Transparency for me is the basis for trust in doing business with other people.
Going back, one of the ladies I had that talk with, asked me about my thoughts on the matter because I was very firm on it, making a statement that it’s really important. And today, I’ll share with you the things that I’ve shared with them – where after the end of the long discussion they got new perspectives.
I’ll begin by giving you a scenario.
“Let’s say, you lied to your friend John, but here comes Marie who knows the truth, and one day, you discovered that John and Marie are friends What are you gonna do? Will you tell the truth to John or pretend like nothing’s wrong at all?”
That’s entirely up to you – but to tell you something, regardless of the act that you take, you cannot reverse the damage that you’ve done with the lying, you’ve already tarnished your reputation, and with that reputation, how can people know if they can trust you?
The scenario may be simple, but we know how common it is.
Aside from reputation being tarnished, what can it do to you internally?
You’ll be anxious and you’ll always overthink it. You’ll have to be very extra cautious and you’re always scared of something, especially the truth spilling out.
All that are very stressful and we know what too much stress does to our bodies, so it’s not wise to lie from the very beginning.
THE AMOUNT OF ENERGY IT TAKES
All these things also take a lot of energy just to keep track of things.
One lie leads to more lies, and it will just never be over.
Let me share my personal experience about the matter.
When I was new with my business, I got help from various associations from the upstart and got into a co-op with a lady nurse.
Everything was great! Or at least, looked great on the surface as she had a great business model that we used – except that she had a hidden agenda.
She was never transparent in the beginning as my business partner. She put everything in her name and was just telling me that it was ours, but then I was too blue-eyed to question it.
People around me started questioning some of the things we were doing so I had a hunch that something more was happening. I then confronted her but all I got were additional lies I failed to notice as lies so we continued…
Until I asked the wrong question, or actually, the RIGHT ONE that made her shield crack and blew up on me, even uttered things like I do not know anything about healthcare.
Me? Who’s been a Doctor for decades???? Knows nothing about healthcare??? Pretty sure that’s her way to gaslight in her effort to escape the questions I asked.
Then the 3-month hell started, til I got help from my lawyers to put the company in bankruptcy. We both lost a lot of money and it took me a year of hard work as a Doctor to be able to recover.
THE LESSON
Be aware of what you sign up for, and ask the right questions. Transparency is a MUST.
TRANSPARENCY AND SUCCESS CORRELATION
How does transparency help in business success?
Well, aside from the fact that you’ll be closer to achieving success if you are less stressed…
Imagine running a business without transparency. You can be great at what you do, but the company’s success will never be long-term without it.
Remember, it only takes a single wronged person for a business to fall.
WHAT TO DO WHEN BEING TRANSPARENT IS NOT AN OPTION
Having worked in healthcare as a Doctor for many years… I know that there are just unexpected situations where being completely transparent is hard so I know that it’s not always easy.
It was always a thin line to walk for me. I mean, how do you easily tell your patients about things that you know could really hurt them and their families?
But of course, at the same time, I know better – than holding it off, covering it up, postponing it, or worse, lying about it would just make things worse.
“So you shrug it off, the possibility of hurting them?”
No. But I always search for the best words to tell them. I tell the truth and nothing but the complete truth, but I kind of wrap my words in a nice package so it doesn’t hit them so hard. If possible.
BUSINESS TRANSPARENCY
Transparency in business means offering a clear, honest assessment of what’s going on within one’s work and starts with a simple shift in communication: openness and honesty between everyone involved in the business relationship.
It is also the basis for trust between a firm and its investors, customers, partners, and employees, having its core objective to be always the same: establishing trust and goodwill.
Let’s look at Some examples of what transparency in business can include:
With Investors and Shareholders – Investors think about transparency in terms of how readily they can access financial information about a company, including its price levels and audited financial reports. Investors must be able to trust that your organization produces financial reports that are informative, accurate, and independently audited.
With Customers – Customers want to see transparency from the businesses where they choose to spend their money. To achieve transparency with its customers, businesses should respond to customer inquiries and feedback in an honest and timely fashion, and increase the accessibility of information about their products and services. Transparency also means admitting to mistakes instead of trying to cover them up, and working to make things right with customers. When executed well, transparency with customers results in elevated brand loyalty, increased sales, and stronger employee satisfaction.
