Reflection: How comfortable are you with waiting? I’d say as a society it’s not one of our strengths.

From the small things – like waiting for our coffee, waiting for software to reboot, or waiting our turn in line. To the big deals – like waiting for test results, waiting for the perfect job or partner, or waiting to figure out life’s purpose. We want the result and we want it now.

We don’t like sitting in confusion. And we stress ourselves out when we’re stuck in uncertainty – when progress seems slight.

However, we can experience less angst and stress when we find ways to become more comfortable with waiting, and when we allow whatever process needs to unfold the luxury of time to do just that.

Action: How then to wait with greater grace and ease? (more…)

Reflection: A recent conversation amongst friends led to an exchange of stories about odd behaviours. Of course, those would be odd behaviours exhibited by others, because nothing we ever do is odd at all!

The most unusual contribution to the conversation was the story of a condo neighbor who grows a bit more confused each day and exhibits some of the early signs of dementia. She has taken to propping her front door open, and positioning herself in a chair where she can see all the foot traffic in the hall.

As people come and go throughout the day, she waves and greets them like long lost friends each time they pass by. Most of us agreed that would be an annoying neighborly behavior to have to deal with every day.

However, the friend who shared the story – who lives down the hall from the woman with the open door policy – simply smiled and remarked, “Kindness costs us nothing.” (more…)

Reflection: The last two weeks have delivered quite an eventful ride here at the OK Corral.

Health issues landed me in the ER for eight hours and hospital for a couple of days. I’ve been tested, scanned and scoped with no specific diagnosis other than the possibility of a virus. However, I am feeling better and back to functioning once more.

My 91-year-old father moved from their home (where Mom with nursing support had been looking after him) into palliative care. He passed away after a week of further decline concluding with three days of around the clock bedside support from members of our family. A celebration of his life, funeral service, and burial were held last Thursday.

My husband, Dave, is retiring from his work with the Government of Saskatchewan on the very day this message is published. Over Easter weekend, we marked the occasion with a family dinner and a Friends And Family coffee party – both planned by our two daughters. Dave is looking forward to the freedom of his future days; and I am happy for him.

However, since my business office is also at home and I’m accustomed to having the space all to myself, I’m just a tad apprehensive about being together all day long. (more…)

Reflection: How excited are you and your colleagues about your career and your work? And what fuels that sense of engagement?

These are the questions I’ve been asking LPNs (Licensed Practical Nurses) as I prepare to speak at their upcoming provincial conference.

• Here are some of the practices they described:
• Paying attention to the good they are doing
• Actively mentoring new nurses – in both the technical skills and the ins and outs of professionalism
• Taking advantage of symposiums and upgrading events to keep up with new practices
• Arranging to work alongside knowledgeable colleagues who are skilled at sharing what they know
• Volunteering for assignments that stretch their skills
• Taking on admin and leadership tasks to test their abilities in new areas
• Thinking beyond the status quo and proposing changes that would improve service to patients and clients
• Saying yes to opportunities to serve the professional association

(more…)

Is there someone in your world who is uninspired, apathetic, disinterested? Seems dissatisfied and less than engaged? Shows signs of rusting out, coasting on autopilot or being stuck in the swamp?

Maybe you feel concerned, and you’re not sure how to help. Rest assured, there are things you can do.

The first thing to know – and share – is that malaise is a common and often recurring life experience. At first, each new venture seems fresh and exciting. Eventually it becomes old and familiar.

Understanding that this ‘loss of luster’ is a normal part of the ebb and flow of life reassures those who find themselves mired in the mud.

In a recent survey, 95% of respondents reported they had experienced malaise in their lives. 57% in their forties. 53% in their fifties. 39% in their thirties. And even 20% in their twenties.

Many people experience a dip in satisfaction part way through their lives as they come to terms with unmet expectations. Although life may be ‘good’, it may not feel ‘great’. Some feel discouraged by a loss of passion. They’ve run out of dreams and goals; or they’ve become creatures of habit and stopped learning new things. Others question whether they are really creating the kind of legacy they had hoped to leave along the way.

Sometimes all that’s needed is a sense of possibility. – Rachel Remen

Beyond normalizing the experience, here are other actions you can take to support people as they set about rekindle their enthusiasm for life.

• Reach out to connect and open a conversation. Let them know what you’re noticing. Ask what they think and how they feel about their situation.
• Listen in a deep respectful way. Sometimes what others need most is an opportunity to give voice to what’s going on inside. They may not need or want someone else to step in and try to ‘fix’ the situation. They simply need to hear themselves say out loud the ideas that may be rolling around in their minds or drifting through their subconscious.
• Offer encouragement. Perhaps there is a first step they are already considering, and they could use a cheerleader at the starting line. Letting others know you care about their situation and will be there as they move forward is one way to lift their spirits.
• Share other perspectives and fresh ideas. Maybe you have wrestled with malaise and moved through it in your own life, but not yet shared that story. This could be the time. Or, you may know of friends and colleagues who have publicly shared their journeys. Some of those experiences might have relevance to the person you are supporting.
• Extend an invitation to try something new. Novel experiences can help people jump their ruts and set off in a more promising direction. Sometimes being exposed to new possibilities is all it takes to develop a fresh and invigorating point of view.
• Express appreciation for who the person is and what they do. When suffering from malaise, people can easily tilt to the dark side and color everything in their lives as negative and problematic. Most periods of stuck-ness are temporary. And ‘all or nothing’ thinking and an exaggerated sense of catastrophe add unnecessary weight to the situation.
• Deliver honest feedback and straight talk. If you know the person well, you may be in a position to kindly question some of their assumptions in ways that will help them get a clearer grip on problems and possibilities.
• Model engagement and renewal in your own life. In all things, we give greater credence to ‘what people do’ over ‘what people say’. Pay close attention to your own well-being. Stay as engaged as possible in your own life roles. When you model a pro-active approach to re-invention and re-direction it gives others hope and courage to step out in new directions of their own.

