Word Of the Week #547: Achievement
January 28, 2015 by Susan Clarke · Comments Off on Word Of the Week #547: Achievement
Achievement: something that has been accomplished.
What achievements have you made in the last year? What would like to accomplish this year with regard to your job? How about your personal life?
This week’s WOW comes from long time friend and subscriber Joe who had this to say about WOW # 545 on Success. He writes, “Susan: Success means different things to different people.
I know that for my Irish immigrant father, success was making enough money to take care of seven children. As a child of the depression, money was an important security blanket for my dad.
My father loves to count his money. It makes him feel good. That is success for my father. That he has money in his hands, his wallet, in the bank.
My perspective on success has changed as I have watched my two daughters grow. I used to view success in terms of where I was in my career and when I achieved it. While I have not achieved everything I wanted in my career – YET – I have done pretty well.
But at this stage in my life – mid 50s – I look at my success not in career terms, but as a human being. I have been
blessed with a good wife and two healthy, happy daughters who are achieving successes in school and music activities.
Both girls are confident and well-adjusted, with good friends who care about them.
To me, this is SUCCESS. My wife and I have raised two young ladies who will be responsible citizens making important contributions. I guess you could say they are a success legacy.
I am grateful for the ladies in my life, who have helped define success for me every day.
And one thing I have learned is, don’t let someone try to dismiss your achievements no matter how small! There have been times when I took lots of “baby steps” to get me where I am today.
This week’s focus is on your achievements? Is your focus only on your career? Have you ever considered the accomplishments you’ve made in your personal life? Do you ever feel that what you want to achieve is just too big so what’s the use in even trying? How would it feel to start taking “baby steps?”
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Word Of the Week #546: Passion
January 21, 2015 by Susan Clarke · Comments Off on Word Of the Week #546: Passion
Passion: a strong fondness, enthusiasm, or desire for something.
What are you passionate about? What could you do to make a greater impact in your workplace or industry? What would it take for you to create more enthusiasm for your job or in your life?
This is the follow up to last week’s WOW from the Wall Street Journal article written by Dennis Nishi titled, What Does ‘Success’ Mean, Anyway?
Last week I asked this question, “Are you fulfilled in your job?” What was your answer? What if you are in the right place and could have greater impact than you realize on your workplace or industry? Nishi writes, “Seek the help of colleagues, mentors and even your boss to help you realize where you need to be. Or you may just need to make some adjustments to improve your lot at work – like getting out from under a bad boss.” He then continues with key point #2.
- Find Your Passion.
No choice is immutable. “Many people won’t change because it’s easier to come up with excuses about why they should stay on course,” says Larry Smith, adjunct professor of economics at Canada’s University of Waterloo who gave a TED talk on why most people fail to get great careers.
Smith says, “You’ll never reach your full potential at a job that you’re not passionate about. A great job is one in which you are profoundly satisfied with what you do. It may seem daunting and too far away, but it’s the passion for the work that will drive you to endure whatever hardship is required to make it work.”
This week is all about your passion. Are you profoundly satisfied with what you do? Do you feel like you are not reaching your full potential? What adjustments do you need to make? Have you ever asked for the help of your colleagues or bosses?
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FUN-travel: Reykjavik, Iceland – Day 3
January 15, 2015 by Susan Clarke · Comments Off on FUN-travel: Reykjavik, Iceland – Day 3
Day 53 – Saturday, August 23 – Reykjavik, Iceland – Full Day 3 – thick overcast skies w/intermittent patches of blue – balmy summer day – high 50’s
Blue Lagoon
Husavik, Iceland
What I LIKE
- 8:15 – wake up to good hot espresso
- 10:30 – walk to bus terminal
- City is buzzing w/lots of people for marathon
- (FYI there is no traffic aloud in city today)
- 10:45 – arrive terminal
- 11:00 – depart for Blue Lagoon
- – drive includes lots of lava landscape w/mountains in distance
- 11:55 – arrive to huge lava rock pools filled w/steaming (100 degrees) geo thermal sea water
- 12:05 – arrive entrance and line to enter
- – pretty state of the art w/wristbands
- – cost includes locker – w/extras of towels & robes = $40
- – need to put conditioner on hair before entering
- – put mud from lagoon on face & neck
- – shampoo & conditioner from lagoon made hair silky
- – didn’t even use hair dryer & no frizz
- 1:00 – lunch – seafood salad w/shrimp & lobster, steamed mussels & 2 Gull beers= $58
- 2:15 – depart bus back to city
- 3:00 – arrive & walk via pavilion garden park & large lake
- – lots of stages set up w/music, dancing, kids games all over city
Pavilion Garden Park
- 4:30 – back to apt for R & R
- 5:00 – realize I left bathing suit at lagoon – oh well it was 11 years old
- Never put lotion on & skin is so soft
- 6:00 – dinner @ Seafood Grill
Solfar (Sun Voyager) Sculpture
FUN-food – spotted catfish w/broccoli, barley & lobster sauce – smoked Shag, Puffin & marinated Minke whale w/blueberry, fennel, red onion & hazelnut dressing – Gretti’s salad, rocket, buri cheese, tomato, carrot – Morande Pionero Merlot 2012 – food just so-so = $133
- Everyone drinks and serves tap water & proud of it
- 11:00 – festivities capped off w/fireworks
What I DON’T LIKE
- Nothing I can remember
Last Supper
FUN-fact – The Blue Lagoon water color comes from the silica and the way it reflects sunlight. If you pour it into a transparent cup, it will always have a milky white color. The sun simply makes it look blue!
