Category Archives: Growth Mindset

Psychosocial Health

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It’s important that you choose to be happy, healthy and at peace!

Health is defined as the overall mental, emotional and physical state of a person; the absence of disease and ailment. On the other hand, wellness or well-being refers to the state of being in optimal mental and physical health.

But wellness is more than optimal mental, emotional and physical health. It’s about living a life in harmony, full of personal responsibility and taking proactive steps for one’s entire well-being. Thus, a person living life very well controls risk factors that can harm them. Risk factors are different types of actions or conditions that increase a person’s chances for illness or injury.

Psychosocial (mental, emotional, social, and spiritual) health and wellness

“The secret of a better and more successful life is to cast out those old dead unhealthy thoughts.” Dr. Norman Vincent Peale

Psychosocial health includes four important components of well-being. It means being mentally, emotionally, socially, and spiritually sound which fortunately is no longer lost on traditional modern medicine. There’s plenty of proof that a healthy mind, content heart and grateful attitude are just as important for the prevention of diseases and therapeutic treatment. Therefore, this concept of psychosocial health, a state of mental, emotional, social, and spiritual well-being, deserves much attention and additional research.

Basic Traits of Psychosocial Health

“The greatest revolution of our generation is the discovery that human beings, by changing the inner attitudes of their minds, can change the outer aspects of their lives.” William James

Individuals who are deemed to be psychosocially healthy aren’t completely devoid of problems. Actually, it’s not the quantity or quality of a problem, which makes someone sound in this respect. It’s the way people view themselves and how they view and response to stressful situations that sets psychosocially healthy people apart from those who are not. Here are just a few traits shared by these robust individuals. They:

  • Like themselves
  • Accept their mistakes
  • Take care of themselves
  • Have empathy for others
  • Control their anger, hate, tension, and anxiety
  • Are optimistic
  • Can work alone and with others equally well

Mental Health

“To make your mind healthy, you must feed it nourishing, wholesome thoughts.” Dr. Norman Vincent Peale

The thinking portion of psychosocial health is known as mental health. Your beliefs and values in life, as well as how you relate to others and respond to situations in your life, are a reflection of mental health, which overlaps with the other aspect of health.

When something happens to you that you don’t like and you respond in a positive manner by accepting your mistake and looking forward to its correction, then that’s good. But if you show up late for work regularly, get fired, and then blame anyone but yourself, then that may be an indicator of less than ideal mental and emotional health.

Emotional Health

The feeling part of psychosocial health is called emotional health. This includes things like anger, love, hate, and happiness. Oftentimes, emotional and mental health overlap a great deal in some situations. Going back to our example of getting fired from work because you came in late multiple time, if you feel a bit down, but still have high hopes for the future, that’s a positive thing. But if you lash out in a blinding rage against your boss, sulk when you go home, and avoid everyone thereafter, then that may point to improper emotional health.

Furthermore, it’s not unexpected even for an emotionally healthy person to experience some sadness and grief after getting fired; that by itself isn’t conclusive of poor emotional health. Everyone, even the most optimistic people, have their ups and downs. But an emotionally healthy person is one that responds to a situation in a manner that is controllable, in proportion, and with understanding.

Emotional intelligence is an ability to understand and manage your emotions and those of others. It can be broken up into five main parts:

  • Know your emotions: Are you able to quickly recognize your feelings?
  • Manage your emotions: Can you express those feelings appropriately? Are you able to cope with them well?
  • Motivate yourself: The more you can do this independently in order to achieve more in your life, the higher your emotional intelligence.
  • Recognize the emotions of others: The more you can empathize with others, the better.
  • Handle your relationships: The better you are at navigating conflict in life and building a good social network, the higher your emotional intelligence.

Social Health

Having healthy relationships is a good way to also introduce social health, the ability to create and maintain healthy relationships with others. I’m sure you can already appreciate how much this is related to the concepts we went over in emotional health. Everything here is related because they are all part of the one overarching concept – psychosocial health.

Social health goes beyond having appropriate emotional health and intelligence. A person with good social health:

  • Recognizes the importance of social engagement. We’re pack animals after all! We’re not supposed to live alone!
  • A person with good social health is able to support their friends in a time of need and ask for their help when they need it themselves.
  • They aren’t biased, prejudiced, racist, or sexist.
  • Listens to others well, expresses their feelings just as well, and acts in a responsible manner around others.

An example of a person with good social health is someone who has close friends. They enjoy listening to and feels close enough to share important feelings with. The contrast is a curmudgeon who is bad-tempered and discourages close personal relationships.

Spiritual Health

When you enhance your spirituality, you form a relationship built on inner peace, love, faith and security.