In the Supply Chain – Transparency between an organization and its vendors and suppliers is essential for ensuring a productive ongoing relationship. An organization may cease doing business with a supplier who fails to honestly communicate about the sources of its materials or labor. Supply chains are increasingly being scrutinized by governments, consumers, and NGOs who are concerned about the ethical sourcing of labor and materials.
With Employees – Transparency with employees is centered around honest, two-way communications between employees of the business and their managers. This can include transparent discussions about business goals and objectives, challenges, employee performance, and other work-related issues.
In the end, the primary benefit of business transparency is that it produces trust and goodwill while safeguarding the firm’s reputation among investors, partners, employees, customers, and other stakeholders. In addition to all the above-mentioned, benefits also include:
Increasing employee morale
Boosting employee engagement and retention
Demonstrating stability and encouraging investment
Leveraging honest feedback to improve processes and drive results
Demonstrating integrity and ethical behavior
Studies show that approximately 9 in 10 individuals (85%) are expected to stick by the company during a brand crunch if it possesses a history of being fully transparent.
TRANSPARENCY AND INTERNAL INFORMATION
Transparency in business can also mean publicizing a company’s internal information externally which can include:
Financial performance
Pricing
Key processes
Hiring practices
Diversity and inclusion data
Sharing all of this information keeps companies accountable to their customers and, most importantly, pushes them to follow ethical business practices.
Nowadays, people don’t just buy your product or services — they also buy what you stand for. In Edelman’s 2019 Brand Trust Survey, 81% of survey respondents reported that they “must be able to trust the brand to do what is right” to justify their purchase of the brand’s products or services.
But how exactly do you gain people’s trust, especially when the majority of consumers are skeptical of a lot of brands’ true intentions? A crucial first step to take is to fully commit to transparency. People value transparency because we evolved to trust the people who are honest and despise those who are deceptive. The former could help us survive. The latter could do the very opposite.
In a nutshell, people buy brands — not just products — and practicing transparency helps build their trust and affinity for your company. But this begs the question — what does that actually look like?
As I started off today ALL of these angles – steps – viewpoints cause a lot of stress for everyone involved if we feel we are doing the wrong thing.
Sticking to the truth helps us to stay grounded and be sure we do our best and that will be the best guarantee for less stress in your business
And of course, all these facts and angles can be applied to your personal life too.
This discussion around transparency, around the truth or lying, can be hard to tackle. It is a sensitive subject that can stress you out a lot.
What is right and what is wrong?
If you do not know where to start or feel hard to do on your own, it’s okay! You can start with little things, such as mastering your stress management as a leader, and then with less stress, the rest will automatically follow.
Habit means something we do the same, all the time.
But why is it important in stress management?
During the Savannah, at about 20,000ish years ago, we live in the caves and hunt for food.
We were only equipped with 3 instincts, flight, fight, or freeze in order to fight for survival.
We hunt by the day, we sleep by the night. But there is a certain awake and sleep pattern steered by our internal clocks – the circadian rhythm.
The circadian rhythm, this system wants us to have regularity with sleep and eat and help biology perform best by making things into a routine as the way to go.
Smart, isn’t it? How biology works, us having habits so we don’t drain ourselves the energy when we do things we’re used to doing.
We just do what we do without needing to think so much or exert a lot of energy because once a thing becomes a habit – it seems so easy to be done.
ARE HABITS GOOD?
Habits are generally very good as they help us to an easier life where we do not have to think of every step we take.
An example is a morning routine, imagine the stress if we have to regularly think about every move we’re gonna make after waking up?
“I will get out of bed, then I will go to the bathroom to pee, shower, I will find my towel, I will get dressed, etc., etc.”
Imagine these details if you still have to think of them before you can do them??
So habits make life easy, right?
BUT WHY DOES IT SEEM HARD NOW?
Because unlike before where the only threats were the animals that would eat us…
Our surrounding has greatly evolved. We are not surrounded by wild animals anymore but by work stresses, financial or relationship challenges – things that cannot be solved anymore by habits, things that require thinking.
