Do you regularly experience joy?

Last week, I had the opportunity to speak to about 60 women at a Charleston Chamber of Commerce luncheon. This highly interactive session had these women asking questions, trying new things, and learning dozens of communication tools and techniques.

One of the points I made when talking about executive presence, is to be aware of negative thought patterns since negativity influences our language, how we say what we say and how we show up in our bodies. Positivity, humor, mindfulness, happiness and joy can all be antidotes to negativity.

As I was researching the topic, I stumbled upon Ingrid Fetell Lee, a designer and author, who delves into the psychology and neuroscience behind joy. She believes that the use of color, rounded shapes and nature have a positive affect on our ability to feel joy. Check out her TED talk if you want to learn more.

One of the questions she asks: “When was the last time you felt a true, unfettered moment of joy?”.

#WiseWords

The healthiest response to life is joy.

Mark Twain

Worth the Share

Can you find joy at work? The last couple of years have been very challenging and many of us are still struggling to connect and find joy. I see it with clients every day when we talk about how they are navigating being fully remote, problems with team members who are struggling or personally feeling disconnected from their colleagues.

This article, Rediscover Joy at Work by Rebecca Newton, talks about ways to do just that. You can find more joy through these four steps:

  1. Build your strengths into your day: What are your strengths? If you are not sure, take the Clifton Strengths assessment then weave them into your day. My top strength is connectedness, I feel drained when I don’t connect with others.
  2. Focus on your professional growth: Learning something new can be invigorating and bring you joy. If your job doesn’t offer you the opportunity to learn something new, what can you learn outside of work?
  3. Share with a trusted colleague: The important thing is to have someone you totally trust at work, someone with whom you can be your true, authentic self.
  4. Build relationships through work: Whether you are in person or fully remote, be intentional about building real relationships with others. Don’t go it alone.

You can also read the full article to learn more.

And Finally...

When working with clients, self-care often comes up. To live our best lives, we need to take really good care of ourselves; our body, mind and spirit.

Fall is such a beautiful time of year to engage in activities that could bring you joy. Go for walk and admire the changing color of leaves, maybe go apple picking or bake some Pumpkin Honey Beer bread. Take time to find more joy!

Have a great week and a Happy Halloween,

Mary Jo

To learn more about my 1:1 executive, communication or business growth coaching, custom virtual workshops, the Career Transition program or just to connect, you can reach me at info@mjrcac.com