Spiritual health is about having “something more” in your life. In practical terms, we’re talking about getting to know yourself—getting to know what you’re feeling, what you’re thinking, what you’re intending, what your fears are, and what your loves are, according to Gary Zukav author of Seat of the Soul.

Relationships can transform into a spiritual connection and partnership. If we use our relationships with ourselves, others and God (or an entity that is transcendent) to make us wiser, kinder, peaceful, grateful and more compassionate, we can actually change how the relationships work for us. We can have and enjoy the relationships and lives we’ve always dreamed of.

Higher levels of spirituality have also been linked to increased compassion, strengthened relationships, and improved self-esteem. “Our findings show that spirituality is significantly associated with better mental health and well-being and may add to an individual’s overall wisdom,” explains Dilip Jeste, senior associate dean for the Center of Healthy Aging and a professor of psychiatry and neuroscience at the UC San Diego School of Medicine. “Spirituality does not require religious faith but is characterized by humility and ever-present connectedness to oneself or to others or to an entity that is transcendent, such as Mother Nature or God or the soul. It helps reduce stress in many people and allows them to be more at peace, happier, and healthier.”

References:

  1. https://study.com/academy/lesson/what-is-psychosocial-health-definition-components-traits.html
  2. https://www.oprah.com/oprahshow/forging-a-spiritual-relationship/all
  3. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-athletes-way/202010/how-spirituality-wisdom-and-mental-health-are-intertwined
  4. https://www.forbes.com/sites/amymorin/2016/06/15/this-is-how-your-thoughts-become-your-reality/?sh=1dd1728528a0

Background:

Physical wellness: This means we exercise, eat well, practice safe sex, don’t do any dangerous activities like jumping off of buildings, and so on. Physical fitness increases physical wellness. By being physically fit and well, you are better able to take care of yourself and others, especially in a time of need. You are also better able to prevent illness and disease.

Intellectual wellness: Critical thinking, being curious, and always learning new things. Developing intellectual wellness is critical not only to help a person grow in school and do better at work, but it actually prevents the onset of disease. It’s been shown that people who regularly learn new things and challenge their mind can stave off many mental health problems.

Emotional wellness: Being confident, having a solid self-esteem, building trust, and being able to understand another’s feelings. A person who is emotionally well is aware of their feelings and is able to properly cope with them. Emotional wellness also implies a person can deal well with stressful situations.

Social wellness: Having good communication skills, the ability to establish good and healthy long-term relationships, and having good relationships with family and friends. Interpersonal relationships are very important in order to maintain a good emotional and physical state of being. We are, of course, ‘pack animals,’ so to speak, that depend on one another to survive and live well.

Spiritual wellness: The path to a spiritual wellness and relationship depends upon you because how you relate to yourself determines how spiritual you are toward others, according to Deepak Chopra. Developing compassion, forgiveness, being caring, having a sense of purpose and meaning in life. Spiritual wellness doesn’t automatically imply the need for religion in a person’s life. But, it does imply a personal relationship with God or committing to something higher. This personal relationship or commitment to something higher can be developed and found through things like nature, meditation, volunteer work, and family.

Mahatma Gandhi:

  1. You must be the change you wish to see in the world.
  2. Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.
  3. Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.
  4. Keep your thoughts positive because your thoughts become your words. Keep your words positive because your words become your behavior. Keep your behavior positive because your behavior becomes your habits. Keep your habits positive because your habits become your values. Keep your values positive because your values become your destiny.

References:

  1. https://www.chopra.com/articles/how-to-have-a-true-spiritual-relationship

A Powerful Attribute for Success: Mindset

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Act in spite of fear!
 

Failure is a necessary evil on the road to success.

Your mindset is probably holding you back from creating the abundant life you dream and desire. Your mindset is your collection of thoughts and beliefs that shape your thought and habits.  And your thoughts and habits affect how you think, what you feel, and what you do.  Your mindset impacts how you make sense of the world, and how you make sense of yourself.

‘The 2% Mindset’.

“Adapting a growth mindset means recognizing that success is not about avoiding failures, but rather about embracing them, taking on challenges, and not giving up.” James Clear.

With a 2% or growth mindset, people believe that their most basic abilities and skills can be developed through dedication, deliberate practice, effort and hard work. This view of mindset creates a love of learning, growing and a resilience that is essential for success.

“To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all.” Oscar Wilde

It’s postulated that only 2% of the population go for their dreams with confidence and excitement. They make a conscious decision to live “outside the box”.  They have the confidence to live a life of adventure and are willing to go for their dreams….the bigger the better. 

Only 2% of the population choose happiness and fulfillment. Only 2% of the population get the most out of life by exploring new things and embracing the unknown. Only 2% of the population live life without limits and act in spite of fear. In other words, only 2% of the population live a life beyond their comfort zone.

