It is a wonderful gift when life hands us abundance, however, it has caused me to slip from my Friday employee engagement blogs. My schedule has been so full these past few months that I have not taken the time to write. Many of you have mentioned how much you appreciate and look forward to my messages. So I’m trying to be diligent with putting some “me” time back into my calendar.

If you’ve worked with me for any length of time, you’ve probably heard me talk about the happiness challenge and the three gratitudes. This is three gratitudes Olympic style! 

10 Minutes Can Change Your Happiness

Every night for the next week, 10 minutes before you go to sleep, write down three things that went well today, and why they went well. These don’t have to be large things. They might be something simple like, my husband took out the garbage. Or it might be something that happened at work. That 1:1 with my staff person went really well. Whether large or small, write down three new things that went well each day. After listing what went well, then answer “why.” Why did it go well? What were the circumstances? What role did I play? And think about how you can have more of this good thing in the future.

In placebo and real exercise studies, it turns out that when people do this, six months later they are less depressed and have higher positive emotion, even though the exercise says to do it for only one week. The effects of that one week exercise continued months later. Positive interventions can be addictive, for the good! 

Challenge Your Team

Have your work team do this “what went well” exercise every day before they leave work for one week. Ask them to keep a log of three new things each day that went well at work and why. Ask staff to share them with you in 1:1’s or together in a staff meeting. Focus on bringing those positive elements that made something go well, into each situation.

Have a wonderful week!

Lisa