Dare to Be Happy: How Positivity Fuels Success at Work

Have you ever felt like you needed to suppress your happiness level, especially at work? Like if you were too happy, too excited, people might not take you seriously. They might not think that you're taking your work seriously. Well, if you have ever felt that way, you're not alone. A lot of people are afraid to appear too happy, too easygoing, too stress-free. It's like if you look like that, then people are going to think that you're not motivated and driven. Because the assumption is, is if you really care about your work, then you're going to be weighed down and stressed out. And if you're not, then people are going to think that maybe you're not taking things seriously. So in this video, we're going to talk about how happiness and excitement and enthusiasm and all these things are actually really great to have in the workplace. And they make you more productive. Positivity actually makes you more productive at work. So if you're ready to stop holding yourself back and limiting yourself, then let's work through this together in this video. Hey, welcome back to the video. My name is Tom LeHue, and we're going to be talking about why it's important for you to be happy. And now I understand that we can't always be happy all the time. Sometimes we're going to have challenges and difficulties and stress and all these things that are going to weigh us down. But I want you to, I want to combat this mindset that in order for you to be taken seriously at work, you have to be serious all the time. And you got to be focused and stressed and worried and anxious. And I want to talk to you about being positive and being happy. And I want to dispel that myth that if you're happy, then you don't really care about your work. Many of us believe that showing happiness at work means that we're somehow not taking our job seriously. That you are losing your edge. But I don't think that it means you're losing your edge. We're afraid of being seen as complacent or carefree or irresponsible or worse, lazy. Nobody wants to be thought of as lazy. So we have this like connection in our head that if, if I seem easygoing and low stress and positive and happy, then I must not be taking things seriously. So this fear often causes us to suppress our natural joy, enthusiasm and excitement in life. Especially if we work in like a competitive environment where everybody's trying to edge each other out. Okay, here's my assumption. People who are happy at work actually make better employees. They actually do better at sales and better at interactions. And it's not that they're lazy or unmotivated. Now, happy people could be distracted at times. I get that. But just because you're happy and positive doesn't mean that you're not taking your work seriously. So this enthusiasm could drive you forward, making you a more engaged employee. I mean, do you really want to be around people that are pessimistic all the time and frustrated and bothered by stuff all the time? Happy people don't fear setbacks because they bounce back. They're resilient. And don't be afraid of being seen as a happy person. It might just mean that you're very resilient, that you see opportunities where other people see roadblocks. So imagine walking into work every day, not dreading work and being weighed down and heavy, but actually being excited and inspired to be there. There's nothing wrong with that. I also want to make a case here that happiness actually improves motivation and creativity. You know, think about the people that you know, they're the most creative and who are motivated and motivate others. Now, sometimes, you know, there's dominant, powerful types that are very motivating. But everybody wants to be around somebody who feels positive and enthusiastic. They have a charismatic energy that they share in the workplace. Now, you may be saying, OK, Tom, you're telling us to be happy, but what do I have to be happy about? Well, that's kind of the problem is, you know, when you get over-focused on the stressors and the things that aren't going right and all of the, you know, in-office gossip and quarreling and all that, of course, you're not going to be happy. You've got to mentally train yourself to focus on some positive things about your life and about your work. If you focus on all the negative things, of course, it's 100% predictable how you're going to feel. So you've got to make a decision. And at the end of the day, happiness is really a choice. It's a decision that you make that I'm going to make myself focus on the positive. I'm going to make myself focus on what's good here. Chances are, whatever's going on at work right now, it could, you could easily feel burned out and stressed and frustrated, right? If you focus on the 80% of what's good about your job, you're much more likely to be lighthearted and easygoing. Of course, if you focus on the 20% of what you don't like, and that's what most people do is they focus on the stuff that irritates them. They focus on the stuff that frustrates them, and then they wonder why they're so irritated and frustrated and why they have all of the health problems that go along with that. So we're talking about an easier way to live. And when you accept and adopt this easier way to live, and you overcome your fear that people aren't going to take you seriously, you'll be more motivated, more enthusiastic, more positive, and more creative in your work. You'll see opportunities where other people just see barriers. When you're happy, you're not bogged down by the stress and frustration. So maybe it's about letting stuff go. It's about letting stuff go. You have to make a decision to let that crap go. Sure, if you dwell on it, if you dwell on it and you bog down your mind on all of those things, of course, it's predictable how you're going to feel. So you make some decisions here that will impact your productivity, impact your health, impact your mental climate. You get to make those decisions. I know other people, they sometimes can be ridiculous. And sometimes you get saddled with work that isn't your responsibility. But you have to make the decision about where you're going to focus your attention. Unhappy people, on the other hand, they're held