Renewable Energy

“After all, that’s why they call it work.” We’ve all heard people say that. For so many, the workplace sucks precious energy and joy from them that could be invested in their personal lives. For that, people do not like their jobs.

The truth, however, is that you have more control over your work environment than you could ever admit—until now. You have untapped mega-powers over your attitude and that of others in the workplace. What’s more, you in a more pleasant work environment means a healthier, happier, more upwardly mobile you.

You certainly can think of that one person who comes into a jovial, happy-go-lucky room and empties the atmosphere of all fun. Or conversely, there might be that colleague who can hop on a conference call, and their mere presence lifts your soul.

You can be either of these people. It’s up to you. You have an amazing power to command the energy of anyone in your environment because all of us are human and feed off one another. This is one of the greatest gifts you can give yourself and anyone else, and it’s free! What’s more, the more you help people to feel good, the more the energy you created in them will rub off on you.

Here’s how you can tap into this endless renewable energy resource:

Lead with your smile. When you are facing someone to speak, the closest part of your body to them is your face. How appropriate. After all, our face is the source of over 50 percent of our communication. Thankfully, you are in complete control of what you wear on your face, which also affects the tone of your voice, from where another roughly 40 percent of your communication comes. Early in our public speaking careers, we were taught by the experts that if we projected our chin forward and smiled, that would take care of 90 percent of the energy in the room. A dirty little secret is that after that’s taken care of, the content of the speech is just icing on the cake. So if you take just one simple thing out of this article, realize the importance of smiling on those around you. It is a cinch and nothing short of huge.

Inquire and know about others. Having our own businesses for well over a decade, we are veterans of networking and, with that, the importance of being interested in others. An ABC of networking is to always record another person’s particulars in your rolodex—their birthday, children’s names, favorite music, etc. Funny is that many people only go into this mode when looking for a job or have their own businesses. How valuable is it in a full-time job to come into a room or hop on a conference call and begin inquiring about these types of things immediately as you wait for others to arrive for example? You’ll see a sense of teamwork and connection immediately start to bloom. The effect on others of taking interest in them is truly immeasurable. Try it. “You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you.” – Dale Carnegie, How to Win Friends and Influence People

Encourage others to be genuine. For better or worse, people act like the person they think you want them to be. The result? Most have a rather homogenous view of the buttoned up professional at work—more email in the inbox than they can handle, juggling several critical projects at once, and having the phone in front of them during a conversation in case the President needs authorization to use the nuclear launch codes. Everyone strives to act fairly the same, making the workplace more boring and less interesting than it could be. During the writing of our bestseller Radical Sabbatical, we brought the related victories and defeats of authorship to our clients and friends, and we were brutally honest about it. As we shared something deep, unique, and personal, our clients began to do more of the same, creating a more engaged, creative, and connected energy in all our work with them. And it made it more fun to “inquire and know about others,” (see above) since they were more unique and interesting. Others will present you their genuine selves when you go first.

Pay compliments. As consultants, we have the fascinating privilege of witnessing team dynamics with detachment from the politics of our clients’ organizations. Part of that is watching personnel rise up through the ranks. When you are in a group setting and compliment others, you not only make them feel amazing and lift their energy, but you give off to others that most powerful trait that everyone is looking for in a leader—empowerment of others. So as with all the other pointers in this piece, you are creating positive energy in yourself by being positive about the other person, they receive your positive compliment, and those around you have a more positive image of the both of you. Again, all this stuff is full-circle.

Be thankful. This one will be fairly automatic if you follow the first four points above. Quickly review our recommendations, and see that you empower yourself and others by focusing your energy on giving to them. Why is giving so powerful? Because—here’s something counterintuitive—it makes you more grateful. Nothing we have recommended you give costs a cent. Rather, it comes from within you—intrinsically. It is when people appreciate those things you created intrinsically that you feel an endless stream of riches at your disposal. It is at that moment you become truly grateful in the purest sense of the word, and recent study after study points to gratitude as possibly the greatest contributor to a happier life.

So it may be time to stop looking at your boss or company as the reason why you don’t like going to work. Likewise, it may be time to stop looking for a new job. All these are potential changes outside of you. A change inside outshines the value of external changes countless folds over, is more under your control, and can start with a decision right now to bring more happiness, health, and balance into your life, in and out of work.

This article originally appeared on Psychology Today Jan 28, 2015

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