Be Happy…It Is Good Medicine!

Self awareness. Self control. Needs to be practiced daily. When it is not, it leads to problems big and small in one’s personal life and in the workplace. Have you ever noticed that when you start the day in a positive frame of mind many things go right? You feel less stressed, you miss the traffic jams on the way to work, someone does something nice for you when you stop to get your morning coffee, and the rest of the day remains pleasant. Recurring happy thoughts start in the mind, but have a real physical reaction in one’s body. So as the song says “Be happy.” It is good medicine.

Years ago, I worked with a company comprised mainly of family members. One of the founders was a no nonsense, extremely rigid individual who drove everyone around him nuts. His brother-in-law, who was the sweetest man alive took to drinking secretly just so he could stay the day. His wife would ask us over the intercom to do tasks that were so ludicrous we would laugh out loud (she too would laugh) so we knew who originated the request. Needless to say, this gentleman was not one to say more than good morning (if that), he also was the one to stick his head out the door and ask why two people were talking when he thought they should be doing something.  He sticks out in my memory as someone who never understood self control or the meaning of positive thinking.

I would like to believe that as we get busier at DDA, and the projects bigger and more complex, that all of us will start the day by asking ourselves, how are we going to stay positive? One way is to be realistic. If assigned a task that seems impossible in terms of deadlines, speak up early. Pushing back is good if you are confident you are right. It is wrong, if you lack the know how, but it is smart to ask for help early in a project.

A motivational author and speaker often says “Positive and negative are directions. Which direction do you choose?” Let’s all choose positive and make the Fall and Winter economically meaningful for ourselves and our clients.

Entry by: elizabeth