the importance of creating a daily rhythm. In Simplicity Parenting: Using the Extraordinary Power of Less to Raise Calmer, Happier, and More Secure Kids, for instance, Kim John Payne suggests that “by surrounding a young child with a sense of rhythm and ritual, you can help them order their physical, emotional and intellectual view of the world.” According to him, cultivating a daily rhythm provides a strong foundation for children, giving them the security to explore their world confidently and allowing their creativity to flourish while keeping them grounded in home values and traditions. 

I started to wonder: How might a daily rhythm be beneficial to my adult life—and more specifically, to my adult work life? 

I began implementing a daily work rhythm where I scheduled my day according to ebbs and flows, dedicating periods of time to different tasks that best suited my energy levels and creative rhythms. I quickly realized that the days I was the most productive, at peace, engaged in my work, and present with my family when at home were those in which I maintained a rhythm at work. I suppose acclaimed poet Mary Oliver was right—“Rhythm is one of the most powerful of pleasures, and when we feel a pleasurable rhythm we hope it will continue.… When it becomes reliable, we are in a kind of body-heaven.” 

Below are some ideas for how to cultivate a daily work rhythm in your life: 

1. Determine the core activities of your day, and dedicate a block of time to each one. 

While companies often value employees who can multitask, this activity can leave us feeling harried, stressed, and frenetic. If your work situation allows you to do so (not everyone’s will), try to engage in only one “core activity” at a time. Your core activities are the basic work activities in which you engage on a regular basis. For me, this is communication, research, creation, and revision. Various activities fall into these larger categories (e.g., communication entails responding to e-mails as well as participating in conference calls, and revision includes both copyediting others’ writing and reworking my own), but stick to performing one mode of work at a time. This is similar to business and organizational expert Rachael Doyle’s advice in Organize Your Business—Organize Your Life: “I recommend creating blocks in your daily calendar that are set aside for all like activities: there are blocks of time to answer email, blocks of time to work on projects, blocks of time to make phone calls.” Which leads to my second suggestion… 

2. Don’t check your e-mail (or social media) throughout the day. 

And don’t keep your e-mail open in your browser (unless of course you work in customer service or another industry that requires quick response times). Or if you want to keep your e-mail open, silence the notifications: the noise and distraction they cause can unsettle rhythmic work patterns. The same thing goes for social media notifications—giving in to one alert can lead you down a wormhole of mindless newsfeed scrolling. Doyle recommends checking your e-mail either at the beginning or at the end of your work day. This was very difficult for me, a chronic e-mail checker, but I noticed that on days when I saved e-mails for certain times of day (for me, both the beginning and the end of the work day), I actually found pleasure in reading and responding to e-mails, was better able to process their content and give thoughtful responses, and made greater progress on work projects. 

3. Make sure your daily work rhythm correlates with your circadian rhythm. 

The Harvard Business Review published an article a couple years ago about how the ideal work schedule is one in tune with your internal bodily clock. According to it, studies suggest that attending to how our internal clock affects our energy flows and organizing our work time accordingly enhances employee performance. The author’s advice was that

employees should take their own circadian rhythms into account when planning their own day. The most important tasks should be conducted when people are at or near their peaks in alertness (within an hour or so of noon and 6pm). The least important tasks should be scheduled for times in which alertness is lower (very early in the morning, around 3pm, and late at night). 

This is why I said at the beginning of the article to first chart your ebb and flows and then organize work time accordingly. Below you will find a sample work rhythm chart that I made, but keep in mind that everyone’s natural rhythm is different. Try to create a work schedule that honors yours. 

Do you follow a daily work rhythm? How has it benefited your work and/or home life? 

Six Fundamental Business Lessons Every Entrepreneur Can Learn From Walt Disney by Shawn Doyle, CSP

Everyone knows Walt Disney. Almost everyone has been to a Disney park somewhere, seen a Disney movie (live action or a cartoon), or knows some Disney character. Some people even go on Disney cruises. I think in some ways people know more about Disney, but fewer people about Disney the man. Walt was a visionary, an entrepreneur, and a creative genius. There are some invaluable lessons every entrepreneur can learn from what he was able to accomplish in his life.

Lesson #1 – Never give up. Many people don’t know that Walt Disney was not an overnight success. He started several companies that went bankrupt. He started a commercial art studio, and it tanked. He tried to create advertisements, and they also failed due to lack of revenue. Instead of giving in or giving up, Walt always just tried the next thing. As Walt said, “All the adversity I’ve had in my life, all my troubles and obstacles, have strengthened me… You may not realize it when it happens, but a kick in the teeth may be the best thing in the world for you.”

