At various points in your professional life, you’ll have an opportunity to take stock of the things that you’ve accomplished.
For some this is updating your resume, others this is when applying for a board seat or applying to speak at a TEDx talk. Anytime you are asked for an updated biography is a chance for you to reflect on the accomplishments of your career.
A new promotion, a change in responsibilities or receiving an award are also key moments where you may reflect on the achievements you’ve enjoyed.
Studies show that gratitude can have a
positive effect on a person’s life. It can improve your outlook, reduce stress, pave the way for new opportunities and more. If you’re evaluating the progress you’ve made professionally, take time to express gratitude for what you’ve already done.
#1. Say Thank You
Most successful people credit their achievements to others along the way who helped them. A schoolteacher who encouraged creativity, a boss who took a chance on the ‘new kid’, an investor who gave the money to get started, the list of possible contributors to your success may be long. Make a list of the people who helped you and let them know how much you appreciate their support.
#2. Share Your Accomplishments
Are you receiving an award or special recognition? Invite key people to share your achievement with you. Were you recognized in a media outlet or press release? Send the announcement to someone who helped you along with a note thanking them.
#3. Reward Yourself
Give yourself permission to enjoy the things you’ve accomplished. Treat yourself with something meaningful as a way of celebrating your success. Take the trip, buy the watch (or shoes!), splurge on dinner. Honour your own sacrifice and work that enabled you to succeed.
What if you think you don’t have much to be grateful for?
Maybe you’re just starting out in your professional career, and you don’t have many things on your “accomplished” list. Perhaps your career has been stagnant, and you’ve been content to simply bide your time every day, wishing your life were different. At this point, you may feel as though you have nothing for which to be grateful. You can’t change the past, you can only make decisions today that will move you forward in the future. The way to a better future?
Set professional goals Goal setting is powerful at any stage of your professional life, but it is especially meaningful at the beginning of your career. Both short and long-term goals will help shape your career in a positive manner, giving you benchmarks to work towards and milestones to take stock of your progress. Use a systematic approach to goal setting, such as the
SMART system, which will allow you to create purposeful traction forward.
Shift your focus Find things to be grateful for – no matter what stage of your career you’re in. Do you have a steady job? Are you relied on by your coworkers for help and support? Have you won recognition by your peers/supervisors for some facet of your job? These accomplishments, while not likely to earn you a spot on the cover of a business magazine, are worthy of recognition and gratitude.
Be honest about the challenges you face What’s holding you back from reaching new levels of achievement? Do you need to make a career change? Will training in a new area offer you more opportunities? Do you have habits or issues that are keeping you from being successful? Take a hard look at your current level of achievement and find ways to move forward.
No matter what stage of your professional life you’re in, today is the perfect day to show gratitude for the things you’ve already accomplished – and the people who helped you along the way. Who can you thank today?
Michele Bailey is president and CEO of
Blazing Agency and
My Big Idea®. These two lines of business work congruently to support her clients’ success.
“The wonderful thing is that vision is greater than baggage.” - Stephen Covey
“Setting goals allows you to paint a vision of what you wish your future to be.” - Catherine Pusifer
Much has been said about the idea of having a vision. Companies often have vision or mission statements that summarize the overall goal of the organization.
What about individuals? Is it important to have a vision for your professional life? Creating a vision for your career may seem too theoretical - after all, shouldn’t you just do your job and not have a larger ‘mission’? Your mission, however, can encompass more than just your employment. When it comes to your job, if you want to reach any type of success, you need a concrete plan. Business experts agree: goal setting is a powerful planning tool that can help you advance your career from one level to the next.
Why set Professional Goals?
Goals help define your vision. Have you asked yourself where you want to be professionally in ten years? That’s your vision. You won’t progress towards the future you envision if you haven’t established a plan of action, and goal setting can help you get there.
Goals Provide Structure
Once you’ve established goals, you can quickly determine if an action is moving you towards or away from your desired result. It is easy to get pulled into the urgency of “today”. When you are driven to reach your goal, however, you are more likely to stay focused on the future.
