THANK GOD ITS MONDAY (TGIM)

Times are tough and that’s a fact, but just because you can find lots of reasons for feeling down and becoming a bona fide pessimist doesn’t mean that you should. The fact is, optimism creates opportunity and pessimism kills it. How do you see your glass, half-full or half-empty? Research has found that seeing the glass half-full not only makes you happier but also makes you healthier and wealthier. This is not just motivational talk, the bible supports it: Prov. 15:15 “For the despondent, every day brings trouble, for the happy heart, life is a continual feast.” Here are strategies to fill up your cup - Take a listen.

As Christians, we don’t always approach our work in a very integrated way and to my mind; I think it’s because we do not have the know-how. Our discipleship system does not offer much practical help. Some people will tell you that some jobs are more meaningful than others, so start by finding a meaningful job. There is some truth to this. Research suggests that when jobs provide the following benefits or opportunities, people find it easier to experience meaning: • Autonomy, the freedom to try out your own ideas. • A chance to use your skills. • A sense of how your work contributes to a tangible product or service you can identify. • Co-workers who enjoy and value their work, and with whom you get along. • A leader who sets a clear vision that you value, who lives out that vision, who expresses genuine concern about you, who encourages you to take risks and solve problems creatively, who gives you confidence, and who expands your goals. • An organizational mission that fits with what you value. If you have a job that provides all or most of these things, count yourself privileged. If you have a chance to move into a position that gets you closer to this, you should seriously consider taking it. But for many people, simply finding a better job is not a realistic option. Lots of people spend their careers job-hopping in search of the perfect position that likely doesn’t exist. What things should we do to find or make our work more meaningful? Take a listen.

What does a business owe to its community, its country, and the world at large? What does it mean for a business to not just do good but be good? What would such aspiration require? Millennials and Generation Z employees see themselves as part of a purpose economy. This generation of workers expects the work they do to reflect something significant about who they are, and, further, they expect the companies they work for to be about more than making money. So the real question is, what is the purpose of business and where can we find it? Take a listen.

Our capacity for success lies not so much with our intelligence but with our focus. When we mobilize our power of thought toward a single issue for a prolonged time, we can achieve spectacular results. Casual consideration won’t solve today’s problems. To find answers, a person must set all else aside and focus deeply and relentlessly on an issue until powerful new insights emerge. To achieve our goal, we must beware of distractions. Distraction is the temptation to give the focus and energy needed for something highly important to something that is often quite insignificant. Oliver Burkeman once said, “What will your life have been, in the end, but the sum total of everything you spent it focusing on?”