doug smith training

Have you ever smiled at a stranger, just to smile? Without getting creepy about it, try it some time. Almost every time that I've smiled first, the other person will smile back. It's a human reaction. We almost can't help it. Open friendliness and welcoming is hard to resist. A random smile packs a surprising amount of joy. Why not be happy? Happy leaders very often create the happiest teams, and happy teams very often produce the best results. -- doug smith  

Judging is a joy buster. No matter how good it feels at first, the whiplash outlasts the guilty pleasure. Judging inevitably points to the personal spots we share with those whom we judge. If your job is to be a judge, by all means keep judging. But if your job is anything else, pause long enough to learn what's going on.  I'm still waiting for perfection, how about you? Don't we all need a little slack from the rampant judging that surrounds us? -- doug smith

There's a secret way to stretch your time. Well, it's not that BIG of a secret, and some people might disagree, but if it works for you, wouldn't you make use of it. Here it is: Fill your time with joy and you find you have more time. More time, better time, easier time, wonderful time. It's just a feeling, of course, because as far as we know we all have equal amounts of time -- from moment to moment. Creating great moments though last and so, tada! you find you have more time. It's worth a try...even if you don't end up with more time, you do end up with more joy. -- doug smith  

  Quick -- think about the goal that brought you the most joy. Maybe it was a big goal, maybe it was a small goal. It could have given you trouble to achieve it, but somehow you did persist and did get it done. Have you got one in mind? Let your thoughts linger on that for just a moment because you deserve that joy. When there is joy in working the goal there will surely be joy in achieving it. If there is no joy in working the goal there probably won't be much joy in achieving it, either. Look for signs of joy early and often. You deserve those kinds of goals. -- doug smith

What if your biggest goal is not your most important goal? It's natural to think that your priorities are always determined by size: which goal will produce the largest revenue, save the most money, or give you the biggest impact. And, yes that's important. But should it determine what goal you work on today? I guess that it depends on whether you ask yourself or your boss, but I like to ask myself "which goal brings you the most joy right now?" Happiness matters. What if the purpose of achieving your goals is to make you happy? What if while you are working om your goals you felt great joy?  If the joy is missing, maybe the goal isn't so big after all... -- doug smith

Want to send a powerful message to your people? Want to communicate more effectively? Smile. They want to know how they are doing -- AND they want to know how you're doing. Walking around with a serious face all the time will wear them down. They'll wonder what's up. They'll start to question the path your team is on. Their desire to communicate will diminish. You can do better. You can create better conversations. Start with a smile. Find the joy in what you do and share it. Find the happiness in your team and grow it. Smile. -- Doug Smith