To achieve this mindset, you must actively change your way of thinking. You must act in spite of the fear. Rather than fear the unknown these 2% embrace the unknown.  Change is something to be embraced, as well, and they seek it with gusto.  The 2% have been able to embody an abundance mindset, not merely as a concept but as a way of being.  A life of contentment and fulfillment is their ultimate prize.

The remaining 98% of the population

The majority of the people (98%) in this world make a conscious decision to live in a comfort zone of their own making. They remain in their comfort zone and are content with just getting by. This zone is a place that is easy, routine, and secure.  It is easy to be like everyone else as it helps keep fear at bay.

98% of the population live their lives playing it safe, doing the right things and save themselves for some future event that never happens. 98% of the population enjoy being like everyone else and simply let life push them into submission because they have no guts. Deep down inside they are fearful and terrified of taking risks and end up settling for less. They really want to succeed, but the fear of losing is greater than the excitement of succeeding. 98% of the population will look back one day and know that deep down inside they didn’t go for it.

“Success occurs when your dreams get bigger than your excuses.” Anonymous

Fear, a powerful teacher.

The fear of failure is preventing you from realizing your true potential. It stops you from going for your dreams, be that public speaking, or maybe starting your own business. Most people wished that they had honored even a half of their dreams and had died knowing that it was due to choices they had made, or not made. But, “you need to fail, learn how to fail and condition yourself to fail” in order to find success, according to Tim Ferris.

Where there is uncertainty and fear, it’s easy to stay in your comfort zone and not face the unknowns. You experience resistance. Resistance is fueled by fear. And you feel fear because you don’t know what you don’t know and so you make up stories.

It’s important to embrace the unknown; find out how truly exiting and reinvigorating it can be. Live without limits, and enjoy exploring new things.

Regrets of the dying:

“Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. All fear of embarrassment or failure — these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important.” Steve Jobs

Bonnie Ware, an Australian palliative nurse, counseled the dying in their last days and recorded their most common regrets. In her book The Top Five Regrets of the Dying – A Life Transformed by the Dearly Departing, she shared the top five regrets of the dying:

  1. I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.
  2. I wish I hadn’t worked so hard.
  3. I wish I’d had the courage to express my feelings.
  4. I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends.
  5. I wish that I had allowed myself to be happier.

Take these five wishes of the dying to heart and avoid living a life full of regrets and unrealized dreams. Mark Twin said it best: “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream.”

“Health brings a freedom very few realise, until they no longer have it.” Bonnie Ware

References:

  1. http://sourcesofinsight.com/what-is-mindset/
  2. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000FCKPHG/thbosh-20/
  3. https://www.cnbc.com/2017/08/07/how-overcoming-the-fear-of-failure-helped-steve-jobs-and-bill-gates.html?__source=iosappshare%7Ccom.apple.UIKit.activity.Message
  4. https://www.inc.com/tom-popomaronis/only-2-percent-of-world-embraces-these-11-risky-mindsets-heres-why-everyone-else-doesnt-but-should.html
  5. https://bronnieware.com/blog/regrets-of-the-dying/
  6. https://substanceeducation.com/2015/05/23/a-2-mindset/

Owning a Successful Business Is the Single Best Way to Accumulate Wealth

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Successful investing for the long term and accumulating wealth are about owning a portion of a successful business. It is the single best way to accumulate wealth.

It is extremely difficult for individuals to accumulate wealth by earning income and slugging their way through a 9 to 5 job. It’s very hard to get truly wealthy by renting out your time. Bottomline…you can only work so many hours. 

Even high earners like corporate executives, doctors and lawyers don’t typically earn millions of dollars a year. Instead, the path to amassing vast fortunes is paved by owning assets like stocks of a successful business and allowing the assets to to appreciate in value and work for you.

The single greatest wealth-building secret on the planet and the path to amassing vast fortunes is paved by owning a successful business through investing for the long term in stocks. Controlling vast sums of stock market wealth is a common thread among the world’s wealthy.

That doesn’t mean you have to create and build the next Tesla, Amazon or Walmart. You can “piggyback” on billionaire CEOs like Bezos by buying shares of their companies on the stock market.  This is the playbook many wealthy folks follow.

Recent data from investment bank Goldman Sachs shows the wealthiest 1% of US households own more than half the stocks in America. At the end of 2019, they controlled $21 trillion in stock market wealth.

Over long term, ownership of companies through stocks have outperformed bonds and most other asset classes. This makes sense when you think about it. Stocks are riskier than bonds, so you expect to earn a higher return on capital. 

When you save for the future by paying yourself first and invest for the long term your capital in a successful business, you accumulate assets that earn money while you sleep. For example, by owning Amazon shares, every time the stock soars, your net worth increases.

