When in doubt, be generous The biggest secret to success

When in doubt, be generous The biggest secret to successWhen in doubt, be generous The biggest secret to successWell, today is the day where we wrap up this 10-part series. Have you enjoyed it? I sure hope so. Ive had a blast sharing all this stuff with you.And if you havent checked out Michael Hyatts5 Days to Your Best Year Ever, it has been a sort of unofficial sponsor of this series. Its the best goal-setting program Ive ever done, and this is my third year going through it.I highly recommend it.Click here to learn how to have your best year ever.All right, on with the final lessonLesson 10 Be generousDo you know what the biggest secret to a successful life is?Be generous.Its so simple and yet so easy to ignore. Heres whyWe think that being generous is something we do once we get famous. And thats bedrngnis how it works at all.A friend of mine just shared thisAnytime I start getting scared of running out of something, I give away something. I have more than enough love, money, wor k, friendship, food, time, and energy to share. Always.I agree. The secret to getting more is to give more. The most successful people I know are leid hoarders. Quite the opposite, in fact. And heres my belief on thatSuccessful people are not generous because theyre successful. Theyre successful because theyre generous.Certainly, you run across your occasional Scrooges. But in my experience, those people are the exception, not the norm. Thats just what Ive seen in my whole life, so Im not speaking for everyone, obviously.But thats enough experience to convince me of an important lessonWhen in doubt, be generous.When you have an opportunity to get versus give, go ahead and give.Generosity as a growth strategyI remember starting my blog back in 2010. It wasnt growing, people werent reading, and I wasnt having fun.So I decided to shift something. Realizing I wasnt doing my best work, I decided to do the opposite. I was afraid that if I gave away my best writing on my blog, no one would want to pay me for my best work. But that kind of scarcity thinking wasnt really working. So I made one simple shiftI decided to start giving away my best work for free.Heres what happens when you do that. Two things, actually1. People start to notice when you give your best work away for free.Why? Because its generous. It makes people think, She gave me all this for free? Wow.Not only that, they trust you even more, believing that paying you would bring even greater value.Which brings me to point 22. You do better work.Look. You dont have a ceiling on what youre capable of. You can keep improving.When I started giving away A+ content on my blog, I started writing better content. When the time came to write a book, I was a much better writer.As you give your work away, your capacity to do better work increases. It has to.So thats the simple short lesson here todayDo your best work for free right now. Give it all away. Jeff GoinsBut wait a second, Jeff, dont you say to never work fo r free?Thats right. InReal Artists Dont Starve, one of the rules is just that. Dont work for free.But heres the catchYou need to always work for something, and that something doesnt have to be money.When you share a photo on Instagram, you are practicing in public. You are putting your work on display for people to see. You arent working for free. Youre earning peoples attention.The same principle applies when you write on your blog for free. Youre working for email subscribers (or at least, you should be).So, yes. Value your work. But always be generous with it. Give it away in the places where people will pay attention to you.That doesnt mean you have to give all your work away or that you cant charge for what you do at the same time. It just means that when in doubt, its almost always a good rule to be generous.Why?Because, as my friend said, it sets you free from fear. It makes you a better person.Generosity sets you free from fear. Jeff GoinsSo, pay for that friends lunch today when you both awkwardly look at the check. Spend some that extra bit of time (in spite of feeling busy) with someone who is hurting. Give it all away.Ive always loved this Annie Dillard quote. Its about writing, but really, I think it applies to any of us who have a gift to share with the world spend it all, shoot it, play it, lose it, all, right away, every time. Do not hoard what seems good for a later place in the book or for another book give it, give it all, give it now. The impulse to save something good for a better place later is the signal to spend it now. Something more will arise for later, something better. These things fill from behind, from beneath, like well water. Similarly, the impulse to keep to yourself what you have learned is not only shameful, it is destructive. Anything you do not give freely and abundantly becomes lost to you. You open your safe and find ashes.And when you feel fear telling you this is not a good idea, remember thats what fear does. It tries to keep you quiet. Anything you hold on to eventually turns to dust.So, what are you going to give away today?Thisarticlefirst appeared on Goins, Writer. You can listen to the audio version of this lessonhere.