back by their own misery and they hold other people down. They weigh themselves down and everybody else down. Their minds are consumed with how life is unfair and all of the struggles that they have to face and how other people aren't showing up and doing what they ought to do. It makes it very hard for those people to be team players. And, you know, when you're weighed down with all that stress, it's hard to solve all your problems. When you're relaxed and in a much more relaxed state, you see more solutions. Solutions just start to come to you. So people that are weighed down and angry and frustrated all the time, we got to love them and we got to work with them. But recognize that they often view themselves as victims of the circumstances that are out of their control. And this kind of limits your ability to grow and to mature. And so as soon as we start to accept life as it is, you know, we can be a lot, a lot more easygoing and a lot more stress free. So adopting a positive mindset, you open yourself up to creativity, to collaboration and to true progress. So maybe you're a leader at work, but why can't you be a positive leader? Why can't you be calm in the storm? There's always going to be storms and many people overreact and they stress out and they get upset and they turn on each other. And, you know, if you don't do that, if you won't let yourself do that and you just remain positive, like keeping the big picture in mind, people are going to be drawn to you. They're going to be drawn to you because while everybody else is upset and everybody else is panicked, you're calm, you're OK, and you remain positive. And again, that's very reassuring to other people. And people will want to absorb that energy. They'll want to be around that. Allowing yourself permission to be a happy person, especially at work and all the other areas of your life, but especially at work, it doesn't mean that you're going to be complacent. We're not talking about, well, I'm not worried about anything, so I'm just going to let my work slide. That's not what we're talking about. We're not talking about becoming complacent. We're talking about actually gaining the energy, the positive energy, to be more efficient, more enthusiastic, and more energetic in your work and in your interactions at work. And your ability to handle stress will improve. There's always going to be stress at work. Always going to be setbacks. And instead of focusing on that, focusing on solutions, focusing on the way forward, focusing on bringing people together and overcoming those obstacles, and being ultimately stronger. So what are we saying in this video? What we're saying is, is if you're the kind of person that's been kind of holding yourself back at work and limiting yourself, because you don't want to be taken as a clown. You don't want to be looked at as flippant and irresponsible and ridiculous. I just want to give you permission, or at least challenge you, to give yourself permission to allow yourself to be a little more lighthearted. To not be afraid of appearing happy and easygoing at work, because you're afraid people are going to think that you're not, you know, competitive enough. That you're unmotivated or that you're lazy. It's time to rethink this. Happiness doesn't kill success. Really, negativity is what kills success. It's really the opposite. Negativity. Nobody wants to be around that. Nobody wants to make deals with negative, difficult, challenging, overbearing people. So your relaxed attitude will start to set the environment for people to be able to collaborate and work with you. The happiest people in life are often the most successful. Stressed out people are, you know, people who often struggle to achieve a fraction of their potential. So let go of the myth that you have to be irritated, frustrated in order to be competitive. Why can't you be happy? So happiness is kind of a decision that you have to make. You kind of have to decide, I'm going to focus on more positive things. I'm going to let the little things go that would normally bother me and weigh me down. The secret to success at work and life isn't just about working hard and keeping your nose to the grindstone and staying stressed and staying over focused. It's about learning to be a little bit more easygoing, about learning to not take yourself so seriously and remembering that balance is important. Work is important, but it's only one aspect of your life among many other aspects. For example, do you have any hobbies or interests? Or what do you do to relax? Or how do you spend time with your family? Where's your friends? Are you really building your community? And what about your spiritual life? You want to be a balanced person and maybe you've gotten a little over focused on work. And no wonder you're weighed down because work is important, but it's not the only thing in life. So allowing yourself to dare to be a happy person, an easygoing, stress-free person, you're going to see incredible results by just making this decision more productive, more creative, ultimately more satisfied. And I think really drawing more people to you. And that's kind of what work is about. It's about drawing people to you and making deals and getting your work done. So if you're ready to take the leap to start embracing joy at work, and watch your life and your career become a little bit more positive and maybe transform for the better, don't hold back, rise above the negativity, rise above all of the griping and the groaning that goes on at work. And remember that it's your positivity that helps you rise above all of that. Happiness isn't a luxury, it's a choice. It's a choice that you can make today. It's one that you can make right now. So don't be afraid to be happy. I'm here for you. We've got a playlist of awesome videos. If you want to keep learning and growing, check out this video I'm recommending to you. And as always be present to life. I'd love to work with you if you want to work on setting some goals. And yeah, maybe you need to set some relaxation goals. I know it sounds weird, but if you're going to make it in this marathon, you got to be able to slow down and know when you need to take a break. All right, guys, I'll see you next time. Be present to life.