I am Always Late

It is a known fact that a good motivation can make us work better, spend every effort and achieve the things we’d never be able to achieve without a spark in our mind. A good motivation and motivators are very highly valued in any business. So, what can help us work better and more effectively? Maybe, a better boss? Or a new computer in our office? Or a good pay raise? Or a couple of new assistants? Some of these things can be really important for you, and some can be not. For example, think about all disadvantages and problems linked to having an annoying and unfriendly boss? It means chronic stresses and constant feeling of being unappreciated and miserable, right? What worse could it be? It seems like 65 per cent of modern Americans think the same way as you, since that much of business people have chosen having a good boss as the primarily condition for achieving success in business and feeling happy at work.

According to Michelle McQuaid, a specialist in neuroscience, positive psychology and designing a perfect positive environment at workplaces, we all have our own set of priorities regarding what can make us happier at work. Recently, Michelle McQuaid finished working on an extensive study involving 1,000 participants, American executives and officials from a variety of businesses. McQuaid asked them about the most important factors which could help creating a positive psychological environment at their workplaces. It turned out that 65 of the participants have chosen a better relationship with their bosses, and 35 per cent of the participants have opted for a pay raise rather than a better boss. The findings of the survey were recently published in many online and printed mass media and attracted plenty of attention, both from experts and general public.

At that, it turned out that quite a small number of participants are actually happy with their current work and would not change anything. Only every one of three people (or about 35 per cent) reported about being totally satisfied and happy with their job. McQuinn said that about 31 per cent of the participants reported feeling unhappy, unappreciated, uninspired, and unsuccessful at work. Finally, quite a good amount of the participants, about 15 per cent, said that they usually feel bored, lonely, miserable, and depressed at their workplace. The study leader underlined that such a problem as bored and unhappy employees is linked to much more risks and dangers than it is thought. It can be one of the most influential factors which affects productivity, and it is estimated that a lack of motivation among business employees can cost today’s companies up to 360 billion dollars of annual loss in productivity.

Finally, McQuinn reported that as much as 60 per cent of the participants have expressed their dissatisfaction about the current relationships with their bosses. They all said that they would be able to increase their productivity and get enough of motivation for doing a much better job provided they had a better boss, or could get along better with their current bosses. Moreover, almost all of these people pointed at their bosses as one of the key reasons of a lack of professional success and career achievements. In other words, better relationships with bosses can be named as one of the most important factors for modern employees for achieving success and be satisfied at work. Therefore, it is not all about the money for American workers. Actually, these findings of Michelle McQuaid should be very interesting to the highest management of large companies since having a good boss has turned to be that much important for the majority of workers and employees.

Keeping positive is very important. Positive thinking can play a role of great motivator for us to make thousands of new achievements. Laughter can make us feel better and play a role of an excellent stimulant for our brain to focus on something, after a brief relaxation in the form of laughter. Followed by a burst of endorphins in our brain, laughter is considered the basic emotion essential for our survival and success. Laughter can help us establish strong bonds with the people around us, not only our friends and family, but also total can complete strangers, and even antagonists. Those who laugh and like laughing are usually more friendly and more easy going people, with great attitude to life and feeling happier about the world around.

Healing effects of laughter are very well known and thoroughly studied. It is reported by the scientists at the University of Maryland Medical Center, laughing should be considered a great natural technique to improve blood circulation, increase blood flow to the most of important organs and systems, this way strengthen our health. The same study has shown that laughter can be used for strengthening blood vessels and reducing the risks of many serious diseases like diabetes, obesity, and others. A good laughter has scientifically proven pain killing effects, it can improve the function of our immune system, and even has slight anti-inflammatory effects. Laughing is a great way to naturally burn calories and reduce body mass, as well as a way to exercise our heart and lungs.

