More than half of Americans are dissatisfied in their work, according to a recent survey by the Conference Board, a New York based nonprofit. Work can be stressful, frustrating and exhausting. If we are going to spend the majority of our waking hours working, wouldn’t it be nice to make them as purposeful, satisfying and productive as possible? How on earth are we supposed to do that?

4 Truths About Work

As I’ve investigated the world of work, I’ve realized how easily we lose sight of what work is really about. Much of my understanding can be traced back to biblical teaching. If you’re a Christ-follower, these 4 truths can help you finally find the satisfaction you’ve been longing for in your work.

If you aren’t, please keep reading. Perhaps looking at work through the lens of a different worldview will help you examine how you approach your own work.

Finally find true work satisfaction by grasping 4 powerful truths.
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1. We Are Designed to Work

Many people believe that work is a necessary evil. Work needs to be done and someone has to do it. How else can you provide for the needs of yourself and your family?

Work has existed since before the creation of man. The Bible says that God himself worked. That’s how the universe was created, through work.

While we may view work as an unavoidable chore, we would not be fulfilled without it. In Every Good Endeavor, Timothy Keller writes, “Work is as much a basic human need as food, beauty, rest, friendship, prayer and sexuality…without meaningful work we sense significant inner loss and emptiness.” He goes on to say that without work, we quickly discover how much we need it to “thrive emotionally, physically, and spiritually.”

I see this in my grandfather. When asked about retirement, he shrugs it off by saying, “What would I do with myself?” He, like we all do, has a deep desire to contribute, create, produce…to do something.

By grasping this truth, you can embrace the work you were designed for rather than dread it. We have each been equipped with the specific gifts, talents and skills to carry out the work we’ve been given.

In doing so we will increase the satisfaction we find in our work, knowing that work is a basic human need, something we crave. Working is part of who we are created to be.

2. Work is Hard

Whether you are a business owner, construction worker or stay-at-home parent, you know that work is hard. But why? Why must work be difficult? In Genesis, we learn that Adam and Eve disobeyed God and brought sin into the world. Paul says in Romans 8 that the world is now “subject to decay.”

Thus work has become a way for us to prove our worth, please others, and compete with one another. It is filled with conflict and jealousy. It wears us down. You might say the rat race was born in the Garden of Eden. No wonder we struggle to find satisfaction in our work.

In the Bible, work is referred to as “painful labor.” We labor to create new products, solutions and ideas. Sometimes we’re successful. Other times we fail.

Either way, the process is painful, difficult and taxing. We experience setbacks, surges, promotions and layoffs. One day we are fulfilled and satisfied, but the next is full of disappointment. This is because of the presence of sin in the world.

Keller writes, “…you may have an aspiration to do a certain kind of work and perform at a certain level of skill or quality, but you may never even get the opportunity to do the work you want, or if you do, you may not be able to do it as well as it needs to be done. Your conflicts with others in the work environment will sap your confidence and undermine your productivity.”

If you’ve found work to be hard and difficult, you are not alone. Most importantly it is not a result of your own doing. Embrace this truth and find solace in the fact that ups and downs simply come with the territory. Expect them.

By grasping this truth, you can accept the inevitable. Rather than focus on the frustrations, you can focus on the work itself and the relationships you build along the way. Celebrate the small victories. You’re more likely to find satisfaction if you adjust your expectations, knowing that your work won’t be perfect and it won’t always turn out as good as you intend.

3. Work Has a Purpose

Why do you work? So often we get caught up in working for the wrong reasons.

Change why you work and increase your job satisfaction.
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In today’s culture it is easy to get caught up in the idols that the world of work provides: money, status, fame, notoriety, power, pride. Yet, every time these distractions become your primary focus you soon encounter frustration and disappointment.

The truth is, we come alive when we see our lives contributing to the well-being of other people, making their lives better in some way.

• A teacher equips young minds with the tools to explore and understand the world they live in.
• A lawyer seeks to bring justice and peace to the lives of those who have been wronged.
• A plumber installs the pipes which are necessary for sanitary living conditions in today’s modern world.

By grasping this truth, you can pursue work for the right reasons, the reasons that will satisfy your true desires. As human beings, we long to be valued and that comes from adding value to the lives of others. How does your work add value to people’s lives? Answering this question will help you find the purpose in your work.