When Amazon crushes earnings, you win, too. Think of it as a second income that often brings in more than your main job.

References:

  1. https://www.forbes.com/sites/stephenmcbride1/2020/08/19/why-owning-stocks-is-the-single-best-way-to-get-rich/#6ede923248ec

Long Term Thinking and Planning

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Long-term thinking and planning are core values

In the book 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen Covey explains in the book’s second habit that it’s important to “Begin with the End in Mind”. This habit is all about knowing your purpose and what you’re trying to achieve. Beginning with the end in mind is all about asking yourself questions to determine your long term objectives and the reasons behind wanting to achieve them.

Habit 2 is based on imagination–the ability to envision in your mind what you cannot at present see with your eyes, according to FranklinCovey. It is based on the principle that all things are created twice. There is a mental (first) creation, and a physical (second) creation. The physical creation follows the mental, just as a building follows a blueprint. If you don’t make a conscious effort to visualize who you are and what you want in life, then you empower other people and circumstances to shape you and your life by default.

“Are you–right now–who you want to be, what you dreamed you’d be, doing what you always wanted to do?” FranklinCovey

According to Covey, before you can live a purposeful, meaningful life, you’ve got to have a vision of what that life looks like. When you know how you want people to talk about and remember you at the end of our life, you can start taking action now to make that scenario a reality later. With the ‘End in Mind’, you’ll know what you need to do day to day and week to week to get there.

‘Begin with the End in Mind’ means to begin each day, task, or project with a clear vision of your desired direction and destination, and then continue by flexing your proactive muscles to make things happen. 

It’s never too late to change course.

“People are working harder than ever, but because they lack clarity and vision, they aren’t getting very far. They, in essence, are pushing a rope with all of their might.” Dr. Stephen R. Covey

Personal journeys are all about defining your direction and moving towards it with consistency, perseverance and persistence. It’s important to remember that you are in control of developing your personal journeys to wealth, health and emotional well-being.

It’s imperative to understand that if you don’t have an end goal in mind, how will you know where are you going. How can you possibly know whether you’ve succeeded, failed or reached a place somewhere in between, if you don’t know your destination. Knowing your end goal can give you the continued motivation you need to achieve success.

Yet, the end product (goal) isn’t as important as the process. As Covey explains, “writing a mission statement changes you because it forces you to think through your priorities deeply, carefully, and to align your behavior with your beliefs.”

Additionally, it’s important to ‘focus on the process’. Remember, the important thing is that you’re intentionally thinking about what it means to live a life of purpose and meaning on a daily basis and how to get there.

References:

  1. https://www.franklincovey.com/the-7-habits/habit-2.html
  2. https://www.thediscoveryway.com/begin-end-mind-7-habits-highly-effective-people-explained/#:~:text=Begin%20with%20the%20end%20in%20mind%3A%207%20Habits,can%20use%20it%20to%20develop%20your%20personal%20leadership.

Bill Campbell – Trillion Dollar Coach

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“In business, compassion is a key factor to suc­cess.” Bill Campbell

‘Bill’s passion for innovation and teamwork was a gift to Apple and the world’. Tim Cook, CEO, Apple

‘Bill shared his wisdom generously, expecting nothing back but the joy he got from teaching others.’ Sheryl Sandberg , COO, Facebook

Bill Campbell helped to build some of Silicon Valley’s greatest companies — including Google, Apple, and Intuit — and to create over a trillion dollars in market value. Campbell believed that teams, not individuals, are the fundamental building blocks of organizations. Leaders can help their team be more productive, more innovative, and just plain happier by leading like a coach, not just a manager.

A former college football player and coach, Bill mentored visionaries such as Steve Jobs, Larry Page, and Eric Schmidt and coached dozens of leaders on both coasts. When he passed away in 2016, “the Coach” left behind a legacy of growing companies and successful people, and an abundance of respect, friendship, and love.

Eric Schmidt, Jonathan Rosenberg, and Alan Eagle experienced firsthand how Coach Bill built trusting relationships, fostered personal growth—even in those at the pinnacle of their careers—inspired courage, and identified and resolved simmering tensions that inevitably arise in fast-moving environments. To honor their mentor and inspire and teach future generations, they have chronicled Bill Campbell’s wisdom in the guide entitled Trillion Dollar Coach: The Leadership Playbook of Silicon Valley’s Bill Campbell.

Trillion Dollar Coach is a guide for bringing out the best in others and teams, for being simultaneously supportive and challenging, and for giving “more than lip service to the notion of putting people first”.

