The Positive Energy Workplace

I LOVE Thanksgiving... it may very well be my favorite holiday. To me, this week is one of the happiest of the year, regardless of what's happening in the economy, in the world, in our own personal lives. Truly. One of the happiest of the year. Why?

Because we get to walk around expressing gratitude, more than usual, not that we can't everyday (because I personally believe we absolutely can and should). But because it gives us an extra container and nudge to create space for gratitude. LOVE IT!

Finding the things your grateful for and writing them down, is becoming old school for creating joy and happiness in your life. There are gratitude journals, gratitude rocks, gratitude clubs... Gratefully so.

It's so easy to let life and our days happen "to" us. With the best of quiet intentions we say we want to have a good day, create a great meeting, take care of our bodies, be an awesome partner in relationship (or parent, spouse, friend, etc.), show up as a solid leader, and rock our results. And then life happens. 

We get "busy," we start our day answering emails (getting sucked into other peoples' intentions), our schedule slips, we run late, we spend big cycles trying to catch up and recover from each meeting, we have multiple demands, and we forget to be present. Before you know it, we're overwhelmed, the day is gone, it's 8 p.m. and all we can wonder is "What were my original plans?" and "Where did the day go?" and "Hand me the remote."

My boy just got his permit. I’ve aged about 5 years in the last week. It’s a magical time. It’s brought out the best and the worst in me. This a.m. after he set my nervous system on fire driving to school, and I’d had time to drop back into my body and reflect… I realized how much I’m impacting his performance and experience with, YEP, my very own presence and being. For your viewing (and perhaps giggling and/or empathic) pleasure, here’s a bit of a window into that experience. OF COURSE, I’ve looped this right back into how this is a leadership lesson. 

Well… today is the day. Contagious Culture: Show Up, Set the Tone, and Intentionally Create an Organization that Thrives hits bookshelves at retailers near you. It may be impossible for me to write a fantastic post today (I’m sure I’ll have greater wisdom and insight to share in the next couple of weeks once some of the dust has settled and it’s all sunk in), and in the meantime… I couldn’t not say hello today.