As you grasp this truth, you will increase the satisfaction you find in your work, knowing that you are fulfilling a purpose, benefiting the well-being of others and contributing to the world around you.

4. We Work for an Audience

We all work for someone. I don’t necessarily mean your boss. Some work to impress their colleagues, others work to please their parents or superiors, and yet others work to live up to the standards they have set for themselves. Regardless, Keller says these are inadequate. They will lead us to overwork or underperform and certainly not to satisfaction. Like children, our behavior may depend on who is watching.

Who we work for determines the purpose behind our work. The Bible says, “So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it for the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31). Working for God brings a much different purpose to our work than any other audience.

In Ephesians 6 Paul tells Christians to work “as if you were serving the Lord.” Expanding on this, Keller wrote, “Christians are to be fully engaged at work as whole persons, giving their minds, hearts, and bodies fully to doing the best job possible on the task at hand.” Does this describe how you approach your daily work?

This approach to work is possible when our motives are much loftier than money, acclaim, or power. This comes when we view our work as serving God.

Embracing this truth brings to light much of the dissatisfaction many find in their work, as well as the true fulfillment available through our work. It depends entirely on who our audience is and who we are aiming to please and serve through our work.

When we aim to please and serve God in our work, we are more engaged, more committed and find a deeper satisfaction in the work we’ve been given.

Finding Satisfaction In Work

Finding satisfaction in our work is something we all crave. We want to come home at the end of a hard day knowing we made some small difference in the world. We are all equipped with the necessary tools, abilities and skills to be successful in our work. God provides the opportunities for us to develop these talents and assets to become contributors in our society and to serve our communities.

By grasping these 4 truths, you will find a deeper satisfaction in your work than ever before.

Question: What is one thing that helps you cultivate excellence in your work? Share your thoughts in the comments below this post.

The post Increase Job Satisfaction By Grasping 4 Powerful Truths first appeared on The Excelling Edge.

No one sets a goal to pursue a life of mediocrity. Yet many of us find ourselves on the path of least resistance, whether we meant to be or not. Then we find ourselves searching for meaning, fulfillment, growth and impact, but not finding them. That’s because we’re on the wrong path. We need to move from a life of mediocrity to a life of stewardship. 

A Lesson in Stewardship

Stewardship is making the most of what we’ve been given. This concept is often applied to finances, leading us to invest and multiply our money. However, there are other ways in which we need to have a steward’s mindset. Whether you are a Christian or not, we can all learn about stewardship from the following story.

In the Bible Jesus teaches us about stewardship when he says:

“‘Take the thousand and give it to the one who risked the most. And get rid of this “play-it-safe” who won’t go out on a limb. Throw him out into utter darkness.’ (MSG Matthew 25:14-30)

Do you recognize yourself as one of the servants? I do. I have played the part of the “play-it-safe” servant. I have succumbed to the resistance, the voice that tells me not to try, not to improve, not to succeed. However, we are called to live a life of excellence, to be good stewards of our potentials.

Being a Good Steward

Just as the the servant who earned $10,000 was rewarded, we too will be rewarded for being good stewards of what we’ve been given. This begs the question, what can I do to be a good steward of my potential?

In Through My Eyes, Tim Tebow wrote of his parent’s perspective on stewarding potential. “They felt like it was always our responsibility to identify and fully develop the abilities, talents and gifts God created within us.”

We can all become better stewards of our potentials by committing to 3 ongoing actions.

1. Invest in Your Abilities, Talents and Gifts. Parents invest in developing the abilities of their children all the time. Music lessons, summer camp, art class and school enrichment trips are all examples of this. As we become adults, we stop systematically aiming to improve in the same way.

In this blog post, I outlined 5 ways for continual growth. They are geared toward those in a leadership role, but can be applied to many areas of life.

Here are a few suggestions to help you invest in yourself:

• Read a book
• Attend a workshop, seminar or conference (in-person or online)
• Join a group of like-minded people
• Find a mentor
• Hire a coach

2. Live Intentionally. Being a steward of your potential cannot be a halfhearted effort. You must be purposeful in the ways that you use your time, energy and effort. You must be strategic in finding time to invest in your abilities, talents and gifts.