“A coach is someone who tells you what you don’t want to hear, who has you see what you don’t want to see, so you can be who you have always known you could be.” Tom Landry, former NFL Dallas Cowboy’s Coach

Good coaches employ encouragement, honesty, and caring to help every team member flourish. And according to Bill Campbell, business leaders should do the same, infusing their workplaces with compassion and people-first values that inspire employees to do their best work—and love their jobs.

Based on interviews with more than eighty people who knew Bill Campbell, Trillion Dollar Coach explains the Coach’s principles and illustrates them with stories from the companies and people with whom he worked and coached. The result is a blueprint for forward-thinking business leaders and managers that will help them create higher-performing and faster-moving teams and companies.

“Bill was the greatest executive coach the world has ever seen,” according to the authors. He coached executive leaders and also coached entire teams as a group coach. In the technology sector, innovation and speed are paramount, according to the authors. It is high-performing teams that lead to success.

“He always gave you a sense of perspective…what really matters at the end of the day is how you live your life and the people in your life.”

Bill cared about people. He treated everyone with respect, he learned their names, he gave them a warm greeting. He cared about their families, and his actions in this regard spoke more loudly than his words. “He cared about the whole you,” says Ruth Porat, Google’s CFO.

Bill would start meetings by asking about a colleague’s family and weekend and talking about his own. He always gave you a sense of perspective. That whatever you were doing was important, but he showed you that what really matters at the end of the day is how you live your life and the people in your life. It provided his coachees a respite in a busy day and a chance to ease their work-family conflict at least momentarily.

Bill made it okay to bring love to the workplace. He created a culture of what people who study these things call “companionate” love: feelings of affection, compassion, caring, and tenderness for others, according to the authors. He did this by genuinely caring about people and their lives outside of work, by being an enthusiastic cheerleader, by building communities, by doing favors and helping people whenever he could, and by keeping a special place in his heart for founders and entrepreneurs.

Bill Campbell’s Manifesto:
 
People are the foundation of any company’s success. The primary job of each manager is to help people be more effective in their job and to grow and develop. We have great people who want to do well, are capable of doing great things, and come to work fired up to do them. Great people flourish in an environment that liberates and amplifies that energy. Managers create this environment through support, respect, and trust.
 
Support means giving people the tools, information, training, and coaching they need to succeed. It means continuous effort to develop people’s skills. Great managers help people excel and grow.
 
Respect means understanding people’s unique career goals and being
Key takeaways from Bill Campbell and The Trillion Dollar Coach:
  1. Your title makes you a manager. Your people make you a leader.To be a good leader, you need to first be an excellent manager by accruing respect and not demanding it.
  2. It’s the people.The top priority of any manager is the well-being and success of his/her people.
  3. Start with trip reports.To build rapport and better relationships amongst team members, start team meeting with personal or non-business related topics.
  4. 5 words on a whiteboard.Have a structure for one-on-one’s and take the time to prepare for them, as they are the best way to help people be more productive and to grow.
  5. The best idea, not consensus.A manager’s job is to run a decision-making process that ensures that all perspectives get heard and considered. If necessary, to break ties and make a decision.
  6. Lead-based on first principles.Defining the “first principles” for the situation, the unchangeable truths that are the foundation for the company or product, and help guide the decision from those principles.
  7. Manage the Aberrant Genius.“Aberrant Geniuses” are high performing but difficult team members, should be tolerated and even protected as long as their behavior isn’t unethical or abusive and when their value provided outweighs the toll their behavior takes on management, colleagues and teams.
  8. Money’s not just about the money.Compensating people well demonstrates love and respect, which ties them firmly to the goals of the company.
  9. Innovation is where crazy people have stature.The purpose of a company is to bring a product vision to life. All the other components are in service to the product.
  10. Build an envelope of trust.Listen attentively, practice complete frankness and be an evangelist for courage by believing in people more than they believe in themselves.
  11. Only coach the coachable.Traits that make an individual coachable include honesty, humility, willingness to persevere, hard working and a constant openness to learning.
  12. Practice free-form listening.Listen to people with your full and undivided attention without continually thinking ahead to what you’re going to say next. Instead, ask questions to get to the real issue.
  13. No gaps between statements and fact.Be relentlessly honest and candid, couple negative with caring feedback. Give feedback as soon as possible, and if the feedback is negative, deliver it privately.
  14. Don’t stick it in their ear.Don’t tell people what to do, instead offer stories and help guide them to the best decisions for them.
  15. Full identity front and center.People are most effective when they can be completely themselves and bring their whole identity to work.
  16. Team first. The team is of utmost importance; the most important thing to look for in people is a team-first attitude.
  17. Work the team, then the problem. When faced with a challenge or an opportunity, the first step is to ensure the right team is in place and working on it.
  18. Pick the right players.The top characteristics to look for are smarts and hearts. E.g. the ability to learn fast, a willingness to work hard, integrity, grit, empathy and a team-first attitude.
  19. Pair people.Peer relationships are critical and often overlooked, so seek opportunities to pair people up on projects or decisions.
  20. Get to the table.Winning often depends on having the best teams consisting of a mix of genders.
  21. Solve the most significant problem first.Identify the biggest issues, bringing it to the front and tackling it first.
  22. Don’t let the bitch sessions last.Air all negative issues, but don’t dwell on them. Learn to move on and move on as fast as possible.
  23. Winning right.Strive to win, but always win right with commitment, teamwork and integrity.
  24. Leaders lead.When the going gets tough, teams are often looking for even more loyalty, commitment and decisiveness from their leaders.
  25. Fill the gaps between people.Listen, observe and fill the communication and understanding gaps between people.
  26. It’s OK to love.People on your team are human beings by nature, and the group becomes stronger when you break down the walls between the professional and human personas, embracing them with love.
  27. To care about people, you have to care about people.Ask about their lives outside of work, understand their families and show up.
  28. Cheer demonstrably for people and their success.Don’t just sit there, stand up and show them the love for the work they are doing. Energize, motivate and inspire people to keep them moving.
  29. Always build community.Build communities inside and outside of work. A place is much stronger when individuals are connected.
  30. Help people.Be generous with your time, connections and other resources.
  31. Love the founders.Hold a special reverence for and protect the people who are the founders of the company, often these people are the ones with the most vision and passion for the company.
  32. Build relationships whenever you can. Be it when you’re in the elevator, passing someone in the hallway, or see your teammates in the cafeteria, take the time to stop and chat about their lives and share a little about yours.

