EAE News
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Medios
No Excuses
12 de September de 2017
Happiness is down to you
By: Susana Carrizosa, a journalist writing for El País
There really are no excuses. Go back to school with your pedal to the floor. Moaning about the end of the good times or because it is Monday morning just doesn't wash any more. The good times start now. It's time to perform, get the very best out of yourself to enable your company to grow and feel that you have taken an active part in this growth. Do so by capitalizing on your very best skill: happiness.
Don't do this because research, such as the report published by Warwick University in England, concludes that happy employees are 12 % more productive, but rather because you choose to. Get your happiness training from this moment onwards. Sleep eight hours, get up and spend just three minutes meditating. Breathe deeply and, when relaxed, program your brain to have a great day, to enjoy the hours ahead in a good mood and approach it with a sense of optimism. Do some sport. Walk for an hour or do a session of Pilates, Pilates, Zumba or CrossFit.
Tackle the day head on. Get rid of the aspects of your job that burn you out. Speak to your bosses to try and improve and define new talents for yourself that enable you to take on new challenges. We obviously cannot all be directors or CEOs, but you can design your job based on your imagination and creativity. This may well involve some more training. That is your challenge. A plethora of postgraduate degrees, Masters and online courses awaits you. No excuses.
In the same way, if you hold a senior position, you may need to reprogram your mindset. Bad bosses wear you down. It is crucial to ensure that you know how to value employees and give them new responsibilities based on their skills. Believe in them and give them greater autonomy. Give them training and work alongside them. Set a good example. Why not reward them with financial incentives?
The fact is that remuneration and, in particular, salaries are still the most highly rated and even determining factor for 63% of professionals when it comes to choosing a company to work for, as revealed in the Randstad Employer Brand Research Report 2017. However, it is closely followed by other more emotional aspects such as work/life balance (55%), a good working atmosphere (49%) and a stimulating job (43%). Why? Because these aspects generate happiness in people. Picking the kids up from school, seeing their school plays, trusting your colleagues, all pulling in the same direction and taking risky decisions all stimulate endorphins and make us feel good about ourselves and a little happier.
Let's be clear that working in happiness mode in no way means laughing all the time or lowering your performance, but rather weighing up the scales by adding more reasons why working is not a bitter pill to swallow every day or an excessive burden that leads Japanese professionals to take their own lives. It is a matter of making your obligations your best ally so that, equipped with your skills and tools, every day is a challenge to embrace in the supermarket, hairdresser, massage parlour or at the kids' extracurricular activities with a spring in your step. No excuses.