A bad mood suits this time of year. It’s the dead of winter in Central Pennsylvania.
Pursuing happiness leads to misery.* But ignoring it doesn’t help.
Your bad mood kills productivity, destroys retention, and dilutes engagement.
Unhappy leaders lead unhappy teams.
A bad mood spreads faster than the flu.
Losing yourself is exhausting. Vitality rises when you stop working to prove yourself.
You’re most like your real self when you feel most alive.
Stress rises when you feel like a fraud.
You are your own raw material.
Sun Tzu said, “For it is precisely when a force has fallen into harm’s way that is capable of striking a blow for victory.”
Desperate times are defining moments.
Ease defeats you. Hardship defines you.
Desperate times make things clear.
The brutal truth inspires people.
MORE…
Meetings make work harder—they drain energy.
We can’t expect high performance from people shackled with fatigue.
Our minds are distracted. Our bodies are tense. Our agenda is crammed.
Choose energy before agenda.
Here’s how to reclaim energy in 2-minutes.
E.B. White writes about his geese, “They badmouth everybody and everything. But they’re oddly companionable once you get used to their ingratitude and their false accusations.”
Negative people are like geese.
A goose may honk your ear off. It’s tempting to withdraw, stop trying, or retaliate. But teams are full of imperfect people.
You can’t make people feel important. But you can show them they matter.
It’s destructive to foster feelings of insignificance. If someone doesn’t contribute, they shouldn’t be on the team.
Don’t say, “You matter.” Prove it.
Here are 7 unexpected ways to energize people by showing them they matter.