What makes great companies great is not solely the culture but also the people that help to build that culture.

About the Authors

  • Eric Schmidt served as Google CEO and chairman from 2001 until 2011, Google executive chairman from 2011 to 2015, and Alphabet executive chairman from 2015 to 2018.
  • Jonathan Rosenberg was a Senior Vice President at Google and is an advisor to the Alphabet management team. He ran the Google product team from 2002 to 2011.
  • Alan Eagle has been a director at Google since 2007. Formerly Eric and Jonathan’s speechwriter, he currently runs a set of Google’s sales programs.

References:

  1. https://trilliondollarcoach.com
  2. https://www.slideshare.net/mobile/ericschmidt/trillion-dollar-coach-book-bill-campbell
  3. https://trilliondollarcoach.com/static/common/images/pdf/trillion-dollar-coach_preview.pdf
  4. https://www.fastcompany.com/90331367/bill-campbell-silicon-valley-trillion-dollar-coach-book
  5. https://medium.com/motivationlifehacks/book-summary-trillion-dollar-coach-bill-campbell-6ad32cd607f3#:~:text=Key%20takeaways%3A,respect%20and%20not%20demanding%20it.

Well-Being and Positive Thinking

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“Good thoughts and actions can never produce bad results; bad thoughts and actions can never produce good results…We understand this law in the natural world, and work with it; but few understand it in the mental and moral world – although its operation there is just as simple and undeviating – and they, therefore, do not cooperation with it.” – James Allen

Gallup’s research into wellbeing found that “a life well-lived” requires the fulfillment of several elements: Career, Emotional, Physical, Community and Financial wellbeing.

In this article, we will highlight the impact that positive thinking impact on overall well-being. Essentially, a person’s wellbeing — whether thriving, struggling or suffering — can be affected by one’s thinking.

Positive thinking: Stop negative self-talk to reduce stress

“Positive thinking is more than just a tagline. It changes the way we behave. And I firmly believe that when I am positive, it not only makes me better, but it also makes those around me better.” – Harvey Mackay

Positive thinking helps with stress management and can even improve your health, according to the Mayo Clinic. Positive thinking may reflect your outlook on life, your attitude toward yourself, and whether you’re optimistic or pessimistic — and it may even affect your health.

Studies have shown that optimism can affect your health and well-being. The positive thinking that comes with optimism is a key part of effective stress management. And effective stress management is associated with many health benefits.

Understanding positive thinking and self-talk

“The greatest discovery of all time is that a person can change his future by merely changing his attitude.” – Oprah Winfrey

Positive thinking doesn’t mean that you’re a Pollyanna and ignore life’s less pleasant situations. Positive thinking just means that you approach unpleasantness in a more positive, courageous and productive way. Instead of giving into fear (False Expectations Appearing Real) and worry, you think the best is going to happen, not the worst.

Positive thinking often starts with self-talk. Self-talk is the endless stream of unspoken thoughts that run through your head. These automatic thoughts can be positive or negative. Some of your self-talk comes from logic and reason. Other self-talk may arise from misconceptions that you create because of lack of information, according to the Mayo Clinic.

