Never Feel Guilty About Having Fun

Do you have fun at work?

You should, life is fun and work should be no different, especially if you’re doing something you love to do. Fun has several benefits for both you and your employer. If you’re your own boss, then fun has benefits for your team and your business. No matter what your role is in your company, you should be actively trying to have more fun and to make the workplace more fun for others. It’s the key to making sure people enjoy their jobs. When people enjoy their jobs they put more effort into their work, which usually works out well for everyone.

 

New employees are made to feel welcome.

Meetings are positive and light.

We have fun activities at least once a month.

It’s common to hear people laughing around here.

I can be myself at work.

We have a lot of celebrations for special events.

When brainstorming, we like to have fun.

My boss is usually optimistic and smiling.

Customers would call us fun to do business with.

I have a friend at work who makes me laugh.

We have a good time together.

 

Do these statements apply to your job? How much fun do you have at work? Click on the image below to take a quiz from the book “The Levity Effect” and find out.

 

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The Power Of Critical Thinking

Let’s admit it, our brains are capable of much more than we use them for. We are all guilty of turning our brain to ‘auto-pilot’ and just floating through the day. I believe that if we take the time to truly and critically think about everything we do we will amaze everyone, including ourselves. Here are six animations designed to help you identify different aspects of critical thinking and learn how to use them to help you think your best.

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We Can’t All Be Early Birds

We always hear about how early risers get more done and are more productive. The unfortunate fact is that some of us just aren’t early birds. No matter how much we try to get up early and get moving before that sun comes up, we can’t. That doesn’t mean we can’t benefit from the lessons and insights of those who do. Here are some top secret productivity strategies to help you get more done.

1. Switch Out Your Caffeine For A Workout – Instead of taking 30 minutes to drink your coffee,  read the paper and “wake up”, suck it up and go for a jog or a bike ride. Caffeine usually comes with a crash but exercising energizes your entire body.

2. Put Out The Fires – Take care of anything that really NEEDS your attention first thing so you don’t have multiple interruptions throughout your day.

3. Think Ahead – No one likes to work at home but it can save you a lot of stress to plan ahead. Spend about 15 minutes in the evening to organize and plan out your next day. This way you don’t have to exert your scarce supply of energy first thing in the morning.

4. Set aside time to let your brain do what you need it to do, distraction free. Don’t open your e-mail, turn off your phone, and find somewhere no one will find you.  This could be in your bed at 6a.m. or at a small coffee shop at 1a.m. The point is that your brain has the time to finish some complete thoughts without being interrupted. You will surprised at how much you can get done in an hour of 0 interruptions.

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5 Business Rules Your Should Go Ahead And Break

There is no shortage of advice floating around the world, especially when it comes to business. As this advice gets more widely accepted it becomes a series of “rules” that the majority of people like to follow. The truth is that those rules aren’t going to work for everyone. Here are 6 of them that I think you should go-ahead and break.

1. Never Work With Friends and Family – Be clear about each person’s role and the expectations that you have for them and you won’t have any problems. There are plenty of successful businesses out there run by families and best friends.

2. Get Your MBA – You will learn more from experience in the business world than you ever could in a classroom. Learn from every opportunity you get and learn from the people you know. THat all combined is better than any MBA.

3. You Need A Business Plan – Sometimes you have to wing-it a little bit before you know exactly where you’re going.

4.Never Work For Free – Don’t need a paycheck to get value from a work experience. If you have an opportunity to learn a new skill or develop one of your skills to another level, take it!

5. Diversify Your Client Base – There’s nothing wrong with selling to your own tribe of people who happen to be very similar. Don’t exhaust your resources trying to sell to people who don’t want or don’t need what you’re selling just for the sake of having a diverse client base.

Read more at Inc. Magazine

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Replacing Negative Thoughts

Negative thoughts don’t do anyone any good. They bring down your mood and outlook which in turn makes the entire day seem longer and less enjoyable. They also keep you from doing your best or being your best.  If you want to be more successful and happier in general you have to get rid of some of those dragging and nagging thoughts.

 

Here are a few ways to drop some of those negative thoughts…
1. Listen to your favorite song
2. Go somewhere you love to go or somewhere you haven’t been but always wanted to see. 
3. Grab one of your favorite books or a new book you know you’ll love.
4. Take a nap.
5. Spend time with your loved ones. Friends, family, all of the above. 
6. Spend some time doing one of your favorite hobbies. Playing music, taking photos, writing, etc. 
7. Write your thoughts down on paper and then throw them away. 
8. Cook one of your favorite meals. 
9. Go for a walk. 
10. Get or give a hug.
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Stand By Me

Any great leader you talk to will tell you that they didn’t make it on their own. Everyone, at some point in time, needs someone else to be there for them. That simple idea shines through in this video. Try to keep that in mind as you go through your normal day-to-day. It’s OK if you need someone to help you and keep in mind that someone might need you to be there for them. The world is built on dependable relationships. I wanted to share this video as a fun and happy reminder of that idea.

