Seek Happy…Because Success Follows Happiness

It’s also very good for business!

I was at dinner last night with friends that I have know for…Yeah we aren’t going there but let’s just say a significantly longer than I care to admit. We have celebrated our 30^th birthdays for well more than a decade. Do the math, but keep it to yourself, please.

I see these women a few times a year and like I can say of most groups, not much changes between our get-togethers. But at this recent visit I saw a change in one particular friend that intrigued me all night. It started with the fact that she physically looked very different to me. Her skin was clearer, it sort of glowed, and there was a sparkle in her eye and just a presence about her that was completely delightful to be around. According to her, the only thing that had really changed is her role at work, but this change is making her soooo much happier.

This particular friend has worked for various retailers and never loved the environments that she has been in. She has regularly been assigned to stores that need significant help, and she is charged with getting them heading in the right direction. This speaks volumes about her performance, I can see that for many years it had taken a toll on her. Although flattered that the company thinks so highly of her, it was never what she really wanted to do.

In this recent change, the company finally assigned her a store extremely close to home. In her words “my tea is still hot when I arrive at the store.” The store doesn’t need turning around like all the others. In fact, the culture in this store sounds incredible.  My friend is somewhat obsessed with the colour purple and on her first day they had a purple welcome party for her. The associates all wore purple, they had a potluck meal with many purple foods (a bit strange, but hey).

She spent the night sharing the potential of positive growth she sees for both the store and the company as a whole. Her passion for opening new stores and developing amazing leaders for those stores was coming out in spades. She was sharing the windows of opportunities that were coming her way as a result of this change. I believe it is completely because her energy shifted, her joy was contagious, and she was attracting opportunities where others could buy into her vision.

It was a reminder to me to ALWAYS put energy into doing what you can to being happy. I believe it will pay off in opportunities and do wonders for your business and personal life.

So, what exactly does that mean? Find something EVERY DAY that you enjoy and focus on it, expand it as much as possible and seek out opportunities to acquire more.  Make your goal to be a little happier today than you were yesterday.

Ask yourself: what would need to happen to make that so? Could I hand off work that I dislike doing to someone that enjoys it? Could I organize my day so that I limit the stuff I don’t like doing or schedule it for when I can get it done faster?

Seek out opportunities where you feel engaged, empowered, appreciated, energized and ultimately joyful (sincerely joyful) and I believe success will follow.

Yes, I believe “SUCCESS FOLLOWS HAPPINESS”.