If the thoughts that run through your head are mostly negative, your outlook on life is more likely pessimistic. If your thoughts are mostly positive, you’re likely an optimist — someone who practices positive thinking.

The health benefits of positive thinking

Researchers continue to explore the effects of positive thinking and optimism on health. Health benefits that positive thinking may provide include:

  • Increased life span
  • Lower rates of depression
  • Lower levels of distress
  • Greater resistance to the common cold
  • Better psychological and physical well-being
  • Better cardiovascular health and reduced risk of death from cardiovascular disease
  • Better coping skills during hardships and times of stress

It’s unclear why people who engage in positive thinking experience these health benefits. One theory is that having a positive outlook enables you to cope better with stressful situations, which reduces the harmful health effects of stress on your body and mental well-being.

It’s also thought that positive and optimistic people tend to live healthier lifestyles — they get more physical activity, have stronger relationships, follow a healthier diet, and don’t smoke or drink alcohol in excess.

  1. https://www.gallup.com/workplace/267152/financial-wellbeing-pays-off.aspx
  2. https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/stress-management/in-depth/positive-thinking/art-20043950
  3. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/positive-thinking_b_3512202

FedEx’s Fred Smith Quotes on Leadership

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  • What follows are Fred Smith, Founder, Chairman of the Board and CEO of FedEx, quotes on leadership.
    1. “Leadership is simply the ability of an individual to coalesce the efforts of other individuals toward achieving common goals. It boils down to looking after your people and ensuring that, from top to bottom, everyone feels part of the team.”
    2. “Leaders get out in front and stay there by raising the standards by which they judge themselves—and by which they are willing to be judged.”
    3. “The greatest leadership principle I learned in the Marine Corps was the necessity to take care of the troops in a high performance based organization.
      The Marine Corps’ strong emphasis on this overriding leadership requirement has been of inestimable importance to me in developing FedEx over the years.  In the main, people want to be commited to an organization and to do a good job.  The principles of leadership taught by the USMC, and based on two centuries of experience, will produce outstanding organizational results in any setting, if those principles are studiously followed. In short, FedEx owes its success to this simple truth.”
    4. “I’m not afraid to take a swing and miss.”
    5. “The riskiest strategy is to try to avoid risk altogether.”
    6. “Fear of failure must never be a reason not to try something.”
    7. “A manager is not a person who can do the work better than his men; he is a person who can get his men to do the work better than he can.”
    8. “My innovation involved taking an idea from the telecommunications and banking industries, and applying that idea to transportation business.”
    9. “You can’t make people do what’s right. You can lead them, and you can empower them to make the right decision, but if you don’t produce a culture that allows them to do that, then all the rest is just bumping your gums as one of my old business partners used to say.”
    10. “If you’re going to run a high service organization, you have to get the commitment of the people working for that organization right at the start. If you don’t, you’ll never be able to deliver at the levels of expectations of the customer.”

    —Fred W. Smith, Chairman, CEO, Entrepreneur and Founder of FedEx

    Emotional Well-Being and Gratitude During COVID-19

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    “Your personal experiences make up maybe 0.00000001% of what’s happened in the world but maybe 80% of how you think the world works… We’re all biased to our own personal history.” Morgan Housel, Ideas That Changed My Life

    COVID-19 Stressing You Out

    According to the CDC, everyone reacts differently to stressful situations such as a pandemic and lock down. As Americans experience the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic such as worry about job loss, concern for your health or that of a loved one, the need to social distance, confining yourself to your home or apartment, changing your routine, spending more screen time than normal, it’s important to practice some degree of emotional self-care.

    Finding ways to practice self-care can help reduce your stress and enhance your emotional well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic. Healthy ways to cope with stress include:

    • Taking daily walks
    • Practicing meditation
    • Making time to pray and to express gratitude
    • Knowing where and how to get help
    • Taking breaks from watching, reading, or listening to the sensationalized news stories and coverage about COVID19, protests, and political rancor
    • Reading novels and writing in journals
    • Learning a new skill or hobby
    • Eating healthy foods and getting enough sleep
    • Avoiding or reducing eating processed foods, foods high in refined sugars and carbs, and fried foods
    • Exercising and prioritizing time to unwind by doing activities you enjoy
    • Connecting with others (while social physical distancing measures are in place, consider connecting online, through social media, or by phone or mail)

    Gratitude

    Gratitude is recognizing the “value for favorable things or positive life experiences for which we did not actively work towards or ask for”, according to Sadhguru. Gratitude is important because it helps us see a world that is much bigger than ourselves. When we have gratitude, we can help ourselves and each other grow personally or professionally.

