Gratitude is a Powerful Leadership Tool!

Gratitude is a Powerful Leadership Tool!

People who feel gratitude are helpful in handling stress are faster to recuperate from disease. They often have better health – like normal blood pressure and good immune response, and they feel happier!

I guess that you too, as a business leader, would love to have all that. 

And that means that “Gratitude” is a very good leadership tool too. If feeling gratitude makes you feel well and less stressed – why not take advantage of this fact?

A great idea would be to start a gratitude challenge in your workgroup.

You as the leader, the boss must go first – in the front line. That is where the worriers need to be.

This is double important now in Coronavirus attack time. After many weeks of restrictions your staff has probably been struggling with either:

a) working from home and feeling lonely, not seen and not appreciated; or 

b) coming to the workplace with the fear of being infected and trying to hide as much as possible.

Neither of those scenarios makes your staff grow and perform at their best level. I am not saying they do not do a good job but it is not at top-notch.

This “Gratitude Challenge” will BOOST THEIR ENERGY – AND YOURS as a leader.

Challenge them and yourself to do something everyday that leans towards GRATITUDE – and share with each other. It is a win-win in eternity.

Here are a few things you can do:

  1. Send a short Gratitude message to a coworker. 
  2. Make a physical “Wall of Gratitude” in the office; or make one online – where everyone can contribute. Set the rules to “just for positive cheering, no complaints here”.
  3. Write DAILY the 3 things you are grateful for, ESPECIALLY during times of hardship. 
  4. Write a positive testimonial to a valuable deliverer or business partner.
  5. Send a real postcard to someone you are grateful for. Put a real stamp on it and send it. 
  6. Donate to a charity you like. The need in the world is so immense right now, and helping is one of the best ways to increase your own wellbeing.
  7. Ponder about your leadership – is there anything you can do differently that can benefit someone else at the same time?
  8. Send flowers or maybe a lunch to someone in your staff that you know suffers extra right now.

These are a few actions you can take to BOOST your own wellbeing. I am sure you can think of many other good ways too. 

Doing good and being kind to others produces feel-good hormones in your brain. That makes you feel better.

On the other hand, the person at the other end of your gift feels seen and appreciated – producing feel-good hormones in their brains too.

If both YOU and your STAFF get FEEL-GOOD HORMONES – YOU WILL TOGETHER PRODUCE BETTER RESULTS for your clients – making them happy and ordering more from you which increases your revenue.

This makes the gratitude way of doing things one of the most effective business and leadership tools we have – and a beautiful way to LESS STRESS too.

Also, making it a challenge for your staff will make their well-being boosted too that can cause RIPPLE EFFECTS all over the place.

What are you waiting for? Just start right now with a big smile and a nice word to the person next to you!

Feels good, doesn’t it?

If you want personal help to get started – send a message here to connect

To your success and keep smiling!

Dr.-Annika

POWERFUL REASONS TO FOLLOW YOUR DREAMS

POWERFUL REASONS TO FOLLOW YOUR DREAMS

DO YOU HAVE STRONG ENOUGH REASONS TO FOLLOW YOUR DREAMS, OR YOU’RE JUST STUCK IN ‘DREAMING’?

95% of you have now lost your new year’s resolutions. They were just promises, promises, promises with no substance.  Maybe they were not even your own wishes, but someone else’s wishes you thought you needed to live up to. 

Or they were just put out there because of the pressure from the crowd around you.

Whatever, we are now into the third month of the year and it is time to re-set your goals for the year if you haven’t done that already.

This time – it is a good thing to put out your own wishes, what YOU truly want.

Where do you want to be a year from now? What do you want your business and job to look like? What kind of leader do you want to be known as? How do you want to feel?

Take a minute and write that down. Make it compelling for YOU, for your best. 

A COMPELLING VISION is something that pulls you towards it, you don’t want to be pushed.

A vision that excites you, that makes you eager to go on.

A vision giving you strong enough reasons to follow through – because there will be struggles on the way.

A vision strong enough to feel it every day – get it into your brain system that you’ll be aware of it all the time.

Ultimately you also need to – RAISE YOUR STANDARDS  –  “Who do I want to be?” 

Make it a MUST!

When you decide that something is a MUST for you, you will find a way to get there and SUCCEED!

When you make it a must you don’t need the willpower anymore – it just IS THAT WAY.

If you say: ”I am not that kind of person” – that is a belief that holds you back, CONTROLS YOU.

We are all conditioned to be like “WHATEVER” as a child, and as life goes on you stop to try to get away from it. It becomes a “TRUTH in your mind.

The REAL TRUTH  is: You can do different, but you have to change your thinking and WALK ANOTHER PATH. 

Your physical body of today is a result of your standards, not of your goals. 

That means your body is a result of what you have eaten, how you have exercised and how you have slept – and not of your goals of how you had wanted it to be. For a different result you need a different action.

Routines are actions you do consistently. They turn into RITUALS when you don’t want to live without them.

People who get their dreams have expanded their standards.

HERE IS A STEP BY STEP HELP for you to start your desired life:

Step #1 – Select an area of life you would like to improvedescribe your current situation – be specific

Step #2 – Write down:

  1.  The rituals that have shaped your current condition in that area – be honest
  2. What you want – your compelling vision – go back to what you answered on the questions earlier in this text be specific again
  3. The rituals that will get you your compelling vision. What would you need to do differently each day to get what you want?

START TODAY!

Start with 1 or 2 new things from your list in step #4 and see what happens. Change one habit and other changes will automatically follow.

