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July 27, 2010
Tip of the Week: November 1st, 2009  By Winn Claybaugh www.beniceorelse.com Remember when you were a kid and you couldn't wait for summer vacationto start? Now that you're an adult, vacations often mean standing inline, sitting in traffic, and dealing with economic stress. Instead ofletting stress get you down, remember that it's not the situation thatcauses stress but how you interpretthe situation. In The 7 Habits of Highly EffectivePeople, Stephen Covey told aboutbeing on a crowded subway with a man whose children were out ofcontrol. Covey was getting irritated, until he learned that they werereturning from the hospital where the man's wife had just died. Covey'sattitude instantly shifted from stress to sympathy. Avoiding stress can be as simple as changing your beliefs. Supposesomeone steals your cell phone while you're on a trip. You could rantabout the inconvenience, or you could choose to believe that your phonewas taken by a struggling waiter with five starving kids. When youdon't know the real story, why not choose one that makes you feel good?Wouldn't you rather think your phone helped to feed five hungrychildren? In Be Nice (Or Else!) I wroteabout circles of influence. You have aninfluence on everyone you come in contact with. You can be waiting inline with perfect strangers, and your attitude and behavior can make orruin their day. I also talked about your To expand your circle of nice, take out four pieces of paper and createthe following lists: 1. 2.Yourcurrent circle of nice. These are the individuals to whom you'vealready made a conscious decision to be nice. Next to each of thesenames, list the specific actionsyou take to care for that person. Howdo you let them know they're included in your circle of nice? 3.Yourimmediate goals. These are the people you want to add to yourcircle of nice right now and they would be easy to add. Make aconscious decision to take actions toward including them in your circleof nice. 4.Yourlong-range goals: These are the people who are Can you imagine how different our society would be if everyone made thecommitment to expand their circle of nice? Instead of televisedshouting matches, town hall meetings would become courteous exchangesof opinions and ideas. Road rage would be a thing of the past. Travelwould be pleasant and enjoyable again. There's just no telling whatmight happen in our homes, our relationships, our workplaces, and ourhealth if we all agreed to expand our circle of nice! Winn Claybaugh is the author of Posted by Staff at 7:21 PM |