    Psychologists find that, over time, feeling grateful boosts happiness and fosters both physical and psychological health, even among those already struggling with mental health problems. Ways you can foster gratitude by keeping a journal to write about the little joys of daily life or by writing down “three good things” that have gone well for you and identify the cause. Additionally, you can also foster gratitude by writing thank-you notes to others or going out of your way to be kind to others, according to Psychology Today Magazine.

    Sources:

    1. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/hope-relationships/202004/overcoming-depression-and-desperation-in-the-time-covid-19
    2. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/gratitude

    How to Be a Better Ally to Your Black Colleagues | Harvard Business Review

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    “The relationship between Black employees and their employing organizations is, at best, a tenuous one.”

    by Stephanie Creary, Ph.D
    Assistant Professor of Management
    The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania

    July 08, 2020

    Executive Summary

    Research suggests that the relationship between Black employees and their employing organizations is, at best, a tenuous one. Black employees — at all levels — feel that they have not been adequately heard, understood, or granted opportunities to the same extent as their white peers.

    The author, Dr. Stephanie Creary, has devised a framework to help people from different backgrounds build stronger relationships in the workplace. Known by the acronym LEAP, the framework encourages company leaders — particularly people managers — to become better allies by:

    • Listening and learning from your Black colleagues’ experience;
    • Engaging with your Black colleagues in racially diverse and casual settings;
    • Asking your Black colleagues about their work and goals; and
    • Providing your Black colleagues with opportunities, suggestions, encouragement, and general support.

    Public Positioning (Woke-Washing)

    Woke-washing is “a modern-day marketing tactic in which corporations superficially align themselves with progressive causes, often while continuing to perpetuate inequality or unethical practices behind the scenes”.

    A few U.S. CEOs and corporations have been positioning themselves publicly as being progressive on social issues such as racism, injustice and inequality. They have been taking a public stand against the racism and injustice while also admitting their own shortcomings in matters of equality.

    Yet, for many well known corporations and organizations, there has been a large dichotomy between their companies’ (or organizations’) words and their actions.

    Read more: https://hbr.org/2020/07/how-to-be-a-better-ally-to-your-black-colleagues

    References:

    1. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/opinion/ceo-statements-on-race-matter-more-than-you-think/ar-BB14ZzVk

    About Professor Stephanie J. Creary: Dr. Creary is an identity and diversity scholar and a field researcher. She is also a founding faculty member of the Wharton IDEAS lab (Identity, Diversity, Engagement, Affect, and Social Relationships), an affiliated faculty member of Wharton People Analytics, a Senior Fellow of the Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics (LDI), and affiliated faculty member of the Penn Center for Africana Studies. She leads the Leading Diversity@Wharton Speaker Series as part of her Leading Diversity in Organizations course at Wharton. She conducts research on the topics of identity, diversity and inclusion, and relationships across differences.  She also advises and speaks to corporate audiences on the following topics:

    • Building stronger relationships in the workplace among people from different backgrounds
    • Improving leader engagement in diversity, equity, and inclusion work
    • Reducing bias in selection processes (hiring, promotion, team)

    Power of Vulnerability

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    In a speech that Teddy Roosevelt gave in 1910, Roosevelt said:

    “It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly.”

    The powerful Roosevelt quote resonated with Dr. Brené Brown, a research professor at the University of Houston Graduate College of Social Work, who gave the blockbuster TEDTalks “Brené Brown: The Power of Vulnerability”.

    In the introduction to her book, Dr. Brown comments on Roosevelt’s words, which she says perfectly encapsulate her research into why she and other researchers find being vulnerable such a hard thing to do.

    According to Dr. Brené Brown, Ph.D, in he book, Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead:

    “When we spend our lives waiting until we’re perfect or bulletproof before we walk into the arena, we ultimately sacrifice relationships and opportunities that may not be recoverable, we squander our precious time, and we turn our backs on our gifts, those unique contributions that only we can make,” says Dr. Brown. “Perfect bulletproof are seductive, but they don’t exist in the human experience.”

    Here are a summary of the ThenPower of Vulnerability key points:

    • Vulnerability makes you authentic and allows you to feel love, belonging and joy
    • To be vulnerable you have to:
    • – Internalize that you are a worthy (of being loved) and enough the way you are
    • – Have the courage of showing up and engaging even if could hurt
    • “Your willingness to own and engage your vulnerability determines the depth of your courage”

    “Daring greatly means the courage to be vulnerable. It means to show up and be seen. To ask for what you need. To talk about how you’re feeling. To have the hard conversations,” according to Dr. Brown.

    Source: 5 insights from Brené Brown’s new book, Daring Greatly

    1. https://thepowermoves.com/daring-greatly-summary/