Learn to Use Strong Language at Work

Learn to Use Strong Language at Work Learn to Use Strong Language at Work Have you ever noticed that some people command respect when speaking while others dont? It all comes down to the power of strong language.Strong language is the difference between telling your boss that you need the day off and asking if it would be possible to take the day off. While its neverokay to disrespectyour superiors, it is important to take charge and act on what you need.The power of strong language can be a hard concept to grasp and even harder to implement if you arent used to actively telling people how you feel and what you need. However, once you have learned how to use strong language in your professional life, youll see an immediate and noticeable difference in how others treat you. If you draw clear boundaries every time you speak, people will have a much harder time taking advantage of you.Strong Language inActionAssume you are a manager. Think about how you would react if someone asked y ou this Can I take the day off? If its too busy or you cant make it work, thats fine.This statement implies that the person would like the day off but doesnt care much about it. You may decide that it isnt worth going out of your way to make it work for them. You would probably check what the schedule looks like for that day before letting your employeeknow if they could take the day off or not.Now, think about how you would respond if an employee said the following insteadI need to take this day off because I have a personal obligation to tend to.Chances are that you would react very differently.When you make a statement instead of posing a question, people tend to accept it instead of questioning it. When youtell someone that you need to take the day off for personal reasons, you are activelytelling them the situation instead of passively asking if the situation is possible.This leaves them littlechoice but to accept the statement or put up a fight about it. fruchtwein employers w ould rather not start the fight. Theyll understand if you need to take a day off here or there provided you give ample notice, of course.Saying No Strong Language Is the KeyAnother situation in whichstrong language is criticalis when you have to say No to someone.I actually found myself in this situation recently, and I acted incorrectly but the good news is you can learn from my mistakeIm usually pretty firmwhen it comes to telling people I cant do something,but an unexpected engagement sort of blindsided me into using weak language. Lo and behold, I didnt end up getting out of it.I was asked if I could come to an event. Even though I had other plans, I responded with the following If you really need me and want me there, I can come. As Im writing this, I see clearlyhow weak and unassertive Isounded. How I should have answered was, Ive made other plans because I wasnt aware that you wanted me to be there.NoteOne very important thing to knowis that you dont owe anyone at work an e xplanation if you need time off or cannot do extra work that is above and beyond your original agreement. Simply saying I need time off or I cannot do that should suffice. Ifsomeone prods you for more information, all you need to say is Its personal or Id rather not discuss it.The bottom line is that we all find ourselves in situations where we need to assert our wants, needs, and boundaries,but it can be hard to articulate these things. Using powerful language shows others that you arent going to back down and let them choose for you.Whether you are at work, with friends, or even with your family, strong language can help you take control of your life no matter the situation.Michele Lando is a certified professional resume writer and the founder ofWrite Styles.

Top Employee Complaints in the Workplace

Top Employee Complaints in the Workplace Top Employee Complaints in the Workplace Knowing what makes employees unhappy is half the battle when you think about employee work satisfaction, morale, positive motivation, and retention. By listening to employees and providing opportunities for them to communicate with company managers, you can foster a positive work environment where production rises along with morale. HR Solutions Inc., a Chicago-based management consulting firm that specializes in employee engagement surveys, analyzed recurring themes in employee surveys and compiled a top 10 list. The job satisfaction study included more than 2.2 million respondents with 2,100 organizations representing various industries. How many of the top responses are true in your workplace? 1. Higher Salaries Pay is the number one area where employees seek change. You can foster a work environment in which employees feel comfortable asking for a pay raise. It helps employees feel that they have recourse when they are feeling underpaid. 2. Internal Pay Equity Employees are concerned particularly with pay compression, the difference in pay between new and longer-term employees. With the average annual pay increase for employees around 2-4 percent, some employees perceive that newcomers are better paid- and, often, they are. Remember that employees have every right to discuss pay, even if employers wish they didnt. 3. Benefits Programs Specifically, many employees feel their health insurance costs too much, especially prescription drug programs when employers pass on part of their rising costs to employees. Employees want comprehensive benefits at no extra cost. 4. Over-Management Workplaces that foster employee empowerment, employee enablement, and broader spans of control by managers will see fewer complaints. A popular word- micromanaging- also expresses this sentiment. 5. Better Guidelines for Merit Pay Increases Employees believe the compensation system should place greater emphasis on merit and contribution. Employees find pay systems in which all employees receive the same pay increase annually to be demoralizing. Such pay systems hit the motivation and commitment of your best employees hardest as they may begin asking what’s in this for me? A transparent system wherein employees know what merit increases are based on also is important. As you adopt a merit pay system, one component is education so that employees know specifically what behaviors and contributions merit additional compensation. Employees who do not meet the standard must be informed by their manager about how their performance needs to change to merit a larger pay increase. 6. Human Resources Department Response to Employees The Human Resources department needs to be more responsive to employee questions and concerns. In many companies, the HR department is perceived as the policy-making, policing arm of management. In fact, in forward-thinking HR departments, responsiveness to employee needs is one of the cornerstones. 7. Favoritism Employees want the perception that each employee is treated equivalently with other employees. If there are policies, behavioral guidelines, methods for requesting time off, valued assignments, opportunities for development, frequent communication, and just about any other work-related decisions you can think of, employees want fair treatment. 8. Communication and Availability Employees want face-to-face communication time with both their supervisors and executive management. This communication helps them feel recognized and important. And, yes, your time is full because you have a job too. However, a manager’s main job is to support the success of all his or her reporting employees. That’s how the manager magnifies her own success. 9. Heavy Workloads Departments are understaffed, and employees feel as if their workloads are too heavy, and their time is spread too thinly. This complaint becomes worse as layoffs, the economy, your ability to find staff, and your business demands grow. To combat this, each company should help employees participate in continuous improvement activities. 10. Facility Cleanliness Employees want a clean, organized work environment in which they have the necessary equipment to perform well. They appreciate not having to share or borrow or bring equipment from home more than you will ever know.