Goals are Measurable
If you don’t know where you’re headed, you’ll never know if you arrive. By establishing measurable goals, you have a clear indication of your progress.
Using the SMART goal setting systemwill allow you to set benchmark goals that
Which Goals Should You Set?
If you’ve never established
professional goals before, you may be overwhelmed at the thought. Which goals should you set? Which ones would be most beneficial for your career? While the specific nature of your job is unique, here are some examples of goals that can help you get started.
Achieve a professional certification. Are there certifications that pertain to your career? Set a goal to acquire a new certification this year. If your field doesn’t have any, look for certification in technology applications or leadership.
Improve your public speaking skills. Join Toastmasters, take a public speaking or presentation course. Not only can it improve your skills in dealing with your teammates, it can help you develop your skills for future leadership opportunities.
Earn a promotion. Set your sights on moving up in your company. Whether the next step is going from being a solo manager to having direct reports or becoming a team lead over a project, set a goal of moving up in position and level of responsibility.
Make more money. Set a goal for increasing your paycheck. Will it require you to work more hours? Take on more responsibilities? Using the SMART goal system, you can establish a plan that will help you make more in each paycheque.
Build your professional network. Look for ways to add contacts to your professional network. Attend conferences, join business associations and cultivate contacts within your industry. Use networking tools, such as LinkedIn, to connect with people. Adding even one new contact per week (and keeping in touch with them to build that relationship) can have a positive impact on your career.
Where do you see yourself in the future? Setting professional goals doesn’t have to be intimidating. Let the experts at
My Big Idea™ help your team develop short and long term goals that will further your professional career. Contact us today to find out how we can help you create strategic goals for success!
Michele Bailey is president and CEO of
Blazing Agency and
My Big Idea®. These two lines of business work congruently to support her clients’ success.
Relationships are tricky.
Spend any time on social media and you’ll notice an alarming trend: people are lousy at relationships. But they are great at talking about them.
Stories and personal posts are full of caustic, angry words that are used as weapons. You will quickly realize that there seem to be an inordinate number of unhealthy relationships in the world. It may cause you to wonder about the health of your own relationships. Do your relationships bring you joy or pain?
What does a healthy relationship look like?
According to Psychology Today, a healthy relationship has some specific traits.
#1 Trust One of the most important aspects of a healthy relationship is trust. The partners in a trusting relationship rely on this as a solid foundation on which to build.
#2 Communication Another aspect of healthy relationships is communication. Open and honest communication can help bridge the gap when conflict arises and helps to avoid problems.
#3 Patience Exercising patience with one another is key to having a healthy relationship. Patience allows for flexibility and support, which helps to maintain peace in the relationship.
#4 Appreciation Also known as gratitude, having an appreciation for your partner in a relationship can be a benchmark for a thriving relationship. Showing gratitude can increase your happiness and help you feel more secure in the relationship.
A quick glance into your own life may reveal some refreshing insight: you have relationships that are thriving.
Why should you be grateful for the healthy relationships you have?
Healthy relationships improve your life. Not only do relationships enrich your life through connections with other people, they can affect your health in a positive way. When you are involved in a healthy relationship, you are more likely to see an improvement in your physical health. In fact, studies show that people who have at least one positive relationship will live longer, have lower blood pressure, experience less pain and heal faster than those who don’t.
How can you show gratitude for the healthy relationships you have in your life?
Recognize the value of your relationship.
A healthy relationship takes work and commitment. When you have strong ties to another person, it takes work to maintain your relationship.
Show your gratitude to your partner or friend.
It can begin with something simple, a sincere ‘Thank you’ for an act of kindness or service they’ve done. But showing gratitude has a cascading effect that is far from simple. It starts a cycle of gratitude that helps to strengthen the relationship over time. When you feel appreciated, you are more likely to look for additional ways to show your partner you care. They in turn, feel loved and valued so will look for ways to show their appreciation. It can almost become a game of “out-appreciating” each other.
Don’t take the relationship for granted.