STILL, HABITS ARE STILL NUMBER 1!
Despite the above-mentioned, I’d say that habits are still the number 1 way to go today.
They make our basic life so so much easier and save us so much energy.
I would even say that many people would benefit from making more habits to go from
In our workplaces it is gold to have habits and communal structures to base all the basic actions on, setting the rules and making clear instructions, then showing them to new people in the organization so they too can get these habits so things will move smoothly.
FROM ROUTINES TO RITUALS
If you do get good routines and you keep doing them and they serve you they will turn into rituals – routines you don’t want to live without – making things flow even better.
BUT EVEN HABITS REQUIRE CHANGE
When the routines and habits don’t serve you any longer they will be a burden. They will start your stress system – knock on your back and say “Hello, I feel unease and all these stress hormones have started to run around in my bloodstream – do something!!!
The problem now is that the master in your head will keep saying – do as you always have done – we need to save energy – just keep on.
Now you need to make an active decision – use your willpower to find new ways to tackle the problem and find a new way that works better for you.
It may be some major changes in your life, or at work?
And maybe you, now when I say it can be tough – you have started to get cold feet – IS THIS REALLY POSSIBLE?
I know your instinct tells you to stay where you are because that’s where you will feel safer.
Don’t worry, it is possible if you know how! To help you get that picture of what you can do, I want to introduce you to a new way of thinking – a model of how you can see these changes work.
Remembering this can work as an anchor to stay on track.
We are wired to want everything to be easy. When we wave the magic wand, everything should fall in place, just like that. Because we long for success and happiness all the time, don’t we?
Well, that is not how it works! But it IS possible to make changes in your habits. It is even easy if you know how to. And this way of thinking works for everything you change – at work or at home.
I see Changes in life as an outer space rocket taking off. At first, the gravity is extremely strong; it takes a lot of fuel to get the rocket taken off from the ground. When it is up and comes to the outer layers of our atmosphere it goes easier and when it is out there, in the free space, it just dances away.
It is the same with Changes in life. They can be extremely hard in the beginning and you need all your willpower to not just give up and do “as usual” but they get easier the longer you stick with them.
AIM FOR A MONTH
Four weeks is said to be the time needed for a new habit to stick. It is also important what you promise to yourself.
NO OVERPROMISING
Most people tend to overpromise to change everything at once, and they think of what other people say they should change. It is just not possible to do it that way.
ONE STEP AT A TIME
You may plan a lot of changes but the only way to succeed is to make one small change at a time. And then the next one, and the next one.
Since each change takes about four weeks that add up to the possibility of a lot of changes in a year.
Also, when you start doing small changes the right way, you will see the magic happen. So many other things will follow with change just because of your new actions.
To make it even easier and fun you can tell people about what you are up to and that will work as accountability too!
LOVING THE LAST MINUTE
If you have a tendency to procrastinate when change is on the table – you are not alone. Most people dread change!
But also remember – it isn’t going to be easier or better or faster if you delay acting for change – it will still take those 4 weeks until you get at ease with your new habits – so procrastination is only chowing the problem ahead of you, so why not just get it done? “Just do it” – as Nike says!
If you’re asking why even habits change…
Just remember one of the most famous lines: “Change is the only constant thing in this world.”
If you do not know where to start or feel hard to do on your own, get yourself a mentor or check HERE to see if you’ll feel like we’re a good fit.
I do love mantras like “A walk a day keeps the stress and anxiety away”. They stick in your memory and remind you to take your walk and the reason behind it.
LET’S TACKLE WALKING DEEP
You might be wondering how walking helps with stress and anxiety, and that’s okay. I have been already asked by a lot about this, so I thought of writing my answers here for easier reference.
The answer lies in the connection between body movement and our brains.
LET ME TAKE YOU BACK TO THE PAST
Allow me to bring back the past. At about 200,000 ish years ago, it was the survival of the fittest – and we humans either run or fight if faced with a threat.
When stressed and faced by a threat, our instincts tell us to MOVE – whether MOVE to RUN or MOVE to FIGHT, as long as we MOVE.
