Can too much of a good thing be bad for you? Yes – suggests Annie McKee, author of How to Be Happy at Work*. She identifies three “traps” that successful people often fall into at work – success strategies that go too far. *The Ambition Trap. A laser focus on success – especially when combined with competitiveness to be the best - can actually be a trap for the high … [Read more...] about Happiness Traps
Resilience
Engaged & Exhausted
Employee engagement is the current Holy Grail for organizations. Many employers – including my own, the University of Maryland – are spending millions of dollars to assess employee engagement and implement programs to increase engagement. Given the research on the payoff of having an engaged workforce, these investments make sense (e.g., see extensive research by Gallup). … [Read more...] about Engaged & Exhausted
Time to Think
As I have gotten older, I want more and more time to think, gather my thoughts, make sense of the world, and hopefully garner some wisdom. Yeah, I keep on waiting. That hasn’t happened in a long time even with multiple efforts to carve that time out and work it into my schedule. The necessities of work, family, and Netflix binging push out any attempt otherwise. Then … [Read more...] about Time to Think
New Year’s Reverse Bucket List
Whether you have already given up on your New Year’s Resolutions or not, here is an even more fun activity I learned about in an article by Shine – write a Reverse Bucket List. Instead of writing a list of amazing things that you “hope” to do for the rest of your life, make a list of all the amazing things you have ALREADY done – either significant accomplishments or … [Read more...] about New Year’s Reverse Bucket List
Endangered Resource: Focus
The battle for Focus is on! As if it is not enough that we already have too much to do . . . now the “devices” have entered the fray. If it’s not your computer, then it’s your “smart” phone, or your (Dick Tracy-like) Apple watch. You can try to focus – but then what is that text say? Or the Linked In update, or Tweet, or FaceBook message . . . much less the more normal … [Read more...] about Endangered Resource: Focus