Lesson #2 – Be a problem solver. Walt Disney was the consummate problem solver. He was very observant and was always looking for ways to solve a problem and thinking of how it could be an opportunity in the marketplace. He took his daughter to a park to ride some rides, and he noticed the rides were dirty and in bad shape, and the people operating the rides were rude. This problem that he thought about became Disneyland. He wanted a place that was safe and clean, where parents could take their kids. As Jason Kilar once said, “When I was 10, we drove to Disney World. When we arrived, what impressed me most was the meticulous attention to detail; there wasn't a gum wrapper anyplace.”

Lesson #3 – Be willing to reinvent yourself. Many people don’t know that Disney’s first major cartoon star was not Mickey Mouse but Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. He had signed a contract with a distributor for the short cartoons and was thrilled with their success. When he went to renew the contract, they fired Walt and said that they legally owned Oswald, not Walt Disney, as outlined in the contract. Even worse, all of Walt’s animators left Walt and went to work for the other company. Walt went home having lost his biggest success. He had to start over. As he said: “Mickey Mouse popped out of my mind onto a drawing pad 20 years ago on a train ride from Manhattan to Hollywood at a time when business fortunes of my brother Roy and myself were at lowest ebb and disaster seemed right around the corner.”

Lesson #4 – Surround yourself with talent. Walt Disney admitted that he was not the most talented at drawing or animation. As he once said, “I started, actually, to make my first animated cartoon in 1920. Of course, they were very crude things then and I used sort of little puppet things.” He was brilliant at knowing what he did best and was able to hire the best artists and animators in the world. The person who animated Mickey in the early was not Walt but an animator named Ub Iwerks. Walt didn’t have to have the talent for drawing, but he had the vision. It’s like being an architect—you don’t have to be the general contractor; you just have to know what you want the project to look like when it is done.

Lesson #5 – Be curious. Walt was an inquisitive soul and always wanted to learn new things. In animation, this led to some stunning developments in the early years. He is famous for making the first sound cartoon, the first live action and animation mix film, and the first full-length cartoon movie. Until Walt, cartoons were fluffy, short, mindless clips that came on before the main feature. Here is the point, and don’t miss it—he didn’t know how to do any of those things, but his curiosity led him to investigate and figure it out. Walt said: “We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things because we’re curious, and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.”

Lesson #6 – Diversify. Walt was smart enough after building a successful animation studio to get into live action movies, documentaries, television, amusement parks, and tons of products. He could have just run an animation studio, but that would not have created the kind of success his company had. I think Walt said it best: “Times and conditions change so rapidly that we must keep our aim constantly focused on the future.” Every business needs to keep looking at ways to grow and diversify.

This article originally appeared in Entrepreneur and has been slightly modified for republication. For more business and personal development insight from Shawn Doyle, CSP, check out his titles from Sound Wisdom, including his Jumpstart Series, The Sun Still Rises, The Leadership Manifesto, and Two Months to Motivation.

Change Your Mind and Your Life by Jim Stovall

Behavioral scientists have long debated whether we are most impacted by nature or nurture. The argument is made up of professionals who believe we are products of our genetic makeup and those who believe we are molded by our environment. As a student of behavioral science, I find it impossible to imagine that we are not impacted both by our DNA as well as the world around us.

The element that most scientists overlook is that we all have the ability to change our minds. We can be born with certain abilities or disabilities but decide to pursue a myriad of possibilities within our lives. As a blind person myself due to a genetic disorder, I am limited in how I do certain things far more than which things I choose to do. I have written more than 30 books, and eight of them have been made into movies or are in production now. This means I write books I can’t see that are made into movies I can’t watch. 

Recently, there have been extensive studies of twins who grew up in homes with alcoholic parents. These studies revealed that, given the same genetic makeup and environment, one sibling might become an incurable alcoholic while the other twin might choose to never touch a drop of alcohol throughout their life. We are impacted by our genetics and environment, but we get to choose how we are impacted. 

