Date: 6/2/2015

Title: SUCCESS AND HAPPINESS THROUGH SELF-AWARENESS – Part 1

By Jill Olson

We wonder what it takes to succeed and be happy. Stepping aside the fact that “succeed” and “being happy” can have specific definitions as numerous as the people who utter them, we all have an idea of how we define our success and our happiness. For some, the two are intertwined. For others, happiness is not precluded through success.

Let’s talk about happiness and success in your professional life. This occurs when we are self-aware. We need to know what our natural talents are. Then, we need to be true to these. To paraphrase Jim Collins, we need to place ourselves on the right bus and in the right seats. Yet how often do we place ourselves away from out talents. We might work for a company (the bus) that doesn’t share most of our values. We might work in a job (the seat on the bus) that not only doesn’t fit our natural talents, but doesn’t excite/motivate us. How often do we ignore our talents and motivators and make these incorrect placement choices?

We leave work each day dragging and drained. Some days may be good, but those don’t make up for the days where we feel we’ve been punched in the gut. But, really! How important is job satisfaction? Doesn’t everybody struggle with this? And, what does it matter?

Hard data speaks volumes. A 2013 study by the Pew Research Center tells us that only 28% of those surveyed rated their employment situation as excellent. This lack of satisfaction manifests itself through missed deadlines, sick days, loss of creativity, and relationship conflict.

So it does matter if you are with a company (the bus) where you feel you are a right fit (the right seat on the bus) and that you are doing something that motivates you. Success and happiness flow from this. But how do you get there?

To learn more about how to practice this understanding, contact Results Group, LLC at www.ResultsGroupLLC.com or 515-330-2866.