Isn’t it brilliant?
ONE MORE PROOF
Think of a moment where you lose a thought, and tried your best to remember while sitting but you couldn’t, and the moment that you moved… you remember the thought effortlessly.
THAT… is what I’m talking about.
EXCESS STRESS HORMONES
Our body releases extra stress hormones like cortisol and adrenaline when we’re stressed.
Our body signals us that something is wrong and that we need to take care of it because if we don’t, it can be dangerous.
DANGERS OF NOT ACTING
Our body suffers physical effects like muscle tension, shallow and rapid breathing, or digestive system discomfort when we’re stressed.
This system is only supposed to kick in for short periods of time, and never longer. If it does… we can be very sick physically and mentally.
MY MISSION
During my many years as a Doctor, I’ve seen the long-term physical and mental issues from stress so I’ve made it my mission to educate and help leaders prevent and manage stress and anxiety at work and at home.
WHY WALKING?
Walking wakes the body up and clears the mind. It’s like we’re rebooting our system like we would on a phone.
It additionally clears the hormones out of our body by using them as energy, and at the same time the brain releases “feel-good” hormones.
HOW LONG DO I NEED TO WALK?
Kickstarting your day with a 30-minute walk is ideal, but even a 5-minute walk around the block that can be done even in the middle of the day can help you keep calm at work.
What’s important is you get up off your butt, and WALK.
HOW OFTEN SHOULD YOU WALK
Daily is ideal so you can make it a part of your day-by-day.
Establishing this as part of your healthy routine is the best as this can help make the rest of your day flow way much easier.
DOES YOUR WALKING NEED TO BE MONITORED?
No. You can of course get yourself a pedometer if you really want to, but honestly, I am a Doctor and I am pro-just enjoy the walk.
WALKING IS A COMMITMENT – FROM YOU TO YOU.
You are not doing this for anybody else but yourself. You take care of you and build up the resilience to face any or all hurdles for the day.
Constant brain fog, big pressure headaches? WALK IT OFF.
A TIP FROM A STRESS MANAGEMENT EXPERT
Being a pioneer in the stress industry, a tip from me is that when you’re really stressed out – admit and accept that YOU NEED A BREAK.
Your brain needs a break, and physical activity’s one of the best tools you can use.
Walking, jumping up and down, stretching, any physical movement reduce stress at the very least.
TREAT WALKING AS YOUR PILL
Take your 30-minute Brisk walk as your first pill for light depression.
As a Doctor, while it is light, do this and it helps like a first-aid kit.
If you think that your depression is severe, see a Doctor.
CHEATING YOUR BRAIN
You can actually cheat your brain if you can’t find motivation yet.
If you can’t find yourself “purposely” walking around the block, ditch elevators, escalators, and the nearest parking lot.
See an elevator/escalator? Take the stairs. Doing grocery? Park farther from the entrance!
IT IS A GOOD CARDIO EXERCISE
At the same time, walking is good cardio or moderate aerobic exercise. It is after all physical activity and any physical activity or movement improves health.
You know what they say…
“Use them or lose them.”
And if we’re gonna apply that to muscles and joints, I’d rather use them.
Now, one would sometimes say…
“I’m too busy, I don’t have that luxury of time or that 30 minutes to spend just walking.”
I understand.
But I also happen to know that most people instead of walking choose to drive the car even if the distance is not really that far. And that most people also would run to fit in that elevator rather than taking the stairs.
So really, you don’t have the time – fine… But at least choose the better options and remember that it’s a great exercise.
“But I really hate walking. I’d rather do other things than walk because I just happen to hate outside if it’s not for an errand. And I can’t do that walk inside my house, there’s not enough space.”
Sure, again, I do understand. Not all people like the outside world anyway.
But I also know that every step or movement counts. Which means…
Any physical activity, even just doing the house chores is good for your health.
All forms of physical movement are good for blood pressure, lungs, heart, cholesterol, and blood sugar levels.
MOVING IS A WONDER MEDICINE
During this pandemic, we are all encouraged to do social distancing but, of course, we all know at the same time that we can’t just ignore our health…
Taking daily walks, brisk walks, jogging, running, or just doing the house chores and using what we have at home such as stairs for our daily exercises helps.