Identify small habits that you can make consistent parts of your daily or weekly routines. These will drive big changes over time.

Here are four questions to get you thinking of ways to live intentionally (and a few links to help you along the way):

• How do you spend your free time?
• Could you be more intentional with your daily commute?
• Do you have an intentional morning routine?
• Have you set goals for your progress and growth?

3. Allow Christ to Lead. As a Christian, I believe this is the centerpiece of stewardship.

Christ’s aim is to perfect each of us in his image. The process begins when we agree to follow his lead and allow him to work in and through our lives. We grow most when we submit to his process for cultivating our potentials.

C.S. Lewis paints a vivid picture of this in Mere Christianity. He says that salt does not overpower food, but brings out its flavor to its fullest just as Christ brings out our fullest if we submit to him.

Without Jesus as our guide, we will never fulfill the true potentials that God intended for us.

Steward your potential: be intentional, invest in your abilities & allow Christ to lead you.
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“From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.” (Luke 12:48)

We have all been given unique sets of abilities, strengths and gifts. What we do with them is up to us. This isn’t to say we must fill every waking hour with busyness in order to be good stewards. However, we are called to make the most of what we’ve been given. We are called to be intentional, invest in our potentials and allow Christ to lead us to become the best versions of ourselves we can possibly be.

Everything we are and everything we have comes from God and belongs to him. We have a responsibility to honor God by being stewards, multiplying all he has given us. In the end, we will be held accountable for our stewardship, just like the servants in Matthew.

Question: What are you doing to steward your potential? I’d love to hear from you in the comments below this post.

• Post: 5 Approaches for Learning Your Way to Better Leadership
• Post: You Were Created for a Life of Excellence
• Post: Are You Getting The Most Out Of Your Commute?
• Post: 5 Questions to Reinvent Your Morning Routine
• Post: What I Learned About Change from a Walk on the Moon 
• Post: Retrain Your Resistance: 3 Steps to More Productive Thinking
• Post: Size Matters. Set Your Sights on BIG, Scary Goals for 2015
• Book: Through My Eyes by Tim Tebow and Nathan Whitaker
• Book: Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis

The post Are You Being a Good Steward of Your Potential? first appeared on The Excelling Edge.

In training and coaching leaders, I invariably get pulled into a discussion about entitlement. “Millennials…” and “Kids these days…” Some even claim it is a societal issue. I can’t really disagree as 1st graders are handed trophies they can barely carry to the car after finishing last in the town soccer league. So, what can we do about it? What kind of example are we setting for those we lead and influence? Could gratitude be the answer? If so, we’ll gain much more than grateful attitudes around the office and dinner table.

What Gratitude Can Do For You

Research clearly shows that gratitude is linked with better health and well-being. People who cultivate gratitude experience benefits in these 3 main areas.

Physically 

• Exercise more
• Less bothered by aches and pains
• Take better care of their health
• In one study, participants demonstrated 10-15% lower blood pressure
• Sleep 10% more and feel more refreshed than control groups
• These benefits range from 10 – 30% greater than control groups

Mentally 

• More positive emotions such as joy and pleasure
• More alive, awake and focused
• Increased life satisfaction
• These benefits are 25% greater than control groups

Socially  

• Demonstrate more pro-social behaviors such as compassion, generosity, kindness
• More outgoing
• Feel less lonely and isolated
• Better relationships

I found the above benefits pretty astonishing. All this from being more grateful. Most of this has been shown in multiple studies with people ranging in age from 8 to 80 according to UC Berkley professor, Dr. Robert Emmons, author of Thanks! and Gratitude Works!. Add that to more selfless actions and less whining and entitlement. Count me in!

How You Can Develop Gratitude

I tend to get caught up in the hustle and busyness of daily life, work projects, to-do lists. I want things done now. Patience wears thin and I easily overlook just how blessed and fortunate I truly am. Just the fact that I have this MacBook Pro on which to write this blog indicates that I’m better off than much of the world’s population. If you’re at all like me, you could use a gratitude boost too.

Dr. Emmons’ and his colleague’s #1 strategy for increasing gratitude (and getting all the awesome benefits above) is to keep a Gratitude Journal. This is the same strategy used in many of their research studies.