My late, great colleague and mentor Dr. Wayne Dyer bought a house on the beach in a new development in Hawaii. Every day as Dr. Dyer walked on the beach, he encountered new neighbors who were moving into the development. One morning he confronted a gentleman who had just moved to Hawaii from New Jersey. The gentleman asked Dr. Dyer, “What are people like here? Are they friendly?” Dr. Dyer considered it a moment and then asked, “What are people like where you come from?” The gentleman blurted out, “They are rude, thoughtless, and annoying.” Dr. Dyer responded, “You’ll find people to be about the same here.”

As Dr. Dyer continued his walk, he was confronted by an elderly lady who had just relocated from Nebraska. She asked, “Are the residents here nice?” Dr. Dyer inquired, “Are people nice where you come from?” She smiled and said enthusiastically, “Yes! People in Nebraska are friendly, giving, and loving.” Dr. Dyer smiled and stated, “You’ll find people here in Hawaii to be just the same.”

Environment and heredity determine where we start, but we determine where we finish. 

As you go through your day today, embrace the good, reject the bad, and create the life you want.

Today’s the day!

This and other motivational pieces by bestselling author Jim Stovall can be found in his latest collection of columns, Wisdom for Winners Volume Four, an official publication of the Napoleon Hill Foundation.

Let Go of What Works by Simon T. Bailey

It is obvious that you should let go of what doesn’t work. It’s not serving you. But what about letting go of what works?

If you don’t let go of what has always worked and start to move toward what will work in the future, what works for you now will be what isn’t working for you later.

I had a conference call a while ago with the CEO of a company with whom I was going to speak in a few weeks. In preparing for this engagement with a multi-billion-dollar global conglomerate, I asked the CEO what he wanted me to share with the team.

The first thing he said is: he needs his team to be unreasonable.

And I asked, “What does that mean?”

He said, “We can no longer settle for the status quo. We can no longer operate with a business-as-usual mindset. We are getting market share eaten out of our business every single day. Just because you think things have always worked, clients have said ‘yes,’ and we’ve increased prices doesn’t mean those clients are going to say ‘yes’ forever.”

This CEO was saying, “Let go of what works now in favor of what will work later.”

You’ve got to be unreasonable in your efforts, see yourself as an entrepreneur and really own your business, your life, and your relationships.

The original post appeared here on Simon T. Bailey’s website and has been slightly modified for republication. For more inspiration from the author, pick up a copy of his books Shift Your Brilliance: Harnessing the Power of You, Inc. and Brilliant Living: 31 Insights to Creating an Awesome Life.

Five Positive Changes to Make in Your Life Today by Jennifer Janechek

Don’t let New Year’s resolution burnout stop you from continuing to implement positive changes in your life. See how these simple modifications to your daily routine can transform your life today.

1. Wake up 30 minutes earlier. Don’t just set your alarm; actually get out of bed a full half hour earlier than you’ve been getting up. Doing so will prevent you from feeling rushed or arriving at work groggy, and it will give you time to eat a decent breakfast, which is crucial for helping you power through your morning.
2. Complete a cardio routine, preferably in the morning. If you need to wake up even earlier, do so. Getting your blood pumping and endorphins flowing will boost your mental and physical energy, sharpen your intellect, improve your response time, and help you maintain a positive and focused mind-set throughout the entire day.
3. Spend time journaling at the beginning and end of each day. In the morning, remind yourself of your long-term and short-term goals, and list what steps you plan to take that day to accomplish them. Also, jot down the positive additions you intend to make to your daily routine—and keep yourself accountable! Check off items you’ve completed as you go. At the end of the day, use your journaling time to reflect on what you’re grateful for, to celebrate your successes, to note the lessons you’ve learned, and to establish a game plan for the next day.
4. Add a green smoothie to your breakfast or lunch. There’s nothing like leafy greens to make you feel like you’re winning at life. Not only will you feel better about yourself after drinking a green smoothie; you’ll also feel better on the inside, which will carry over into your other activities. Remember the last time you ate a burger and fries for lunch and wanted to take a nap immediately afterward? Yeah, I thought so. I like the recipe ideas from 100 Days of Real Food, found here.
5. Smile—a lot. We often hear, “Fake it till you make it,” particularly with regard to positivity. But it’s very true. Keeping a smile on your face throughout the day will transform your attitude, and it will change the way people interact with you: they will find you more approachable and more pleasant to be around, which will provide you with a greater sense of collegiality and community.

What other suggestions do you have for “quick fixes” to improve your daily life? Share them below!

