1,507 words of content including 14 different ways to Shake Up your world. Approximate reading time required: 6.03 minutes. And isn't your Happiness worth it?

Welcome to my e-newsletter, which focuses on defining and applying the Principles of Happiness and Positive Emotion in your life and work.

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1. Do It Backwards for a Change
2. In The Workplace: Challenge the Status Quo
3. Personal: Changing My Technology Mindset
4. Commerce Division: e-book now available!
5. About the Coach

Have you ever found yourself stuck in a rut, seemingly unable to change a habit or a feeling? Have you heard the quote, "the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results" and thought, "What does that mean for me?"

One way to creatively approach any stubborn situation is to Reverse It - do it backwards, upside down, or from an opposite point of view. The Reverse It technique pulls you out of the fog of Habit and helps you notice or shift things that were not possible when you were following your usual process.

I use the Reverse It technique in many areas of my life. For instance, when I find myself getting bored with my fitness routines, I can change up simply by starting at the end. When I walk, I nearly always turn left out of my driveway, but when I turn right instead I have a totally different walking experience.

What are some ways you might Reverse It to shake up a part of your life that you want to change?

1. Instead of trying to take a deep breath to calm down in the middle of a tough conversation, try taking a minute BEFORE the conversation to calm and center you.
2. If getting to the gym is not working for you on your current schedule, flip your visit to the other end of your day and see if it shifts your motivation and/or energy.
3. Start a few conversations by stating what YOU want instead of first dancing around and trying to figure out what the other person wants.
4. Park at the back of the lot instead of the front, and use the extra minute of walking to let your body warm up.
5. Come into a building via a different entrance and notice how things look from a different perspective. For example, enter your workplace via the customer/patient entrance vs. the employee entrance. Or use the front door vs. the side door of your church/temple and notice the new view.
6. If you're rushed in the morning, but then spend an hour glazed over in front of the TV at night, try reversing that hour of your day - move up your bedtime and "flip" an extra 30 minutes into your morning.
7. Instead of waiting for someone to recognize or appreciate you, reverse the conversation and take time every day to offer a compliment or gratitude to someone else.

When you change the way you approach a situation, you create new points of view that can lead to different outcomes and different emotions.

Pick an aspect of your life or work that is "not working" for you right now. Step back and ask, "In what way(s) might I Reverse this to create a different motivation, reaction, or perspective for myself?" Then put that opposite into practice a few times and notice what you learn from the experience. If your outcomes change, then you have a winner!

The 13 Principles of Happiness may challenge you to reverse your approach to life. Visit http://www.theexecutivehappinesscoach.com/happiness/ philosophies.cfmto download a colorful 1-page PDF Poster. Post it on your workplace wall or your fridge at home, and try to live a principle each day!

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One of the major obstacles to change and growth in an organization is something we call "Organizational Inertia." In physics, inertia is: the tendency of matter to remain at rest if at rest, or, if moving, to keep moving in the same direction, unless affected by some outside force." In common language this means that people - especially in bureaucratic systems - will repeat old behavior and defend the status quo even when they are not getting the results they want.

One way to create change, then, is to exert an "outside force" on the existing system. In other words, change the workspace and you'll change the way people behave in that space.

Seven Ways You Can Turn Your Organization Upside Down and Backwards to create new perspective:

1. Begin every meeting with a "good news report" instead of a "what's broken" report. You'll shift the mood of the room into a more creative, optimistic space, which will lead to better problem-solving and faster decision-making.
2. Shift primary responsibility for employee assessment from managers to their team members. I speak from ten years of personal experience when I promise you that (once people receive basic training in the process) the quality and depth of performance feedback will INCREASE when individuals shift from passive receivers to active partners in their performance appraisal process.
3. Add an Upward Appraisal to your feedback system. If you're really serious about improving leadership in your organization, add an element of upward feedback to encourage frank conversation about teamwork (even entry-level folks have great ideas about what their manager could be doing to support them better!)
4. Write "contracts" with project team members, versus impose deliverables. Goals created in a conversation of mutual commitment are more likely to energize AND get met, on time, than goals imposed from "on high" without negotiation.
5. Engage team members in the process of selecting new members of the team, or even (gasp) their new boss. When people are invested in the hiring decision, they will view that person's success in a different - and more positive - way.
6. Ask people what they think BEFORE you make your decision. Yep, that's what I said. Hold as a possibility that you DON'T know everything
7. Hold (at least some of) your meetings standing up. Notice how the energy of a meeting shifts and becomes more efficient when the physical props change.