To keep a Gratitude Journal, you’ll need to:

#1. Identify a place or space to keep your Gratitude Journal.

For me, this will be within my normal daily journal that I spend time in each morning. Digital, pen and pad, it doesn’t matter; just do it.

#2. Commit to logging 3-5 things everyday that you are grateful for. 

You could note good things that happen, how fortunate you are, recognizing the kindness of someone else, seeing an opportunity in a challenging situation or blessings you’ve received.

#3. Share what you are grateful for. (Optional)

Maybe this is around the break room at work or the breakfast table with your family. Be creative. This is a great way to encourage others to increase their gratitude too.

That’s It!

I am committing to becoming less entitled and more grateful in my own life. Hopefully, my words and actions will influence those around me. What about you? What example are you setting? I invite you to join me on a journey to replace entitlement with gratitude. We’ll all be better off for our efforts.

Question: What is one thing you are grateful for today? I’d love to hear from you in the comments section below. Let’s spread the gratitude!

Links:

• Article: Counting Blessings Versus Burdens by Robert Emmons and Michael McCullough
• Article: 10 Ways to Become More Grateful by Robert Emmons
• Book: Thanks! How Practicing Gratitude Can Make You Happier by Robert Emmons
• Book: Gratitude Works!: A 21-Day Program for Creating Emotional Prosperity by Robert Emmons
• Video: Cultivating Gratitude by Robert Emmons
• For more publications about Gratitude, click here.

The post The Entitlement Epidemic: How You Can Be Part of the Cure first appeared on The Excelling Edge.

Vacations are quickly becoming a thing of the past. Americans get less annual vacation time (14 days) than many other countries, according to Expedia.com. The French, for example get about 38 days per year to get away.

According to John de Graaf of Take Back Your Time, 137 countries make paid vacation mandatory; the United States isn’t one of them. To top it all off, over 30% of Americans don’t use all their annual vacation days, leaving about 3 days on the table each year.

Many people struggle to find a good time to take vacation. Consequently, it is easy to get overrun with projects and deadlines and not get ahead of the tidal waves of work. For those who manage the feat, nearly 25% of them check in with work while on vacation. Doesn’t that kind of defeat the point?

I vow not to become another statistic. Therefore, I announce that my family is taking a vacation. Recently, my wife and I decided on our next vacation location. We love to travel, explore new places and see what adventures we find there. Just brainstorming the possibilities of things to do gets me excited. This trip will take planning and preparation – both stepping away from work and the trip itself. But, it will be well worth it.

Sometimes it can seem nearly impossible to step away from your work. But here are 4 justifications for taking a much needed vacation.

Better Health

When we get away from the busyness of exploding inboxes, relentless phone calls and heated meetings, it is not surprising that we relax. While we all know we need a little down time, taking a real vacation results in some serious health benefits. A longitudinal study by The Mind-Body Center found that men at risk for heart disease were at nearly 25% higher risk of death and a third more likely to die of a heart attack when they didn’t take a vacation every year. The only early departure I want in my life is to the beach.

Vacation could even save you money in doctor bills as Sharon Melnick, author of Success Under Stress, writes that 70% of doctor visits are stress-related.

Buffers Burnout

In today’s go, go, go society, instances of burnout are on the rise. Vacation helps to alleviate the contributors to burnout, such as chronic stress. Some studies have found that stress levels can remain lowered even following vacation.

Not having enough time off (or not taking all allotted vacation days) can contribute to burnout. So don’t allow your precious paid vacation days to escape you.

Boosts Productivity

When we return from vacation we feel reenergized, rejuvenated and ready to dive back into our work. An ABC News article highlighted that people “are more motivated to achieve their goals after a vacation.” Do you have goals that need some resuscitation? Maybe a vacation is just the thing you need to get back on track.

Vacation also boosts creativity, according to an article in Forbes. With some added creativity, we arrive at solutions quicker, make better decisions and bring more powerful ideas to the table.

Builds Relationships

We are social creatures. Often, we vacation together with the people we care about most. With all the hustle and bustle of our overstuffed lives, it is easy to continually focus on the next thing and overlook the moments to really connect.

