Attitudes

Money Can Buy Happiness

March 16, 2018 By Twila Van Leer

Contrary to the common adage that says you can’t buy happiness, a massive research project conducted by Purdue University and the University of Virginia indicates that there is a certain amount of happiness that is related to satisfaction with life that comes from a certain income.

The two universities analyzed World Gallup Poll data that was gathered from 1.7 million people in 164 countries and cross-referenced earnings with life satisfaction. The results of the study were published in the journal Nature Human Behavior.

The study acknowledged that costs and standards of living varied among the countries included in the study and factored that into their conclusions.

The upshot for Americans was that an ideal income for individuals is $95,000 per year to obtain life satisfaction. Emotional well-being, the study showed, is achievable at $60,000 to $75,000 per year. Families with children, of course, will need more.

The researchers defined life satisfaction as an overall assessment of how one is doing financially. Emotional well-being related to day-to-day feelings such as happiness, sadness, excitement, anger, etc.

The extensive survey also indicated that once a threshold was reached, additional increases in income actually were associated with reduced happiness, indicating that the more people have, the more they want. They tend to compare themselves with others more often.

There is a happiness “tipping point,” the researchers concluded., related to how well an individual feels about money. A small decline in earnings causes one to relate with others who make slightly lower incomes, perhaps because of the costs that come with higher incomes, said Andrew Jebb, lead author of the study and a doctoral student at Purdue.

He noted that the findings of the large study raise issues about money and happiness across cultures. “Money is only part of what really makes us happy and we’re learning more about the limits of money.“

Successful Habits Of Billionaires

July 11, 2016 By Twila Van Leer

Learning a few successful habits can improve the quality of your life. Interviews with more than 200 highly successful people, conducted by Kevin Kruse, revealed several repeating themes that might be guides for others aiming for success. He talked with billionaires, Olympians and a selection of entrepreneurs. The question was simple: “What is your number one secret to productivity?” The most consistent answers included the following:

Successful Habits

Many people look to their family, friends or mentors to learn successful habits. It’s better to learn from the experts.

Time Management

There are 1,440 minutes in a day and nothing is more valuable than time. Time spent can never be reclaimed. Most people block out one-and-a-half hour segments of time. Olympic gymnast Shannon Miller told Kruse that her schedule is almost minute-by-minute. Mastering minutes means mastering life.

Focus On One Thing At A Time

Identify the most important task ahead of you, the one that will have the greatest impact on reaching your goal, and work on it without interruption. Dedicate your morning, when you are most productive, to that objective.

To-Do List

Only 41 percent of what’s on the to-do list actually gets done, according to research. Those unfinished talks lead to stress and insomnia and occupy your mind until they’re done. Put items on your calendar and then work by the calendar in the order that is most feasible.

Predicting Future Success

You can’t trust your future self. Most of us are time inconsistent. For instance, we load up on fresh veggies anticipating salads for a week, then throw away the rotting mush before the week is up. Do what you can do right now to. Look ahead and see what you can do now to defeat your future self.

Family Time

Successful people include family time, exercise and health time and time for giving back. There is always at least one more thing to do, so know where you can draw the line. Think about where your priorities lie and allocate time to what you think is most important. Don’t allow work to nudge out the more important things.

Journaling

Richard Branson, who built Virgin, says a simple notebook goes with him everywhere. That’s a “million dollar lesson” they don’t teach in business school, said Aristotle Onassis, Greek shipping executive. Writing down things as they occur to you leaves your mind free to think of other things.

Manage Emails

Process emails a few times a day. Don’t feel obligated to respond to every vibration that ends up in your inbox. Schedule time to respond to emails quickly and efficiently and then leave them to the next session.

Protect Your Time

The advice of Mark Cuban is “Never take meetings unless someone is writing a check.” Meetings tend to start late, have the wrong mix of people, meander around topics and run long. Avoid them if possible. If it is necessary and you can influence the proceedings, made them short and to the point.

Learn To Say “No”

Remember that old 1,440 minutes thing. Trying to respond to every request for your time will use them up in a hurry. Screen your time and protect the minutes.

Pareto Principle

The reality that 80 percent of results come from 20 percent of activities. Those who succeed best learn which activities drive the greatest results and stick with them, ignoring the rest.

Delegate

Take the “I” out of the equation whenever you can. The question should be “How can I get this task done?” not “How can I perform this task?” The successful don’t get bound up in control issues and they don’t micro-manage.

Touch Things Once

Picking up a bill then setting it aside without handling it means you have given twice the time to the same objective. Try the “touch it once” approach. Deal with everything when it arises, if possible. You can then free your mind from that particular chore.

Use A Morning Routine

Many of the people Kevin interviewed shared a consistent morning routine. The successful habits varied, but repeat suggestions included a good breakfast, light exercise and mind soothers such as meditation, prayer, inspirational reading or journaling. Over the day, maintain your energy level. Don’t skip meals, sleep or breaks in an effort to fill more time with productive work. Food is fuel, sleep an opportunity for recovery and breaks the way to recharge periodically.

Returning To Work Post-Divorce?

May 15, 2016 By Twila Van Leer

Divorce is a difficult, life-changing event and when a newly single mom must return to work, it can be challenging. She will be competing with people who are more settled and more emotionally secure, including men who often get first dibs on the available jobs in the best of times.