ACTION ITEM: Hold this question in front of you for the next month: How might I challenge the status quo, shift the environment, or create new ways for people to work together?

Remember, Leadership is not about a title: Anyone can be a leader who deliberately seeks ways to challenge organizational inertia, and strives to help others step up and take a more active and engaged role in their work.

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For years I've carried on a good-natured banter with my friends and relatives who belonged to what I called The Cult of Apple. They were far too satisfied with their computing experiences for me to believe it was real. There had to be a catch, right?

I was an Unbeliever.

Someone gave me an old iPod Nano, with which I consumed audiobooks while I worked out. Soon I graduated to a full iPod to hold my 6,000+ songs, and fell in love with podcasts and playlists.

Then I started loading teleclass recordings, and my iPod became a legitimate business tool. As more colleagues converted their office systems to Apple products and spoke with actual JOY about their experience, I began to think, "Hmm... maybe it's more than hype...maybe there's some real advantages???"

My family gifted me with an iPad last Christmas, which opened up a new world of accessibility and portability, including a means for devouring books via my iBook and Kindle apps. It also syncs seamlessly with my music and audio files. Nice.

Last week, my four-year-old LG mobile officially died. I'd been in denial for weeks, but as more and more buttons stopped working, I had to face reality: I needed a new phone. At the Verizon store I considered multiple alternatives, and in the end, noticing how the employees themselves were salivating over the iPhone, I decided to make the leap.

I joined the Apple Cult. Oh, My, Goodness! This is the most complex technology I've ever carried in my pocket, yet the conversion was painless. I brought it home, plugged it in to my computer, and iTunes asked, "do you want this to look like your iPad?" I said, yes, and in 30 minutes I had a fully functional, totally synced iPhone in my hands.... And in just a few days, it has changed my life!

My six-year-old laptop has aging "issues," and my desktop has had its brains replaced twice and keeps trying to commit suicide. I hear the siren call of the Apple cult, drawing me in...

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I'm happy to announce that Happiness At The Speed of Life is now available as an e-book for your iPad or any device that can read pdf documents.

You can purchase the book at HappinessAtTheSpeedofLife.com, choosing the File Download option on the right-hand side. After purchase, the document will open in your browser; and you can choose the app you'll use for reading.

In iBooks and pdf-notes, you can read it like a book (in vertical mode), paging cleanly thru the document. PDFReader maximizes the width of the screen, so you can't see a whole page at a time, but it scrolls nicely from section to section, and is the best app to use if you want to read in a larger font and/or in horizontal view.

Enjoy your e-reading experience!

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Hi, I'm Jim Smith, PCC, The Executive Happiness Coach®. I work with smart, successful people like you, who secretly struggle with overwhelm and fear that you won't have what it takes to succeed at the next level. I help you expand awareness of your strengths and limits, explore new paths to effectiveness, then support you as you build powerful new behaviors that transform how you "show up" in your life and work. You will achieve more clarity, build broader leadership skills, and expand your capacity to LEAD your life on a MUCH bigger stage!

I have helped thousands of leaders and business owners just like you to increase effectiveness at work AND live a happier, more balanced life. I invite you to contact me for a free Leadership Strategy Session to learn how you can create a less-stress leadership presence.

Reach me directly: Jim@TheExecutiveHappinessCoach.com or +1-440-885-3247.

All things Happiness Coach:

Blog: www.LifeWithHappiness.com. Ask me a question on LinkedIn, Friend me on Facebook, or Follow me on Twitter.

                

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Copyright © 2011, All Rights Reserved. Reproduction for publication is encouraged, with the following attribution: "From HAPPINESS@THESPEEDOFLIFE, by Jim Smith, PCC, The Executive Happiness Coach®, 440-885-3247 or www.TheExecutiveHappinessCoach.com. Join the Happiness Conversation at www.LifeWithHappiness.com." If you choose to do otherwise, I will be very unhappy.

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