No matter what type of exercise we do as long as we do it, we’ll be okay.
Have you ever wondered why some people engage themselves personally so much in charity?
Because it feels good.
But it doesn’t end there. For example, out of 7 charities, someone is helping, sometimes you’ll notice a priority – one which caught their heart the most; one where they feel they are being helpful the most.
That is called THE HEART PROJECT, one that’s closest to the heart.
Do you have a heart project?
I do, and it’s been my heart project since 2008. It’s called Better Globe.
As both a Doctor and Stress Management Expert, I know for a fact that doing good for others produces feel-good hormones in our brains.
“So, it doesn’t just benefit the people we’re helping, but also us?” – Certainly. Fantastic, isn’t it?
You see, when the brain sees that we’re doing good, it puts us in this loop of releasing feel-good hormones.
It’s all a gift from the past…
We are created to be herd animals, needing each other to grow and move forward – to survive.
So helping each other makes us feel better because we are all still connected.
These feelings and the biological science behind them are what drive all charity movements out there.
The Red Cross, their sister organizations, the United Nations sub-divisions, and many others… They ask for money from us, and we’re able to give after sympathizing.
And that is good.
We need to help others who have less and those who are at a harder time… catastrophic situations, and even help the environment.
MY WAY OF GIVING/MY TYPE OF CHARITY
I personally have decided to give in two specific ways.
The Rotary, and the Better Globe.
THE ROTARY
The Rotary is a worldwide organization based on occupational connections; for business, connections but also for helping big in the society around, like being part of something that’s aiming to extinguish Polio globally. and it makes me feel good to be part of an organization like this.
What I get from this are simple breakfasts with other members, but the feeling of meeting up to eat knowing that you all are doing good deeds for others, I always end up feeling good and being happy.
THE BETTER GLOBE
This one, the Better Globe, is about something completely different. This is about the trees in Kenya, Africa.
But it goes deeper than that.
Global net loss of forests, extreme poverty and lack of education are the three main problems in our world, and this company aims to help in all three of the above-mentioned major problems.
Help to self-help at its best, what more can I say?
I buy a tree, the farmers get a job to plant and get paid for it, the trees help in Global warming, and donations help in the education of children. When the trees grow, I can get returns. This one is a win-win situation.
From the moment I learned about this Wayback 2008, I have decided to support their purpose and make it possible for them to reach their goal of planting 5 billion trees.
I even visited Kenya to see how far or near we are to the goal, but the whole experience just made it all feel better as I saw how they make an enormous impact on people in Kenya.
And now I can say, with or without returns, I honestly already feel good and complacent that my money’s going a long way in helping.
GLOBAL CHARITIES
Globally, every club has different projects that they support locally or internationally. We have helped a local organization both financially and practically in helping young and teen refugees, and an African organization for young women to a job education.
There are many ways to help, and make sure that the money is used for the right purpose.
ON SCAM DOUBTS
Unfortunately and the sad reality is there are always scammers who try to profit personally and cannibalize on other people’s kindness and generosity…
This is exactly why we always look for how transparent they are with the donations they receive, and if the money is used correctly.
IF NOT COMFORTABLE WITH MONEY DONATIONS
If you’re not comfortable giving money donations, there are a lot of different ways to help.
In-kind donations: clothes, foods, first-aid kits, or anything that can be of help to them especially prioritizing their everyday basic needs.
YOU CAN START LITTLE
It does not matter how much you give or how much you help, what’s important is that you do it.
If you do not know where to start or find it hard to do on your own, feel free to reach out through my contact form here..
Have you heard of the “Eat by the clock” concept – or establishing regular eating hours?
“What… there is a concept? Isn’t it, just eat when you need to or when you’re hungry?”
Well, eating may sound simple but there’s so much more than just “eating foods”.
We already know that a major health factor depends on WHAT we eat, but not everyone knows that WHEN we eat is also a factor, the same goes with the WHY.
“That is complicated.”
