You have the power to transform your environment – at work, at home, everywhere you live.  In this episode I unlock seven secrets to bring more positive energy to your workplace.

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On This Week’s Episode

Rhythm of Life – The Best Laid Plans
Tune-up Tip – The Dark and Bright Sides of Blue Light
Random Riffs – It’s All in the Interpretation
Feature Segment – What Can You Bring to Every Day?

Rhythm of Life – The Best Laid Plans…

Like many of you, I am a planner.  But despite attempts to plan and be organized, my schedule can be disrupted in unexpected ways.  This is life.

When a serious disruption occurs, we often know exactly what to do; can see a way forward.  What about the rest of the time?  Are we distracted by our smart phones, our own wandering thoughts, or too many tasks?

During these times, what can we do to recover our focus; get back to our plan?

The best laid plans often get derailed, but if you practice living in the moment, remember what’s important, and keep your focus, you’ll be back on track.

Tune-up Tip – The Dark and Bright Sides of Blue Light

We all know that natural light contains all the colors of the rainbow.  But did you know that blue light effects how your body functions?

On the bright side… blue light can serve as a therapy for:

1. Mood disorders – controlled with blue light therapy.
2. Promotes wakefulness – blue light in the morning builds emission of serotonin, which promotes wakefulness.
3. Skin repair – blue light can help with acne, rosacea, psoriasis, and winkles from sun damage.

And now the dark side….blue light later in the day makes it more difficult to fall asleep due to delayed release of melatonin, the primary hormone that promotes sleep.  Our minds have difficulty shutting down.
There are tactical ways to reduce blue light in the evening – thus promoting better rest – like removing electronics from your bedroom, installing f.lux software on your computer, or using non-florescent light bulbs.   Think about how much better you will feel and think when you are well rested.

Random Riffs – It’s All in the Interpretation

We all have that one song that we love.  Whether it’s the tempo, or the lyrics, the artist or the arrangement, we never tire of it.  And have you ever heard a different version of the same song and hated it?

Why?  It’s all in the interpretation.

Much of creativity comes from starting with something already there and reinterpreting it.  Sometimes similar to the original, and sometimes completely different.

What can you make your own through interpretation?  Try it.  Experiment.  Play.  Share a photo, video, or writing on my Facebook page.  I can’t wait to see what you come up with.

Feature Segment – What Can You Bring to Everyday?

I have the power to transform my environment – at work, at home, everywhere I live.  By my actions, I can revolutionize my own work, my team, my relationships, and possibly even my organization.

Whether a CEO, or an everyday worker, attitude and actions can and do significantly impact the culture of those with whom we work and live.  And you can use that influence for significant good when you bring all of who you are to the table.

How?  By learning and practicing 7 secrets of positive energy.

Energy is a property of objects which can be transferred to other objects or converted into different forms, but cannot be created or destroyed.

Applying that to human interactions, energy is always there.  The only question is what kind of energy – positive or negative?  We’ve all experienced both over the course of our careers and in our daily life.

In his book called The Energy Bus, Jon Gordon calls those who transmit negative energy “energy vampires”.  They suck all the positive energy out of the room and turn it negative.  Better to fuel your ride with positive energy, and invite people to get on the Energy Bus with you.  But you have to want to.  You have to know how.  You have to practice until you get good at it.  We talked in Episode 014 about changing your mind to change your life.  This can apply to the energy we exude as well.

Seven practices to adopt to infuse positive energy into your work environment:

1. Bring all of who you are to the table: humanity (mind, emotions, passion), personality, creativity, strengths, uniqueness.
2. Choose hope – unfortunately, the default position for many is to be cynical. It’s easier. You don’t have to do anything except complain. But we can destroy ourselves by cynicism and disillusion. “Hope requires effort. Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all of the darkness.” (Desmond Tutu).
3. Embrace challenges – challenges are a natural part of life. They often come from mistakes we or others make, external circumstances. The problem isn’t necessarily the problem itself, but how we perceive it. As a problem or an opportunity.  Bruce Schneider discusses this in Energy Leadership.  Thru a Stream of Consciousness, we ask the questions, “What's the opportunity here,” and, “How can we make this work?”
4. Be fully present – with no filter. Don’t drag past difficulties into the present, or see the present with a negative filter.  We discussed this in Episode 021.
5. Serve others – rather than expecting to be served. Regardless of your position, reciprocate.
6. Speak truth in love – This is not just about speaking difficult truths. We need to communicate both good and difficult.
7. Celebrate and encourage – We often don’t take time to do this and it is so important. We spend so much time reacting and focusing on things with great urgency that we don’t stop to celebrate.

Think you can’t transform your environment?  You can, or at least your part of it.  And, it might catch on.  When people connect to your positive energy, it could have more impact than you ever dreamed.

Want More?

If you'd like to dig deeper into this topic, an online assessment is available.  Just click on the button below to get started.
Click Here for the Assessment

Evaluate your own success at bringing positive energy to four aspects of your life:  personal, relationships, effectiveness, and leadership.  At the end of the assessment are some tips to help you even more.
Good luck!