A quick look at social media will remind you how important quality, healthy relationships are. Don’t overlook the importance of acknowledging how much you value your relationship with your partner. Put your appreciation into words - both verbal and written - to communicate how grateful you are for the relationship.
Give the relationship priority.
Maintaining a healthy relationship takes work. If you value the relationship, make it clear in the way you carve out time. Check on the health of the relationship frequently by spending time with the other person. Maintain regular contact and place a high value on the time you give the relationship.
Live generously.
When you focus on giving, rather than getting, you are putting the needs and desires of your partner above your own. Studies have shown that people who spent money on others were happier than individuals who spent money on themselves.
Do the unexpected.
Complacency is the enemy of gratefulness. When things become stale in a relationship, it may be because things have become boring. Even when things are going well, falling into a pattern can reduce feelings of gratitude because the good things have become expected. Show your appreciation to your partner by going outside the norm. (Show up with flowers. Send a card in the mail. Have their car detailed. The specific action isn’t as important as the act of doing something they will appreciate and don’t expect!)
Be grateful for the healthy relationships in your life. How are you going to show your gratitude today?
Michele Bailey is president and CEO of
Blazing Agencyand
My Big Idea®. These two lines of business work congruently to support her clients’ success.
Gratitude allows you to recognize the good things that you have in your life. Simply by saying ‘thank you’, you are connecting to the world at large and acknowledging the impact others have on your life.
Gratitude comes from the Latin word gratus. It means thankful or pleasing. All the derivatives of the word reference grace or gratefulness, which reinforces the beauty that can result in both giving and receiving. Gratitude should be the natural response to something positive that happens in your life. But what about your mental health?
Should you be grateful for your mental health? Absolutely. Gratitude is powerful. Science has proven that showing gratitude can have an immense impact on your mental outlook, and you should never take your sound mental health for granted.
Evidence of the impact gratitude has on your mental health is astonishing. Studies show that gratitude can increase the positive thoughts of individuals, as well as decrease negative thoughts.
Showing gratitude can reduce frustration, lessen resentment and release you from feelings of entitlement. When you realize that your life is a gift, you become more aware of the things you have to be grateful for on a daily basis. The more you look for opportunities to show thankfulness, the easier it is to recognize the things (and people) you should be grateful for.
What if you aren’t in a good place mentally? Even if you are struggling with mental health difficulties you can begin to practice gratitude.
Create a list of things to be grateful about. Writing things down causes your brain to focus differently. By making a list of things to be grateful for, you are teaching your brain to notice them.Stop complaining. Take the Complaint Free Challenge and aim for 21 days of no complaining. Instead focus your energy on being thankful for what you have.Verbalize your gratitude. Tell those around you how grateful you are for their impact in your life. The person holding the door? Say ‘Thank you’. Someone lets you in traffic? Wave and say thank you. Write a note to a coworker who went out of their way to help you finish a project. Put your gratitude in words.Volunteer. Join a group that is helping the less fortunate. Not only will you be helping those in need, it will give you perspective on the many blessings in your life.Connect with others. Spend time with loved ones or friends who bring positive feelings in your life. Show your appreciation for their friendship and the impact they’ve had on you.
Living a life filled with gratitude can improve your mental health. Don’t forget to be grateful for the amazing way your brain works, and the beauty you can discover in the world. Even when you go through difficult times, you can still find ways to be grateful and embrace the gift of life you’ve been given.
How can you show gratitude today for the positive mental health you’ve already experienced? Who can you express gratitude to in a meaningful way?
Michele Bailey is president and CEO of
Blazing Agency and
My Big Idea®. These two lines of business work congruently to support her clients’ success.
Wealthy people can be miserable. People with little can be content and happy. What makes the difference in someone’s perspective?
In many cases, the answer is gratitude. Gratitude is more than just a feel-good emotion. When you exercise gratitude, things happen in your brain which can affect your entire outlook and perspective on life.
When it comes to money, many people feel as though being grateful is reserved for the wealthy. Often, many people feel as if they need to reach a certain level of wealth before they have something to be grateful for. In actuality, no matter what amount of wealth you may currently have, there is always a place for gratitude in your life.