Get Excited for the Legacy Film and Companion Book Based on Napoleon Hill's Think and Grow Rich, Coming in Early 2018 by Jennifer Janechek

To celebrate the continued influence of Hill’s work on self-starters around the world, a highly acclaimed team of writers and producers has created a full-length feature film that cinematically recreates inspirational stories from Think and Grow Rich, Think and Grow Rich: A Black Choice, Think and Grow Rich: A Latino Choice, Think and Grow Rich for Women, and Three Feet from Gold. Directed by Scott Cervine, written by Cynthia Whitcomb, and produced by Sean Donovan, Karina R. Donovan, Joel Franco, John Shin, and Marcelo Quintanilla, Think and Grow Rich: The Legacy weaves together the stories of early twentieth-century business tycoons and those of today’s most renowned entrepreneurs, cultural icons, and thought leaders, including Sharon Lechter, Bob Proctor, Barbara Corcoran, Warren Moon, and Sandy Gallagher. Sound Wisdom’s own Jim Stovall is featured in the film, where he shares the career guidance and spiritual insight that fill the pages of his Wisdom for Winners series. Sanctioned by the Napoleon Hill Foundation, the docudrama demonstrates how Hill’s thirteen key success secrets are more relevant today than ever before.

www.TGRmovie.com Think and Grow Rich: The Legacy is a feature length docudrama film chronicling the story of some of today's most renowned entrepreneurs, cultural icons and thought leaders. This feature length film will tell their inspirational stories and how they ultimately achieved their success.

Think and Grow Rich: The Legacy debuted on October 14, 2017, in Los Angeles, California, at the Regal L.A. LIVE to a sold-out crowd. The premiere featured a panel discussion with some of the greatest prosperity teachers in the world. An official sponsor of the event, Sound Wisdom, will be publishing a companion book to the film, written by James Whittaker, in early 2018. Sound Wisdom publisher David Wildasin said of the experience, “I was honored and humbled to be chosen to be associated with the project and to be invited to attend the event.”

In addition, the highly anticipated Think and Grow Rich: The Legacy live event is scheduled to occur in Atlanta, Georgia, in March 2018. Those interested in participating in the event can purchase a pass either to attend in person or to view the event live or on demand from anywhere in the world via a Simulcast broadcast. Confirmed presenters at this on-stage event include Don Green, CEO of the Napoleon Hill Foundation; Bob Proctor; Joel Brown; Sharon Lechter, Gerard Adams; Dr. Dennis Kimbro; Sandy Gallagher; Preston Smiles; and Janine Shepherd. Footage captured from the live event will be used to produce a companion film to Think and Grow Rich: The Legacy.

Wisdom for This Year: Lessons We Keep Learning Over and Over by Shawn Doyle

A while back, I had oral surgery in order to remove an impacted wisdom tooth. My family dentist said the tooth needed to come out, and after reviewing my X-rays the oral surgeon also agreed that the tooth needed to come out. So off I went one early Friday morning to have dental surgery. I was asleep during my surgery and woke up feeling pretty good, and Friday night I slept fairly well. On Saturday I had a tiny bit of pain but felt well enough to go to the mall to do some shopping. All of that changed on Sunday night when the pain was so bad I was waking up all night long. By Monday I was miserable, popping painkillers every four hours and feeling extreme pain and fatigue. I was hurting. My day was a blur of prescriptions and ice packs and naps—when I was able to sleep. This pattern continued on for an entire week. I expected to recover in one or two days, but instead it took me eight days to fully recover. I was told by medical professionals that I was recovering slower because I was an “older patient” (I was 55 at the time) and because my surgery was “more involved” because I had a tooth that was impacted and laying sideways under the gum line. During my eight “lost” days I was not able to work, drive myself around, or really even think very clearly at all in my Percocet haze. Don’t get me wrong—I know that there are many people fighting long-term chronic diseases, and I was sick for only a measly eight days. I know that is nothing. It was, however, the most painful experience of my life in terms of the length and severity of pain.

But when I woke up on the ninth day, I felt so much better. I had energy! I was no longer in pain and no longer on pain-killing drugs. So as I embraced feeling well again, it got me thinking at the start of a new year—what do we take for granted?

Healthy is normal – Why do I feel that getting up and feeling great every day is normal? What if for a 56-year-old man that is not the norm? What if I am the exception, not the rule? So why do we blithely ignore the blessing of good health? I don’t know about you, but as for me I plan to celebrate each morning that I wake up and feel healthy and have energy.

