This morning I listened to an interview with Sandra Yancey from eWomenNetwork and Shawn Achor, one of the world’s leading experts on the connection between happiness and success.
It confirmed again for me how all the "air war" (what's in our minds) is so much more important than the "ground war" (strategies), but how a victory is only possible when both go hand-in-hand.
Most of my clients come to me for results. High Performance is the #1 secret to driving success all across the board and everybody thinks it's the systems and strategies that push the needle. Here's the doggone truth: systems and strategies are responsible for about 7.5%. The other 92.5% are all in our minds. Most of us have systems and strategies, bought programs, took classes, attended webinars and maybe implemented even a little for the week or two after the event. Then it's back to the ol' grind UNLESS we are actually in the process of changing our minds...
I've listened to various happiness experts before and they all agree on this: the only way to change our happiness quotient is through conscious practice. And it's a choice to build a new habit just like going to the gym every day. Every day, pick 3 things you are happy and grateful for. What I learned today, they have to be 3 DIFFERENT things every day and you have to be specific about them because your brain is smart:) If you just regurgitate the same 3 things every day over and over, your brain hears "bla bla bla Ginger, bla bla bla..."
Also, what I teach in my Dawn Patrol practice, at the end of your silent time in the morning, role play through your day from the perspective of your expanded self, the self that you aspire to be. Because here is the clencher: your brain actually can't distinguish between your thoughts and reality. So if you focus on lack and negativity in your thought interactions, for your brain this is the truth and all your subsequent actions will be directed by that.
Since we have just determined that your thoughts relate directly to your reality, just imagine what you can do when you choose happiness and conscious choice!
Happiness and high performance go hand-in-hand like air and ground war. In fact, the old thinking that working hard and being successful will make you happy is quite backwards. Shawn Achor made this point today: 75% of our job success is predicted not by intelligence, but by your optimism, social support network and the ability to manage energy and stress in a positive way.
Here ya go: Be Happy!