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| Happy People Win Newsletter |
Volume 6, Issue 11
November 2012 | |
| NOTE: if you are using Outlook to view this and it has strange spaces, please click on "click here to view it in Web browser" at the top and it will look as it was intended to look. ☺ Thanks!! |
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 Happy October
I know, I had advance warning, but have to say I cannot believe it is - gulp- almost the end of 2012. I still need to work on my organization goals of 2012, but hey, I have almost two months. No problem. 
I had another wonderful month (I know, there is a pattern here - but remember it is a choice and I choose positive). One of my favorite events was working with Mission Hope Cancer Center in Santa Maria, CA. The center offered an educational event for the community - a morning of speakers on wellness, nutrition, cancer prevention and treatment. I spoke and then had the honor of introducing three amazing women, all who have experienced cancer, one still receiving treatment. I loved them. Really, really adored each one. I want to share one of the nuggets I left with. One of the women, Shirley, shared that many people in the midst of a difficult period (i.e. her cancer diagnosis) spend time lamenting on how they can't wait to get back to their "normal" life. She pointed out - this IS life. Her life. Cancer and all. The new normal. Wow. What a great way to look at it. Life DOES have its ups and downs. It is all a part of our existence, the good and the bad. "Normal" includes joy, laughter and excitement but also disease, sadness and dejection. Package deal, it is how we deal with the package that matters.
"Experience is not what happens to a man; it is what a man does with what happens to him."
- Aldous Huxley
I hope your month is spectacular!
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Emotional Wellness
The Psychology of Cute
I love cute. When people send me pictures of kids or baby animals, I am happy. Not surprisingly, research shows that we are rendered powerless when confronted by cute.
But why? What makes something so impossibly, ridiculously adorable? As it turns out, there are scientists who are devoting their careers to discovering the answers to that question.
When viewing the adorable, our brain gets a boost in its pleasure center -- after just a seventh of a second of looking at the cute widdle thing. Interestingly, research has uncovered the facial features that make something especially cute: big eyes. Big cheeks. Big forehead. (Which essentially proves, as a New York Times story asserted in 2006, that pandas are the cutest being on the planet.)
Dudes, think you're too dudely to get bogged down in all the cute? Not true. A study out last year suggested that responsiveness to cute -- as in, the amount of time a person chooses to gaze at, for example, a widdle bitty baby -- is about the same in both men and women. Ha.
- Today Health Jan 2012 |
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America's Happiest Workplaces
MSN Money
I train at a lot of different companies and the common stated goal is the owners, CEO's, management, all want a happier workplace. DOn't we all? A side note: Workplace happiness is generational, policies and programs that work for Baby Boomers, usually won't work well for Millennials. One size does not fit all.
The CareerBliss rankings are based on more than 100,000 worker-generated reviews. Employees rate their workplaces on such factors as work-life balance, relationships with bosses and co-workers, compensation, growth opportunities, a company's culture and the opportunity for employees to exert control over the daily work flow.
This year's survey reiterates what most workers probably know: Great co-workers make a huge difference in job satisfaction. The highest-rated factor shared by each of this year's top 10 workplaces is "the people you work with."
I recommend "Delivering Happiness" a book by CEO of Zappo's Tony Hsieh. I just read it and really enjoyed his outlook, strategies and goals for making his workplace THE place to be. It can help with your workplace too!
If you are interested in hiring Jean to come to present her "Got Morale?: Creating A Happy, Healthy Work Environment" training in 2013, contact us at 805.931.0932 or
Send us an email! |
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"Be thankful for what you have; you'll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don't have, you will never, ever have enough" ~ Oprah Winfrey
"Gratitude is medicine for a heart devastated by tragedy. If you can only be thankful for the blue sky, then do so."
~ R. E. Goodrich
"Praise the bridge that carried you over." ~ George Colman
"There is no greater difference between men than between grateful and ungrateful people." ~R.H. Blyth
"We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures." ~Thornton Wilder
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Things That a Positive Attitude in the Workplace Will Do
1. Career Success: Who is more likely to get promoted? Those who think positively and get results or those who constantly complain and say something isn't their job?
2. Stress Reduction: You feel stressed when you see events or situations as stressful. Change your perception to something more positive and the stressful feelings will go away. Instead of problems, see issues as challenges, for example, from which you and your company can ultimately benefit. Try asking yourself how you can make something easier or more enjoyable. It's amazing what you come up with when you start asking yourself these types of questions.
3. Less sick days and better productivity:
This is a side benefit of stress reduction. Stress can have a serious negative impact on your health. If you can reduce your
stress, or the stress of everyone in your organization you'll enjoy better health, less sick days, and better productivity.
4. Improve customer relations and improve sales: Customers would rather deal with someone positive. Research has also shown that sales professionals who think positively and believe in the benefits of their product have much better sales performance.
- positive attitude tips.com
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Intellectual Wellness
Learn Something New EVERYDAY
Besides making your life more worthwhile, there are lots of reasons we should all keep learning. Why you ask?
According to "Lifehacks" Dustin Wax here are some of those reasons:
Learning helps us more easily and readily adapt to new situations.
Learning across a wide range of subjects gives us a range of perspectives to call on in our own narrow day-to-day areas of specialization.
A broad knowledge of unfamiliar situations feeds innovation by inspiring us to think creatively and providing examples to follow.
Learning deepens our character and makes us more inspiring to those around us.
Learning makes us more confident.
Learning instills an understanding of the historical, social, and natural processes that impact and limit our lives.
Whether it is word of the day calendar, subscribing to daily feeds or listening to podcasts, find something that works for you. Check out the article for some ideas: Dustin's Link for more information.
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Nursing Relationships: Horizontal Hostility & The Oppression Theory
- Reality RN -
I volunteer every year to speak on assertiveness to the nursing students at Cuesta College. From my viewpoint, as both a consumer and as an educator in medical settings, I often see an imbalance in the treatment of nurses and other staff. My sister is an RN, and I trust her acumen on disease and trauma management equal to many physicians. Nurses are not normally given assertiveness training which would be helpful in getting equal treament, being heard and feeling valued. So what can happen when a nurse is feeling oppressed and does not feel heard?
According to author and nurse Kathleen Bartholomew it's called horizontal hostility, which is aggressive behavior (bullying, verbal abuse, and violence) directed at co-workers who are on the same power level. And it's born out of a sense of powerlessness.
Studies show that nurses are typically seen as unequal in power to doctors-they are "oppressed," so to speak. It's called Oppression Theory. Nursing has never been considered an empowering profession. Since its inception, nurses have been considered handmaidens to the physicians in a male-dominated society. As a result, nurses assume the label and become unprofessional--cliquey, catty, mean-spirited, and intimidating, especially toward new nurses.
Seasoned nurses stick close together, and they keep everyone who's different outside of the group. So new nurses show up, and the group doesn't want to let them in. It's a way for seasoned nurses to find power in a powerless position.
I have witnessed both the oppression theory and horizontal theory in action. Everyone in the medical field has. And sadly, often the administration adds fuel to the fire. I think it is time, perhaps long overdue, to address these issues in the workplace. As Bartholomew says, "You don't ever have to put yourself in a position where you don't feel valued, recognized, or appreciated for all the gifts and talents you bring everyday to the floor."
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