This is one of my favorite gifts of vacation, sharing experiences together and enjoying life with the people I love. We need these times to reconnect and grow in our relationships with our spouses, family and friends.

I genuinely hope you’re convinced and inspired to take a much needed vacation. Your family, employer and those you serve will thank you.

Question: Where are you going on vacation this year? I’d love to hear about your next adventure in the comments below.

The post Take A Vacation: Why Your Family, Colleagues and Customers Will Thank You first appeared on The Excelling Edge.

People matter. If we intend to go far in life, we can’t go it alone. Are you able to take risks, pursue opportunities and achieve more because of the people in your life? That has absolutely been true for me. Without my family, friends, colleagues and especially my wife…well, you wouldn’t be reading this. I am able to accomplish my goals and pursue my potential thanks to the relationships I have. Hopefully the same is true for you. But, one thing I’ve learned is that thriving relationships don’t come easy.

Overnight backpacking trips (complete with campfires and s’mores) are adventures that my wife, Laura, and I really enjoy. During these excursions, I’ve learned that building a roaring campfire takes work. It isn’t as easy as tossing a lit match onto a jumble of twigs. I’ve come to appreciate the art of fine fire building. Sitting by a warm campfire on a recent trip in middle Tennessee, I was struck by an insight into one of nature’s teachable moments. Relationships are a lot like campfires.

As we prepared, stoked and enjoyed the blaze that night, I soaked in the connection to relationships, such as your marriage, family, close friends. These are the people who have an influence in your life. Here is what stuck with me.

Here are 4 lessons from nature’s classroom that we can apply to nurture relationships that thrive.

1. The Secret Is In The Kindling
When building a fire you have to choose your kindling, the little things that get the fire started. These are often delicate materials like small fibers or twigs. In relationships, its is the little choices we make that lay the foundation – the kindling. A kind word, encouragement, a smile or doing the small things to make someone else’s day just a bit easier. Like kindling for a fire, you don’t need a lot. However, quality is key. In relationships, a half-hearted salutation just doesn’t make the cut. Pay attention to the kindling and do the little things to nurture your relationships.

2. Patience And Persistence Are Required
Building a roaring fire takes time, effort and patience. You can’t just have a spark and within seconds a full-on blaze that will melt your boots. In relationships, it takes time to get to know each other. Like layering on the logs and oxygenating the flame, a relationship grows with each conversation. Sometimes, I put a log in the wrong spot much like misunderstandings happen in relationships. For them to grow and thrive, relationships require patience and persistence.

3. Fuel The Fire Or It Goes Out
Once I got distracted working on dinner after a campfire was going strong. Before I knew it, the initial flame was nearly gone. I hadn’t continued to fuel it with kindling, wood and good air flow. I’ve also gotten distracted by work, to-dos and life and neglected some relationships. None of us wants to look up one day and realize that important relationships have been extinguished because we neglected them. In order to thrive, relationships need fuel and attention too. It’s important to stay in touch.

4. Gets Better With Age
Now for the best part. Once a fire matures and settles down a bit it becomes perfect for roasting marshmallows for s’mores. Recently, I’ve learned this is an American phenomenon. Anyhow, I also love how relationships become more intimate and deeper as they age. We recently moved across the country and hope to be building thriving relationships in our new town. But it is wonderful to see and talk with people with whom we’ve been applying these truths for a while. There’s a comfort, familiarity and satisfaction to them that just comes with time and effort. Just like the delicious, emotional experience of biting in to a fresh roasted s’more… Well, you get the idea.

The bottom line is that we all need meaningful relationships in our lives. It buffers us from many negatives, like depression, while also supporting us to do great things. I know I’m stronger and have accomplished more in life because of other people. Many clients I talk with say the same. In order to build, keep and grow relationships that thrive, we must act on these 4 lessons from nature.

Question: How do you put one of these lessons into action in your relationships? I’d love to hear what is working for you. Please share your insights in the comments section below.

The post 4 Lessons To Kindle Relationships That Thrive first appeared on The Excelling Edge.

 

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In setting goals or targeting our own personal development, we typically focus on our shortcomings and weaknesses. However, refining the things we struggle with doesn’t exactly reveal our best or our greatest potential. Instead, I along with many others, propose you focus more on your strengths. When we are working, playing, and living in our strengths, we not only perform better, but we’re happier too.

