Posted by admin on September 1, 2010 · Leave a Comment
Much like bacteria and viruses, there may be someone at work whose negativity can infect your otherwise upbeat outlook on life and bring you down.
Be aware that their influence will be highly detrimental to your ability to reach your personal and professional goals.
These people can masquerade as informed (amateur) social commentators with a pool of opinions larger than the Hoover Dam.
Initially the effect may seem subtle but over time, as you politely listen to their litany of “everything in my life is awful”, “businesses are rolling downhill faster than a group of scouts on a camping trip with food poisoning” and “my gout just gets worse every Thanksgiving”, you subconsciously start to buy into their brand of what is wrong instead of focusing on what is right in your world.
As they saying goes, “misery loves company”, so here are some strategies you can use to prevent becoming suckered in and losing your energy to them.
1. Avoid them like the plague (they literally are the plague). Spend minimal time sitting next to them during coffee breaks if you have to. When it gets beyond your tolerance threshold, politely excuse yourself (with a knowing smile). It’ll kill them to want to know what you know.
2. When they stop by your desk to talk about their awful weekend, spring one on them and say, “Gee, didn’t you enjoy a single minute of your time off work?” Get up from your desk as if to head off to an appointment and don’t get into a conversation with them on this topic.
3. This one takes a bit of chutzpah. Firmly and with empathy say that you feel really flat after social conversations with them, and that in future could we just stick to work related topics (and not how horrible their job is).
4. Imagine a bubble of white light around you that keeps the nasties out. If possible, have some upbeat music on your iPod that you can listen to when you are at your desk, even if it is only for 5 minutes.
5. We attract certain types of people into our lives for a reason. Spend some quiet down time considering what it is they are here to teach you. Learn the lesson, bless and release them and move on.
Yours in health, wealth and happiness
Posted by admin on July 2, 2010 · 4 Comments
On meeting another person for the first time, we are judged (fairly or otherwise) by our appearances and then when we open our mouths.
When you think of ducking down to the local 7Eleven for milk and the newspapers on a lazy Sunday morning, the dress code is informal-think jeans, sneakers and a sweater.
In an amusing account by an Australian woman living in France with her French beau, she described the horrified look on his face, when she was about to step out to the boulangerie for breakfast provisions (dressed in a casual manner).
French women would not dream of going to the shops sooo unprepared to face the world. Oh no, they present themselves in their best possible light and ladies that means make up and co-ordinated fashion and accessories, at the minimum.
If you work on the principle that any and everyone you meet is a prospect and potential client, ask yourself how you want them to see you?
I will pre-empt you by saying that the previous statement does not imply that you are going out there with an ulterior motive of taking financial advantage of the unsuspecting. This is hardly the case.
As an illustration, if you are tired, grumpy in the grocery store check out queue, you may be forgiven for being a bit short with the young person packing your groceries.
However, that young person’s parents may also require your services or business should you meet them socially at a barbeque, for instance.
Imagine your surprise when you enter their home to find that young check out person lives there.
There can be a couple of scenarios here,
i) there is awkward silence when you recall how you spoke to that person at the store or
ii) absolute delight that he/she remembers you as the nice person who took the time to have a little chat with them as they were scanning your box of Cheerios.
So this is what I usually do: 1) smile and make eye contact, 2) comment on how busy or quiet things are in the store, 3) engage them in a conversation, usually around the fact that they are earning whilst studying at university or college, and 4) say bye bye.
Now, that wasn’t so hard and it certainly made me feel better. Try it.
Yours in health, wealth and happiness