It may sound like it, but it’s not. It’s even way simpler than weight loss programs, nutrition rules, supplements, and the rest.
THE SIMPLE WAY
It’s as simple as…
“Eat healthy food on regular hours to get proper nutrition and nourishment for the body and the brain.”
And on top of that, eat in company if you prefer, because it will feel better if that is your preference.
THE BIGGER PICTURE OF HAVING REGULAR EATING HOURS
Following our internal biological clock should do the trick.
Like in sleeping, we have clocks set in our brains, and it’s called the circadian clock which regulates a whole bunch of hormones and other processes in our body.
Sticking to our body clocks makes us feel well and on the other hand skipping it makes us feel ill.
The scientists behind this circadian clock system even got the Nobel Prize 2017 for this.
TIPS TO REMEMBER
Sometimes, people find it hard to keep track of their eating so I’d like to share a few techniques that can help.
1. THE MODEL TO USE
The model to use is called “The 321 route”. I called it 321 to make it easier to remember.
321 stands for 3 main meals per day + 2 snacks in between and only 1 serving per meal on a regular plate.
Following this helps our brain get the constant energy levels it needs to work in a perfect way over the day.
Always putting too much food on your plate? Swift to a smaller one and your brain will trick you that you already have too much on your plate. Give it a try. 🙂
2. EAT 3 COLORS A DAY.
Eat 3 different colored fruits and vegetables. So instead of eating an apple a day to keep a doctor away, eat 3 different colors a day on your fruits and veggies.
If it’s colorful, it’s good because the colors are our vitamins, the antioxidants.
WHAT, WHY, AND WHEN TO EAT
Believe me when I say that there’s absolutely NO NEED to create crazy “food rules” for yourself. It can be as simple as WHAT, WHY, and WHEN.
1. THE WHAT
A little bit of everything. Eat a little bit of everything because we are biologically made to eat everything that is naturally out in nature: meat, fish, greens of all kinds, nuts, fruits, and berries. This will give a variety of protein, fats, and carbohydrates that are needed for a healthy body.
A varied diet will also give the minerals and vitamins that we need without having to use supplements.
If I should give one specific piece of advice on what NOT to eat, it would be the refined products like white sugar, flour, and what is made from that like white bread.
2. THE WHY.
This must be the easiest question to answer.
We have to eat to get energy – both for the body and for the mind on a regular basis over the day.
And not only for the energy but for the minerals, vitamins, and especially those essential substances that we can’t produce internally in the body.
If you want a healthy body, you have to feed it with good building material, not just empty calories.
Feeding yourself with junk, including the so-called energy drinks drains your energy by hi-jacking your blood-sugar system, you get speeded and then drained quickly – turning you into a slow thinker.
3. THE WHEN
Biology is very clear on this.
Biology is built on consistency and regularity – the clock in our brains.
And for this remember the very simple 3-2-1 rule I talked about.
Eat 3 main meals and 2 small snacks during the day to balance your blood sugar, keep your
To fully function, the brain needs a steady flow of energy.
OTHER FOOD ISSUES
The other issues around food – celebration, comfort, friendship – have more to do with psychology and behavior – not about the food itself.
BE CAREFUL
People are disagreeing on what you really should eat and I am not going into that discussion.
I get a bit tired of all the people telling you YOU JUST HAVE TO… (and then market their product, supplement, etc.) as this is all about making money.
It’s hard to know which can work or not and it’s not right to have spent a lot of money to figure out which one will work for you as what works for one person might not work at all for another person – for many odd reasons – genetic or metabolic or even cultural.
This is one of the reasons WHY…
I always say that you should eat just GOOD, VARIED food at regular times and regular hours because that’s how we are built, our heritage from back then 200000 years ago. That’s what our body wants and that’s what our brain wants: REGULAR HOURS and GOOD FOOD.
WHAT YOU DRINK
Let’s also talk about what you drink – not just alcohol.
Stay away from soft drinks as it’s mostly sugar and it’s just like what I said about sugar, getting hyped up then suddenly drained.
TAKE A LOOK AT YOUR LIFE
I want to ask you to reflect on your life – what you’re eating and when you’re eating it. Will you be proud of it?
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