Dr. Douglas Gentile, a distinguished professor of psychology at Iowa State University, found that when people took the time to think positive thoughts about the people they saw as they were going about their day, they had improved moods, felt happier, better connected, more empathetic and more satisfied with their lives. Keep in mind, they were thinking these positive thoughts about people they didn’t even know! For example, when they approached someone, they would think something like, “I wish that person to be happy,” or, “I hope that person has a wonderful day.” And that’s all it took to energize their own day! I think we should all give this a try. We’ve got nothing to lose, everything to gain and there is absolutely no risk. I don’t know about you, but I’m often daydreaming when I’m walking on a sidewalk or across a parking lot. Thinking positive thoughts about the people we see is putting that time to much better use.
Recommended Reading
Instant Turnaround!: Getting People Excited About Coming to Work and Working Hard
Transform Your Workplace!
Imagine a company where people are excited about coming to work and giving their best efforts every day. In this innovative and engrossing business parable, Harry Paul and Ross Reck show managers at all levels how they can immediately and easily increase productivity by tapping into the discretionary effort of the people who work for them. Starting from the most basic aspect of business reality—that people intentionally regulate the amount of effort they put into their jobs based upon how they feel they’re being treated—the authors point out that the most important part of the job of every manager, team leader, supervisor, and executive is to treat people in such a way that they become excited about applying all their discretionary effort toward performing their jobs.
At the book’s center is the story of Nancy Kim, a human resources director at a magazine that is struggling with all the problems associated with unhappy employees—low productivity and morale along with high absenteeism and turnover. After she openly challenges the CEO’s new management-by-the-numbers system, she’s charged with turning the situation around immediately. Filled with real-world studies, Instant Turnaround! shows anyone how to turn the workplace into a destination—a place where working hard feels like hardly working because it’s engaging, enjoyable, and fulfilling.
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