That we will always have a job – Even in today’s economy, I think when people lose their jobs due to cutbacks or layoffs they are often shocked. “But I was the best marketing person in my department!” they say, or “I was the best salesperson in the region.” Unfortunately layoffs and cutbacks are often not related to the skillset of the person who’s been let go. It’s based on numbers and headcounts and budgets. As an entrepreneur and professional speaker, I never assume that I will have work, and I am always looking at the calendar for the next several months because my work is never assured. So why do people take their jobs for granted? One theory I believe is that once people come to a company and are hired, they assume that their position is permanent until they decide to leave. I call this the “job security mythology.” As for me, I went to celebrate every success that I have and will continue to be grateful for the business that I can produce.

That people will always be there – As a person who lost my wife suddenly over five years ago, I know that there is no assurance that someone I know will be there tomorrow. A friend of mine recently lost a dear colleague at work, and she had worked with him for over 15 years. She left the company a few years ago and so she had lost touch with him, but she had always planned to go back by the company to say hello to her former coworker. But he died of a sudden heart attack so she never had the opportunity to say hello, only goodbye at his funeral, and she regrets it. So I think that we take life for granted and we take the people in our life for granted. It’s a good idea when we lose a loved one to use that experience as a reminder to appreciate people who we love and like. As for me, I will make sure that all the people that I know, love, and like will be told this year that I love them and that I like them and truly enjoy working with them.

The supply of time is unlimited – My time in recovery at home was eight days, but it seemed like the first week lasted a month. Time crawls when you are in pain. On the flip side, when we are having fun, we perceive time to fly by, but I also see how as a society we waste time and throw it around so lightly. For example, the average American watches 32 hours of TV a week but then says they “don’t have enough time.” Imagine what they could do with those hours! I for one will not waste my time and will only watch one hour of TV a day (and some days none at all). I want to do more important things.

So what are you grateful for? Why?

What should you not take for granted? Why?

What do you need to look at more carefully? Why?

The answers to these questions will lead to a better life. It’s funny—having my wisdom tooth taken out may have helped me became wiser.

This article originally appeared in B2B Magazine and has also appeared in The Good Men Project. For more business and personal development insight from Shawn Doyle, check out his titles from Sound Wisdom, including his Jumpstart Series, The Sun Still Rises, The Leadership Manifesto, and Two Months to Motivation.

New Life by Jim Stovall

New life is a powerful concept and possibility in every area of our existence as well as the title of a movie that I am very proud to be associated with. We can experience a new life in any aspect of our world including our friends, our family, our faith, our finances, or our fitness. 

The first step to experiencing a new life is to release the old life. Our world abhors a vacuum. Once you make space in any area of your physical, mental, or spiritual life, something new can fill that space, but it is impossible to get something for nothing. A seed must die for a new plant to grow. That plant will bloom and create new seeds which, in turn, must die to keep the cycle of growth and life moving ahead into the future.

The New Life movie concept came to me from an industry colleague named Drew Waters. I met Drew when he was starring in a movie based on my book The Ultimate Life. That movie involved a flashback to follow the early life of Red Stevens who may be the most iconic character I ever created in any of my books. Red Stevens was played magnificently in The Ultimate Gift by legendary actor James Garner, so the thought of having someone else play that character as a younger man seemed awkward and uncomfortable to me. Then I met Drew Waters and got to experience him bringing to life a younger version of the character that Mr. Garner had embodied in an earlier movie.

Drew and I were at a red carpet movie premiere event for The Ultimate Life when he turned to me and said, “I’ve got a story for a film that I’ve got to share with you.” I was absolutely mesmerized by the story as you will be when you watch the New Life movie, but I was concerned when Drew told me he was not going to act in the film but would, instead, be making his directing debut on the project. My concerns were unfounded when I experienced the same energy Drew had brought to The Ultimate Life as an actor in every scene of the New Life movie as he directed it. 

The film is a story of love, loss, legacy, learning, and experiencing new life. I am very pleased that my company, the Narrative Television Network, combined forces with Drew’s production team so the 13 million blind and visually impaired Americans and their families as well as millions more around the world will be able to experience this powerful new movie.

I fervently hope you and your family will enjoy New Life as an entertaining movie experience, but also as a catalyst to reexamine your priorities and move to a higher level in every aspect of your existence.

NEW LIFE is a film about hope. Benjamin Morton's life changed forever the day he met the little girl next door. Ava was and always would be the girl of his dreams. From the innocence of a childhood friendship, through adolescent attraction, their love strengthens and grows.