 

The truth is that everyone has strengths, things that are best about us. They are made up of a unique combination of traits, characteristics, talents, and aptitudes that each of us possesses. Our strengths are naturally occurring within us and we employ them to varying degrees at work, in communication with others and to achieve our goals. Beyond that, we all have a group of top strengths that dominate our behaviors and actions; they come easily for us and we enjoy using them, whether we realize it or not. While improving weaknesses is certainly a worthwhile endeavor, research tells us that putting more energy into building up our strengths and being intentional in using them may just be the secret sauce you’ve been searching for.

 

In 2007, while reading Authentic Happiness by Martin Seligman, I first took the VIA (Values in Action) Classification of Character Strengths, a validated strengths survey. My life has never been the same. Obviously, just taking the survey carried no magic in itself. It was the self-awareness, insight into who I am and the freedom it granted me to fully embrace my true self that made the survey meaningful. In the years that followed, I can honestly say, I have thrived like never before. This, the focus on what is best within us, embracing it and strengthening it, is the backbone of the exploding field of Positive Psychology.

 

Here are the top 5 reasons I choose to maximize my strengths and why you should do the same.

Reason #1: Increased energy

When I’m using my top strengths I feel more energized and less stressed. Often, time just flies by as I’m fully immersed in the task, loving it, as my strengths and abilities match the demands of the task. Often, this is referred to as flow or being in the zone. For me this happens when I’m investigating new things, creating something (like a blog post), making plans for the future or making progress on my goals. One study revealed that those who use their signature strengths are less stressed, which increases energy.

 

Reason #2: Increased engagement at work

When we have the opportunity to focus on our strengths every day, the research says, we are 6 times as likely to be engaged on the job. Furthermore, one study indicated that curiosity, zest, hope, gratitude, and spirituality are the top 5 strengths associated with work satisfaction across occupations. I have experienced this first hand. Today, I intentionally use my highest signature strength of curiosity in my everyday work and it has huge impact on how engaged I am at work.

 

Reason #3: Increased motivation

When I’m using my strengths I’m more enthusiastic about the task at hand and I’m more motivated because I identify more closely with what I’m doing. For example, I enjoy when my work requires me to strategize a plan for a client or create a speech on a new topic because I am a Strategic (according to the StrengthsFinder) and Curious (according to the VIA). One criteria for a strength to be included in the VIA to begin with is that individuals are naturally motivated to use it on their own, without encouragement or reward from others.

 

Reason #4: Increased goal achievement

The literature suggests that when we incorporate our strengths into our pursuit of achieving personally meaningful goals we are likely to experience greater positive emotions (ie. fulfillment), sustain our efforts and spiral upward to greater goal progress in the future. For me, this is absolutely true. A small but powerful example is when I read something that will help me achieve a goal. I feel excited, energized and driven to put the new information into action.

 

Reason #5: Increased life satisfaction, happiness

The research here just blows me away! Seriously, can you think of 3 people that you know who are unhappy with their daily life? It doesn’t have to be that way (and yes I understand there are a lot of factors at play). That said, people who use some of their signature strengths everyday are three times more likely to say they have an “excellent quality of life” than those who don’t. Sounds easy enough, right.

 

Some research suggests that strengths of hope and spirituality correlate the most with increased life satisfaction. An easy way to get started down this path is to pick one of your top strengths and use it in a new way for the next week, everyday. Be deliberate. People who do this have increased happiness and decreased depression for up to 6 months afterward, according to Martin Seligman’s latest book, Flourish. Astounding! For me, when I feed my curiosity daily by reading interesting articles on HuffPost or in my RSS feed, I enjoy it, learn new things and even share interesting tidbits with my family and friends, which boosts those relationships.

 

People are at their best when they are able to use their natural characteristics, traits and talents – the strengths in which they naturally excel. When I do what I am designed to do, putting my strengths, the best of who I am to work for me, then I am most likely to produce my best work. If you combine the reasons above of increasing energy, engagement, motivation, achievement and life satisfaction, it sure seems to form a recipe for success.

The post Strengths: No Longer a Secret Sauce first appeared on The Excelling Edge.