August thoughts from Dr. Nathanson
How do you define success from the inside out?
First, you must have a vision of what you want. What work excites you? Is there someone who you envy — someone who does similar work? If you had 50 million dollars, what work would you do right now?
Next, write down what you want. It is amazing what happens when you write down what you want. In many ways, it forces you to see your dream from a new perspective. Try it now for yourself. Write down the work you really want to do. You might write something like:
“The work I really want to do is………, and the reason is……….”
In my research and in my life, I have found that when we know WHY we want something, we can start to move towards it.
You are good enough!
Often, in our quest to make more money, look better, sound better, and be liked by others, we forget to appreciate ourselves. When we understand ourselves and accept who we are, which includes all the good and imperfections, we can stop seeking approval from others.
You are the best version of yourself already 🙂
To have joyful work or to be a humanistic leader of ourselves and others, we must first learn to accept ourselves!
10 minutes a day
Do you take 10 minutes a day to pause, clear your mind and reflect?
It is essential to do this for positive mental health.
Otherwise, we move from task to task without regard for our emotional state.
Often, the best rewards for intrinsic motivation are those we give ourselves.
Have you treated yourself today?
How to develop positive personal power and influence at work?
It is essential at work to express your views in respectful ways. No one can read your mind! I have observed that the best route to career success is to have a pleasing personality. That is, be open, transparent, friendly, and always willing to compromise and help others. With this behavior, you will gain positive personal power and influence!
When work is Joyful!
When your work is joyful, your life will become connected with no separation needed between work and home, vacation and vocation, Monday and Friday.
How does a person become self-aware?
It is important to know and accept yourself unconditionally. Only then will you be able to also accept others. It is important to understand at a deep level who you are, what you want, and why.
Matching one’s values and goals is important for living an authentic life and a life that benefits others. The path to self-awareness takes daily reflection. It is important to have a process in place for becoming self-aware. It can be a roadmap process such as a joyful work model™ or any process which you find useful.
The top five questions to ask yourself about your work!
At any age but especially as we develop, these are the five most important questions to ask yourself about your work to enable an authentic life.
1. Does my work make sense to me
(Not because you are paid or have a big office or impressive title)
2. Is my work fulfilling?
(Just like that ice cream tastes on a hot summer day, your work should be as fulfilling)
3.Does my work align my abilities and what I am motivated to do right now?
(The worse reason to work at something is just because you are good at it. You must also enjoy it if you expect to work at it for a long time)
4. Can I see and feel the difference which my work makes?
(If we don’t see the connection between our work and how others benefit we end up working only for money which leads to burn-out over time)
5. Can I do this work for the rest of my life?
( It no longer makes sense to retire. Besides if you loved your work, why would you ever want to stop?)
What the humanistic leader understands
The humanistic leader understands at a deep level that the most important business indicator is the level of joy and meaning which people have in their work. When this is in place, all other indicators of business success will go up.
The result of poor focus and reduced deep thinking
The ability to think deeply and to make deeper connections between one’s inside world and the outer world requires focus. Without focus new connections are quickly made and lost. Deeper learning requires deeper thinking as well which leads to enlightened awareness. This requires comparing and contrasting new learning with one’s current knowledge. This is not always easy.
Without deep focus, poor decisions are made, errors increase, productivity goes down, relationships suffer and one’s overall quality of life resembles a pinball machine. Put your phone away a few hours a day so you can focus! You will feel better, happier and you will also get more done!