As you go through your day today, leave the past behind, and step into a new life.

Today’s the day!

This and other motivational pieces by bestselling author Jim Stovall can be found in his latest collection of columns, Wisdom for Winners Volume Four, an official publication of the Napoleon Hill Foundation to be released in January 2018. 

This and other motivational pieces by bestselling author Jim Stovall can be found in his latest collection of columns, Wisdom for Winners Volume Four, an official publication of the Napoleon Hill Foundation to be released in January 2018. 

How You Can Let Go to Move Forward by Simon T. Bailey

The beginning of the year is a prime time to take inventory of what is working and what is not working in your life. Letting go of what is not working (and some of what IS working!) positions you to start 2018 in a place of growth and forward momentum.

But letting go is hard. Where should you start?

1. Recognize the signs. I encourage you to read a book by Dr. Henry Cloud titled Necessary Endings. If you don’t have time to read it, grab the audiobook and listen to it in the car. Dr. Cloud introduces the idea of pruning back to grow forward. There are countless examples and anecdotal stories illustrating what it looks like and feels like to let go in your life and in your career.

2. Make a plan. Take a good hard look in the mirror. Odds are, you already know deep down inside what you need to let go of. Toxic relationships, a stale role you’ve been in at work, habits, employees…there are any number of things we hang onto out of fear, comfort, or uncertainty. Identify what’s contributing to you getting in your own way.

3. Set up support. Letting go can be tough. It may mean separating ourselves from people, things, or situations that are no longer serving us but that we are emotionally attached to. Decide how you will move yourself through this process. Will you journal, lean into a good friendship, plan more time for self-care, or see a therapist?

You may not be ready to let go right here, right now. Even if it takes you a year to move through these steps, do not let what you need to let go of prevent you from growing forward into what you could be.

The original post appeared here on Simon T. Bailey’s website and has been slightly modified for republication. For more inspiration from the author, pick up a copy of his books Shift Your Brilliance: Harnessing the Power of You, Inc. and Brilliant Living: 31 Insights to Creating an Awesome Life.

The Power of a YES! Attitude by Jennifer Janechek

There is no shortage of articles about the importance of maintaining a positive attitude. That’s because we know how much it benefits our work life and our home life, our emotional health and our physical health. The new edition of Jeffrey Gitomer’s popular Little Gold Book of YES! Attitude shows us how we can take positivity to the next level by cultivating what he calls a YES! AttitudeTM.

What is a YES! Attitude, and how does it differ from a positive attitude? According to Gitomer, a YES! Attitude:

assumes that everything you say and do will start with “YES!” even when it’s “No.” …A YES! Attitude is more declarative. It tells people—in a word—that their expectation will be met and that your answer to whatever they want or need will be “YES!” or in a positive format.

Gitomer explains how YES! is not just a response; it is a state of mind. And what makes it even more transformative than a positive attitude is that it gives you a concrete visualization of success. As Gitomer writes, “YES! is an experience you’ve had many times.” In other words, you know what it’s like to win at something, to enjoy the feeling of having achieved something important to you. When you recall these moments and apply the certainty of success you had then to your future endeavors, you are more likely to actualize your dreams.

So how might you bring a YES! Attitude into your life today?

1. Use self-discipline to train yourself to think with a YES! Attitude. Spend time every day reading personal development books that encourage positive thinking. Sound Wisdom regularly publishes books that will help you revolutionize your thinking and your way of being in the world so that you can write your own success story. See http://www.soundwisdom.com/publications for a complete list of titles.
2. Keep a daily journal that tracks your progress on your goals, allows you to reflect on your successes, and provides space for positive self-talk and the expression of gratitude.
3. Surround yourself with positive people as much as possible. Negative energy can greatly detract from your ability to maintain a YES! Attitude.
4. Smile and take pride in your personal appearance, in your work, and in every other aspect of your life. If you feel better on the outside, you’ll start to feel better on the inside. A YES! Attitude comes from the inside, but sometimes it takes positive external changes to motivate us to make the necessary internal changes.
5. Champion other people. Being kind, operating with an attitude of thankfulness, and saying good things about other people will make others feel better about themselves, which will make you feel better about yourself.

For more advice on how to develop a YES! Attitude, check out the new edition (updated and revised) of Jeffrey Gitomer’s Little Gold Book of YES! Attitude, available on Amazon and other major retailers in January 2018, and visit www.gitomer.com.