These suggestions may be helpful if you find yourself in this situation:

Don’t Hamper Yourself With Conventional “Realism”

Be open to a wider potential. When people with good intentions come up with discouraging comments about the difficulty of finding jobs “at your age” or predict that your earning ability will have nose-dived, don’t listen. Put up a shield against the negatives and don’t let yourself be boxed into limiting your possibilities before you even get started. Allow yourself to think in terms of success and even happiness.

Starting Over Again May Invite A Whole New Direction

If you were a project manager before marriage, there is no reason to think you can’t look at something different. Reinvent yourself. Write a list of the all the jobs you have ever considered and jobs that other women have that your find attractive and give them some thought. Then follow your heart, even if it means more training.

Beware Of Inner Dialogue That Is Fearful And Cautious

Grabbing the first job that is available is a defeatist approach. Picture yourself as confident and proactive and imagine you have super powers. Have fun with the notion.

Cast The Net Wide

When you are considering college, the advice is to have three tiers of choices: the one you really want, a second choice and a fall-back position if the first two don’t materialize. Approach the job search in the same way. A human resources person may not offer the job you had your heart set on, but might see another opportunity in your resume. Be flexible.

Be Excited

Imagine yourself as a powerful woman who goes after what she wants. Focus on that objective. Expect to be excited and look forward to what will make you happy. Then aim for that goal.

Do The Routine

Study the listings and send resumes. But have other possibilities as well. If there is a business in which you are interested, make an effort to talk with people who work there. Invite a manager to have an informal discussion. Go to job fairs, be creative and keep an open mind.

Don’t Distress Over Resume

A resume is, of course, essential, but don’t fret over it. If you think you need advice, set up an account with Linkedin.com or another aid to the job search. Get your name and a brief description of your work experience into circulation and begin to build contacts.

Don’t Pass Up A Job Opportunity That Calls For Some Skills

Don’t confuse your comfort level with your true ability when it comes to technical skills. If a job description says you have to be Microsoft Word proficient, that doesn’t mean you have to be a genius. You can improve on your base understanding of technology through a little additional training. Cheap or free classes are available through community colleges, public school systems and other resources.

Network Like Crazy

Use your friends and family, professional associations, old co-workers. Use anyone in your acquaintance who might be useful in finding the job you want.

Keep The Vision

It may take longer than you had hoped, but don’t settle for less than you know you are capable of. Stay positive and keep the faith. You can succeed.

Pity Party Fails

May 8, 2015 By Twila Van Leer

Have you ever been drawn to pity parties to make yourself feel better or to get attention? Disappointments in life can get you there in a heartbeat. No one gets through life without some adversity and negative thoughts that throws you for a loop. But wallowing in self-pity beyond the immediate disappointment is not likely to help.

To begin with, it won’t change the reality. If you lost a business opportunity, didn’t close the major deal you’d been working on, or missed a deadline that proved fatal to success, feeling sorry for yourself won’t change the facts. Mourn a little and move on.

People who have nurtured mental strength are able to look at a negative situation realistically and then put it aside and prepare for a new challenge. They don’t allow themselves to become mired in the aftermath of a failure. They don’t allow the perception that life is against them mature into a debilitating focus on the failure.

Focusing on the negative makes it grow out of all proportion. And the negative thoughts may blossom into negative actions. Or you may become so buried in negativity that you fail to act at all. Mentally strong people recognize the potential for becoming caught in the downward spiral and take steps to change their perspective.

Emotional states dictate how one perceives reality. It seems that there is no good at all in your life. Making a true assessment, you are likely to admit that your life isn’t all bad. Bad luck isn’t the only kind you experience. Your life isn’t really ruined unless you allow it to be. To change the reality, you have to change your all-negative perception.

Being mentally strong means you don’t allow negative thinking to become a self-fulfilling prophecy. Monitor your thinking and when you find you are putting yourself down, opt for a positive thought. Every minute that you spend in negative thinking is one that you didn’t spend working on a solution to the present challenge.

Gratitude and self-pity can’t co-exist. Seeing the cup as at least half full will help you avoid the determination that life is rotten. Think of what you have, right down to the air you breathe and the abundance that you enjoy in hundreds of little ways and be grateful.

Helping others is a fool-proof way to climb out of the self-pity rut. There are many around you whose needs are greater. Even in America, there are homeless people who go to bed (if they can find one) hungry and afraid. Being mentally strong includes looking outside yourself and helping to make life better for someone else. There are community resources for finding out how you can best help. Use them.

Complaining to others about how pitifully unfair life is to you can only reinforce the false perception that is crippling you. Mentally strong individuals don’t depend on pity from others to make their lives work. They either act to change the negatives in their lives or they accept what can’t be changed and go in a new direction.

Retain an optimistic outlook. Life happens. There are natural and personal disasters that can’t be avoided, but they are only part of life. Tell yourself that you can handle whatever life throws your way. You’ll be surprised to find that you really can.

You build mental strength just like you build physical strength. You develop good habits by exercising, eating well and getting rid of bad habits. To build strong mental health, exercise positive thinking and treat yourself to a good helping of realistic self-imaging. Get rid of harmful mental habits, including self-pity.

If you feel you can’t do it on your own, find professional help or look in the stores or online for books, magazines and articles that can guide you toward the mental strength you desire. It’s worth the effort.