Be Grateful No Matter the Size of Your Bank Account
According to author Pam Grout, “Gratitude is causative energy. It plants seeds that grow into unlimited abundance.” The effects of gratitude can be long-lasting and far-reaching.
Gratitude Focuses Your Attention
When you are grateful for what you have, it is more likely that you will be content with what you already have. Contentment removes the desire to accumulate more “stuff’.
Gratitude Promotes Generosity
A feeling of gratitude opens the way for you to be generous to others. When you live in contentment with what you have, you are able to allocate your budget, allowing you to share what you have.
Gratitude Fosters Practicality
A study done by Northeastern University revealed that practicing gratitude can reduce impatience. The study focused on the difference between instant and delayed gratification. Participants in the study were offered a sum of money on the spot, or a larger sum of money after a few days. Individuals who shared a personal story that exhibited gratitude were more likely to practice delayed gratification and chose the larger sum of money. The implication that gratitude can reduce impulsive decision making, particularly when dealing with finances.
How to Live in Gratitude
Take stock of what you have. It is easy to get caught up in thinking about the things you don’t have, rather than focusing on and being grateful for what you do have. Count your blessings from the minor (a sunny day) to the major (a home).
Practice gratitude now. Don’t wait for circumstances to improve or an increase in wealth. Find reasons today to choose gratefulness.
Volunteer. Get involved in organizations that work with the less fortunate. When you see the reality of how fortunate you are, it can foster a sense of gratitude for what you have.
Psychologists often study confirmation bias. The theory of confirmation bias suggests that you will always find what you’re looking for.
If your outlook is negative, you will always see the negative around you. If your outlook is good, you’ll always see things that are good. Likewise, if you focus on gratitude, you will recognize more things that you can be grateful for. What will you look for today?
Mental health can affect every aspect of your life. It affects your relationships with others, your personal sense of well-being and the way you act on a daily basis. It also has a direct correlation to the way you recover from the hardships and trials of life.
How can you improve your mental health?
Exercise Exercise helps you sleep better, increase your endorphins and reduce stress. These things independently can improve your mental outlook, but when put together, they can have a powerful effect on your life. Through exercise, your body will increase the level of endorphins produced, elevating your mood with a burst of “feel good’ hormones.
Sleep Improving your mental health is about more than just getting a set number of hours of sleep. It requires sleep that will ensure you are well-rested. To maximize your sleep, reduce your caffeine intake in the hours leading up to bedtime. Set a regular bedtime, keep your room dark and cool.
Prioritize self-care Do nice things for yourself. Take a walk on the beach, have lunch with friends, play with your dog, splurge on a special treat. Treat yourself with your favorite foods occasionally. Find something small that makes you happy and do it on a regular basis.
Find new challenges Learn a new skill or start a new hobby. Set goals to start something new and improve yourself. Read a book, travel more, save money for an extravagant purpose. With a new focus, you will be motivated to try something new which can turn your mental health in a positive direction.
Volunteer Finding new purpose can enrich your life and help improve your mental outlook. Select an organization that works with people or issues you are interested in. Some examples could be the local animal shelter, a local school or religious organization.
Show Gratitude Practicing gratitude is an effective way to change your outlook. When you focus on the positive and are thankful for things in your life – even the smallest things, you will quickly find many more reasons to be grateful. Make a list of the blessings in your life, take the time to journal every day.
Stay in-touch With Friends Meaningful relationships can give your life meaning and provide a sense of community. By having close relationships, you will have a circle of individuals that can help as needed in times of adversity and share your joy in happier times.
Set Appropriate Boundaries In personal and professional relationship, it is healthy to establish boundaries for your interactions with others. Use boundaries as a way to prioritize you and your mental health,.
Mental health can be a serious issue. If you have attempted to improve your outlook without any progress or feel as though you are struggling with issues that no amount of gratitude seems to help, don’t hesitate to seek professional help. Taking care of your mental health is just as important as your physical health.
Michele Bailey is president and CEO of
Blazing Agency and
My Big Idea®. These two lines of business work congruently to support her clients’ success.
