Increase Happiness & Performance in the workplace - Why I do what I do
Are your employees happy?
Are they performing optimally?
The Pattern
Last 11 years, I've spend quite some time in different organizations and noticed a pattern. A pattern I got stuck in. A pattern I was also seeing a lot around me.
I was working hard, I was driven. So I was all the time busy. When people asked: hey Jan, how are you doing? I generally replied: busy busy. Or: fine, thanks, a bit tired. Probably never I replied: I'm great, thanks!
So rarely there was fire, passion and lots of energy to those answers, reflecting my state of mind and body. Which by the way didn't mean I was unhappy, there was just not much passion, joy and excitement. And I wasn't seeing much of this burning fire in the people around me either.
So I saw limited joy and happiness in the workplace.
I saw people being overworked, stressed, and not having their priorities straight.
I also saw a lot of complaining, blaming, and finding excuses. People not being able to take responsibility for their actions and results.
And what I realized afterwards, I saw people only using a fraction of their potential, the most important item of this list for me.
Now, you might say I'm being too negative. I know this doesn't apply to everyone, but I don't want to neglect the fact that lots of people and organizations do struggle with this. Only 12% of people in Belgium are actively engaged in their job. So 88% is not engaged, not passionate about their job (22% of them are actively disengaged). This is crazy.
I want you to realize that it doesn't have to be like that. There are things you can do! It is possible to increase happiness and performance in your organization. And I have a way, one of many by the way, to help you with this.
So to summarize the story: my pattern was that of a typical corporate dude working his *ss off, being in the flow of Western society and not even realizing I was in it. It was the way things were, it was the reality as I knew it.
I remember telling my wife a million times that it's important that I finish this work now, now being 9, 10 or 11 in the evening. Next week or next month should be less busy, sweetie, I told her.
But mostly it continued.
It continued until I decided to pack my bags, leave for a year, travel around, live a simple life.
The trap
It seems so obvious now in retrospect, but only there and then I realized I didn't have my priorities straight. I was not getting the joy out of work and life that I could be getting.
And I was not performing optimally either. Working hard doesn't mean working efficiently or effectively. It's a trap I see a lot of people in.
So how can we avoid this trap and become happier and better performing in what we do?
If you're curious to know how, you can check the next video here or just drop me a message and I'll come tell you in person :-)
Destiny is not a matter of chance; it is a matter of choice. It is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved.
Have a wonderful day!
Jan Aquarius - Live. Grow. Matter.