When you see the change, you will be proud of yourself. 

You will have your best year ever!

Changes can be hard to do on your own. If you need a helping hand just send a message here and I´ll get back to you. 

To your success and keep smiling!

Dr.-Annika

KEY TO KEEPING YOUR RESOLUTIONS ON TRACK!

KEY TO KEEPING YOUR RESOLUTIONS ON TRACK!

Halfway into the first month of the year and with the celebrations past us, we are back to the reality of life – and most of our New Year Resolutions are – well, forgotten.

In most cases, that is a fact.

We generally feel elated with the idea of new year. We see new possibilities, set new goals, take on new opportunities, and even make all kinds of promises to ourselves – but then the moment we realize that we’re back into our daily lives, we lose track of everything; and since that is the life that we know, we find it easier to stay rather than move forward. 

And just like that, our so-called promises, our #NewYearsResolution – disappears in thin air.

The question is, does it always have to be like that? Or perhaps, is there anything that we can do to stop the cycle from happening?

Of course there is one. Actually, there’s a lot; but this one is my favorite:

“RAISE YOUR STANDARDS so you can turn your ‘SHOULDS’ into ‘MUSTS’.”

Now why, that out of all the possible things we can do, I chose this one? My answer would be simple – it’s because I believe that once you get to do this, the rest will follow.

Your standard is something that you set – something  that you have the ability to control. You decide which level you want to be on. 

So when I said ‘Raise your standards’, I meant that if you are stressed out, overweight, or you are a smoker, but didn’t want to be any of those – you don’t get to find excuses not to change. Because if you do, then that is the standard you set for yourself.

But where ‘MUST’ you start? Here are some steps that can help you:

  1. Define what you want to achieve;
  2. Identify how far you are from your goal;
  3. List the specific steps you plan to take in achieving your goal;
  4. Implement; and
  5. Celebrate when you succeed – celebrate with everyone around you.

AND  above all, ALWAYS REMEMBER TO RAISE YOUR STANDARDS.

GOOD LUCK with YOUR new life!

In case you are not yet decided what changes you want to make, check out my other blog post https://askdrannika.com/1721272489933new-year-new-me-stress-free/ to find out which changes could benefit you best.

And if you find it hard to do changes on your own – reach out and we can have a free strategy call to see how Dr. Annika can help you – book it here: https://www.askdrannika.stresslesstoday.com/strategycallsignup

To your success – and keep smiling!

Dr.-Annika

NEW YEAR – NEW ME – STRESS FREE!

NEW YEAR – NEW ME – STRESS FREE!

Halfway into the first month of the year and with the celebrations past us, we are back to the reality of life – and most of our New Year Resolutions are – well, forgotten.

In most cases, that is a fact.

We generally feel elated with the idea of new year. We see new possibilities, set new goals, take on new opportunities, and even make all kinds of promises to ourselves – but then the moment we realize that we’re back into our daily lives, we lose track of everything; and since that is the life that we know, we find it easier to stay rather than move forward. 

And just like that, our so-called promises, our #NewYearsResolution – disappears in thin air.

The question is, does it always have to be like that? Or perhaps, is there anything that we can do to stop the cycle from happening?

Of course there is one. Actually, there’s a lot; but this one is my favorite:

“RAISE YOUR STANDARDS so you can turn your ‘SHOULDS’ into ‘MUSTS’.”

Now why, that out of all the possible things we can do, I chose this one? My answer would be simple – it’s because I believe that once you get to do this, the rest will follow.

Your standard is something that you set – something  that you have the ability to control. You decide which level you want to be on. 

So when I said ‘Raise your standards’, I meant that if you are stressed out, overweight, or you are a smoker, but didn’t want to be any of those – you don’t get to find excuses not to change. Because if you do, then that is the standard you set for yourself.

But where ‘MUST’ you start? Here are some steps that can help you:

  1. Define what you want to achieve;
  2. Identify how far you are from your goal;
  3. List the specific steps you plan to take in achieving your goal;
  4. Implement; and
  5. Celebrate when you succeed – celebrate with everyone around you.

AND  above all, ALWAYS REMEMBER TO RAISE YOUR STANDARDS.

GOOD LUCK with YOUR new life!

In case you have not decided yet what changes you want to make, check out my other blog post https://askdrannika.com/1721272489933new-year-new-me-stress-free/ to find out which changes can benefit you best.

If you find it hard to do changes on your own – reach out and we can have a free strategy call to see how Dr. Annika can help you – BOOK IT HERE.

To your success – and keep smiling!

Dr.-Annika
Less Stress for Christmas!

Less Stress for Christmas!

Christmas is now just around the corner – is it the season to be JOLLY, or the season to be STRESSED?                                                                                        

Of course it’s easy to say it’s always the first one, but for those who have experienced preparing for the Holiday Season, it is normal to experience both.

BUT WAIT – this year is very special – we are not supposed to do those extravagant preparations, we are not supposed to meet in larger groups, and we are not supposed to travel around to exchange gifts.

The BEST WAY to get through this – for the sake of our sanity – is TO ACCEPT – that this is how it is right now; and that we can do nothing about the virus holding the whole world in it´s hostage. NOTHING.

If we can take that fact to our hearts and accept it, then we will have much more peace of mind this Holiday Season. Then we do what we can from a distance – focus on the good things, and believe that next year, all will be back to normal again.

Have a Merry Christmas and enjoy what you can control.

To your success – and keep smiling! 

Dr.-Annika