More FF – Turned on the BBC and they are reporting “a red alert has been issued for the volcano in Iceland.” No one in Iceland is even talking about it and when I checked in for the flight on line there was no mention of it either. Pretty interesting wouldn’t you say?
Word Of the Week #545: Success
January 14, 2015 by Susan Clarke · Comments Off on Word Of the Week #545: Success
Success: the achievement of something desired, planned, or attempted.
What does success mean to you? When was the last time you achieved something you desired? What one success would you like to achieve in your lifetime?
This week’s WOW comes from the Wall Street Journal article written by Dennis Nishi titled, What Does ‘Success’ Mean, Anyway? I am going to cover his two key points in the next two WOW’s.
- Think for Yourself.
Employees dissatisfied with their careers may not be entirely to blame for the choices they’ve made. Many ideas about success are often not your own, say experts. It happens early and often subconsciously. People are influenced by the simple rewards systems learned in high school and college and by what is portrayed as success by the media and in popular culture. There are also strong parental expectations to continue the family business or enter stable, respectable professions.
As a result, people may wake up years later uncertain of why they are dissatisfied, says Richard Shell, a professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and author of “Springboard: Launching Your Personal Search for Success.” That’s one reason he recommends people take pit stops to evaluate themselves.
“Unfortunately, many Americans think of their careers as a race and feel that if they stop to change a tire in the pit, everybody will pass you by,” says Mr. Shell, who has seen many students discover midway through their M.B.A.s that they want to do something other than finance.
Mr. Shell says, “The first step is to put success into your own context. Shift your perspective toward what’s important to you, as opposed to something outside yourself. You need to overcome any limits that you’ve imposed on yourself. Once you’ve gotten over the idea of being the richest or most famous person and have a good sense of what’s truly meaningful, set some long-term goals and start moving in that direction. You may not end up going to the exact place you idealize, but you’ll at least move toward something that can be more satisfying.”
This week is all about what success means to you. Are you fulfilled in your job? Are you doing “what is expected” because someone else dictated that? Do you have a good sense of what’s truly meaningful to you? What long-term goals could you set to help you move in that direction?
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Word Of the Week #544: Camaraderie
January 7, 2015 by Susan Clarke · Comments Off on Word Of the Week #544: Camaraderie
Camaraderie: goodwill and lighthearted rapport between or among friends.
How many friends do you have at work? Do you feel a sense of goodwill and rapport with most of the people you work with? If you could change one thing about the people you work with what would it be?
This week seemed like a good time to address the changes you’d liked to see in the workplace for the upcoming New Year. The Huffington Post had this article written by Carolyn Gregoire titled, “Why You Should Care about Having Friends at Work.”
She writes, “Chatting over lunch and joking with coworkers may not seem like more than pleasant distractions at the office, but they could have an enormous impact on your work life. With employee engagement declining and more than eight in 10 American workers experiencing job-related stress — female employees being even more more vulnerable to workplace tension than men — friendship could make the difference between happiness at work and burnout. Research has found that strong social connections at the office can boost productivity, and could make employees more passionate about their work and less likely to quit their jobs.
According to Christine M. Riordan, provost and professor of management at the University of Kentucky, camaraderie is a key ingredient to happiness at work for male and female employees. A study led by Riordan, published in the Journal of Business Psychology in the ’90s, found that the mere opportunity for friendship increases employee job satisfaction and organizational effectiveness.
In a recent Harvard Business Review blog “We All Need Friends at Work,” Riordan pointed towards the multitude of evidence suggesting that office friendships can act as an antidote to dissatisfaction and disengagement at work. The type of relationships that go beyond casual chat buddies — what she calls “the good old-fashioned friendships created when we chit-chat, hang out, joke, and have fun with co-workers” — can have deep and far-ranging benefits in the workplace.
She writes, “Camaraderie is more than just having fun… It is also about creating a common sense of purpose and the mentality that we are in it together. Studies have shown that soldiers form strong bonds during missions in part because they believe in the purpose of the mission, rely on each other, and share the good and the bad as a team. In short, camaraderie promotes a group loyalty that results in a shared commitment to and discipline toward the work.
Employees who enjoy this type of camaraderie are more likely to stay at their jobs and feel loyal to the company they work for. Riordan cites a 2012 Gallup report which found that 50 percent of employees with a best friend at work reported that they feel a strong connection with their company, compared to just 10 percent of employees without a best friend at work.
This week is all about camaraderie. Do you feel a strong connection with your company? Do you chit-chat, hang out, joke, and have fun with co-workers? How about your staff? Is there a high rate or low rate of turnover?
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