The effects of laughing on our mental and psychological health are not less significant. A famous business coach and Life Mentor Craig Holiday underlines amazing properties of laughter as a powerful healing technique for many unwanted physical and psychological conditions. “I have beaten, sadness, pain, depression, and even some physical ailments by laughter,” Holiday writes. Laughter is a unique way to prevent stresses and depression, two very common conditions that affect our life to a great extent. “In a fastpaced world, stress-related diseases are on the rise. More than 70 per cent of illnesses are related to stress. To escape stress, people turn to alcohol, smoking and drugs. If only they realized the wonder medicine of laughter!” says Dr. Kataria Gupta, a cardiology expert at Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals.

Unfortunately, in our times a good laughter has turned into something rare. It is estimated that only 50 years ago people used to laugh about 18 minutes a day, in recent years this time has decreased down to 5-7 minutes a day giving us almost no opportunity to enjoy therapeutic effects of laughter. According to the information from Corriere della Sera, today’s children laugh 300-400 times a day, an their life is much easier and more pleasant! Why do we forget about such a simple way to get happier? Do you know that 61 per cent of modern men think that a laughing woman looks more attractive and beautiful. Do you know that laughter can help increase our productivity by 54 per cent, and our creativity by as much as 57 per cent?

Laughing for just 15 minutes a day can help you lose 2 kilos of fat every year. Specialists estimated that watching a very good comedy movie can help us burn as many calories as we would during a 1-km walk. By laughing just 10 minutes a day you can substantially decrease your risks of hypertension and depression, which, in turn, can lower your risks of suffering from serious diseases like heart disease or heart attack by 44 per cent. Claudio Mencacci, a chief of the Department of Neuroscience in Fatebenefratelli hospital in Milan claims that a regular good laughter can save our lives. Long live laughter! Use this unique emotion to live a healthier and happier life!

 As it is well-known, a lack of motivation can cause serious consequences. Those people who have no spark will never move ahead and achieve results, will not make every effort to become something or make own life happier. A lack of motivation causes us being lazy, disappointed, apathetic, pointless, and always late. Motivation is something that sets us to the way to success, and learning more about what can motivate and give us a good impulse is a great strategy for those who really want to achieve the goals in this life. Did you know that there is actually a great deal of hidden motivators which we even do not think about? The Pygmalion effects explains one of those.

The Pygmalion Effect, which is also called “the self-fulfilling prophecy”, is a phenomenon discovered by Robert Rosenthal and Lenore Jacobson. After a number of practical researches and studies, these specialists put forward a new theory about the influence of personal expectations from people on their performance. In other words, if a person or a group of people are aware about high expectations from them, they will demonstrate much better performance and achieve better results. According to this theory, we all can considerably improve the outcomes and effectiveness of ours by understanding that some people believe in us and expect our success. This effect works perfectly well for any person, in any environment and any conditions.

The Pygmalion effect plays a role in management science, and there were a great deal of experimental studies proving its effectiveness. An IQ test was offered to the students, but randomly chosen children were reported to their teachers as winners. After being treated as bright and talented students, those “fake winners” considerably improved their results in the second test. At the same time, those children, who were real winners of the first test, but were not stimulated by the teachers, did not exhibit any improvements. The name of this interesting phenomenon takes origin from a character of Ovid’s story, Pygmalion, who was a Prince of Cyprus. He constructed a statue with beautiful appearance, fell in love with it and asked Gods to bring it to life. Famous play-writer Bernard Show borrowed this story for his play, Pygmalion, which became popular as the musical My Fairy Lady and helped Rosenthal and Jacobson to find a name for their new theory.

The Pygmalion effect is an important instrument and can turn into one more absolutely great motivator for all of us, both at the workplace and in our real life. It can assist us in understanding that our success depends not only on our qualification, personal qualities or working environment, but also on expectations and the value we have among the people of our circle. In order to support our friends and co-workers, we always have to believe in other people and expect them to achieve the best results stimulating them for a better performance. Similarly, if a boss or a manager believes in his employees and expect great results from them, the subordinates will always feel this trust and demonstrate their best skills and abilities in their work. Keep in mind this interesting theory if you want to help the people around you achieve success and attain their goals.