 

Stand By Me | Playing For Change | Song Around The World from Concord Music Group on Vimeo.

 


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Do Your Customers Trust You?

This could be one of the most important questions a business can ask. Customer loyalty is the lifeline to any business. All repeat business is based on two things, trust and loyalty. And you can’t really have one without the other. No matter what product or service you offer, you maintain a relationship with your customer and in that relationship, there is room for trust. Here are a few good ways to make sure your customers actually do trust you.

1. Never Over Promise – Your customer might be forgiving once but if you continue to let them down by over-promising you are sure to lose them. Under delivering tells your customer that you just told them what they wanted to hear. If you can under promise, even if it doesn’t make them ecstatic at the time, and over deliver you will keep your customers.

2. Make Yourself Available – Should any problem arise, your customer shouldn’t have to wait (a long time) to get a hold of you. They also shouldn’t have to talk to a machine. Social media has made it easy for customers to talk to brands/businesses online. It’s a really great opportunity for you as a business to take care of your customers and to show the world that you take care of your customers.

3. Be On Their Side – This goes back to the very essence of customer service but even if the customer is wrong, they’re not. Your opportunity here is to let the customer know you’re on their side instead of against them. If there is a problem you will work together to get to the solution. As long as you can help it, it should never be the customer vs. the business. It should be the customer and the business vs. the problem. If your customers always feel like you’re on their side they will always trust you.

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3 Ways To Be More Productive Than Ever!

It’s a new year! We are all full of high hopes and aspirations to make this year better than all of the previous ones. One of the best ways, in my opinion, is to be more productive. If you get more done, you have more time. More time to do the things you love to do and to spend time with the people you love to be with. Here are a few of my best productivity secrets to make 24 hours seem longer than it ever has… in a good way.

1. Tell People You’re Busy – If you always stop what you’re doing to do something else, you’ll never get anything done. Let people know what you’re working and let them know that you will be working on it for a set amount of time. This keeps them from stopping you in the middle of your work and lets you stay on track.

2. Set Concrete Goals – Don’t leave any of your goals in the grey area. Things like “if I feel productive I will” or “If I’m not too busy I will” won’t do. Set a specific number for your goals. “When I finish 10 reports” or “I’ll leave no later than 5:30″. This way you have a better idea of how to plan and prioritize for the day.

3. Recharge Before You Really NEED To – Don’t let yourself burnout. If you get the point of exhaustion or where you just don’t care you wont get anything done. Take a break and even get a snack before you feel like you’re going to crash. This helps you keep up the momentum for the day, week, month etc.

Read more productivity tips here.

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2011′s Best Books for Entrepreneurs

There are a lot of valuable ways to spend your time but I like to rate reading among the best of them. We all have so much room to learn and grow that it’s a waste not to read. This is especially true for entrepreneurs. I found a great list of this years best books for entrepreneurs on Inc Magazine. check them out below.

If you could recommend just one book for someone wanting to start their own business, what would it be? Share your pick in the comment box below or on Facebook and Twitter.

 

Culture Doesn’t Have To Be Expensive

Company culture is incredibly valuable to an organization. Why else would so many companies invest so much in developing the culture they want, a culture that their employees thrive in. Google wanted to encourage individuality and creativity so they give their employees one day a week to work on whatever they want, and that’s where a lot of their best products have developed. Your organization’s culture can make or break you, and at the very least give you an edge over the competition.

Most companies can’t afford to give their employees a day off every week or a huge food court with gourmet chefs or free dry cleaning, childcare and whatever else they have at the Google headquarters, but that doesn’t mean they can’t create a culture that fits their values and helps their employees to reach full potential. Here are a few good tips for building the culture YOU want.

1. Make rules for the majority – Don’t change a policy just because one person might take it for granted. Make your rules to give your employees as much autonomy as possible. It will become more obvious who fits the company culture and who does not once these rules are established.

2. Be Flexible – Just because someone is in the office for eight hours, doesn’t mean they got eight hours worth of work done. Give your employees a little flexibility to encourage not just productivity but also prioritizing. Base your expectations on the amount of work your employees get done instead of how long you’re there.

3. Develop Experts – Just think of the possibilities! Everyone you work with or have working for you is an expert at what they do. It sounds like what you would expect but anymore, people have too much on their plate to be an expert at anything. We have too many “Jack of All Trades” and not nearly enough experts.

Read More Company Culture Tips Here.

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