And finally… a cautionary note. Stay alert to the difference between malaise (a temporary fog that comes and goes) and depression (a dark and heavy cloud that feels like it will stay forever). Although your support will always to be important to someone who suffers from depression, that more serious situation calls for professional expertise. Help them access that sooner rather than later.

© Patricia Katz, MCE CHRP HoF, is a Canadian speaker and author who works with organizational leaders to ease the load and fuel the spirit. This best selling author of 6 books shares her wisdom regularly with thousands of readers of her e-zine, Pause. Sign up for Pause, and learn more about easing your load here on this site. Contact Pat for programs and publications at info@patkatz.com or 306-934-1807.

Reflection: What do you think? Is a crazy busy life with no time to spare the new status symbol in North America?

Sadly enough, that just may be the case! Several recent pieces of research found that we now admire and hold in higher esteem those who present themselves as overloaded and run off their feet.

In one experiment, participants read letters from a fictional friend. In Letter A he complained about being crazy busy with no time to relax and watch TV. In Letter B he described himself as relaxed, spending time watching sports on TV. Readers ranked the busy friend twice as high on a scale of wealth and social status as they ranked the more leisurely friend. (more…)

Reflection:  Last Friday, March 3^rd, was Employee Appreciation Day. Did you note it? Did you mark it? Or, did you miss it?

If you marked it, good for you! If you missed it, worry not! You now have a 51-week head start on planning a thoughtful gesture or two for next year’s Appreciation Day.

People love to be celebrated on ‘their’ special days. That’s true whether you are an employee, a volunteer, a boss, a mom, or a dad. However, cards, treats, lunches, and bouquets of flowers once a year only do so much. It’s what happens on the other 364 days of the year that determine whether people truly feel appreciated. (more…)

Reflection: Focus in the face of distraction! That was how a group I recently worked with described one of their most frustrating challenges.

They’re not alone in this. We live in an age of distraction. One research survey found the average time between interruptions in the modern workplace to be three minutes.

Not all of our distractions are created by others. The same survey noted that 44% of interruptions were self imposed. Sometimes we’re our own worst enemies. We allow our grasshopper minds and our desire for novelty to lead us from here … to there … and there … and there, too!

Action: So, how do you make more focused progress in the face of distractions? (more…)

St John’s Jelly Bean House #8 Wood Street

Reflection:  Things going right or things going wrong? To what do you pay more attention as you make your way through your day?

Are you on high alert for slights, missteps, and errors of omission or commission?

Are you quick to criticize, and eager to pounce on any infraction against the way things ought to be – in the world according to your Inner Judge?

Or are you tuned to signs that things just might be going well, open to receiving life’s everyday gifts, and prepared to be pleasantly surprised?

Are you quick to appreciate, and keen to focus attention on life’s joyful developments?

And beyond assigning labels of ‘bad or good’ to the experiences of the day, how open are you to the possibility that something first thought ‘wrong’ might just end up being ‘right’? (more…)

Many things in life start out exciting; but they don’t stay that way forever. Maintaining a spark and a sense of excitement over the long haul can be a huge challenge at work and beyond.

Research shows that at any given time a significant number of employees feel less than fully engaged in their lives at work. And it’s not just older workers who experience that ho-hum feeling of malaise.

Many people are working much later in life – well into their late sixties. As the life span of a career unfolds, most would welcome a bit more variety and a fresh challenge or two. They’d rather not suffer the brain-numbing effect of repeating the same tasks over and over and over again – ad infinitum.

When the spark goes out, it’s a problem for an individual. It also creates challenges for organizations. The loss of productivity due to presenteeism (physically there, but heart and mind someplace else) is estimated to be seven times the loss of productivity due to absenteeism. And that’s not good for anybody!

As a leader in your organization, you may feel there is not much you can do to help colleagues and employees who find themselves afflicted with malaise and at risk of rusting out.

However, there are several actions you can take to support others in their attempts to rekindle a sense of excitement and engagement at work and outside the workplace, too. And know that whether a person rekindles their spark at work or in their personal or community life, that a fresh found buoyancy has a positive and uplifting impact on all arenas of life.

Here are ten strategies to pursue in your organization.

1. Make continuous investments in life long learning for everyone. Classes, workshops, webinars, subscriptions, conferences, and inexpensive ‘ride along/work along’ opportunities are all good options.
2. Encourage job shares and exchanges, cross training & collaboration. Make it possible for individuals to learn something new – to keep growing and stretching their abilities. Changing things up may not be ‘neat and tidy’ but opening the doors to swapping roles and fresh opportunities can yield big dividends for everyone.
3. Create short-term project opportunities & temporary assignments. Sometimes even a brief ‘shot in the arm’ of something new and different is enough to rekindle that spark.
4. Learn about and support individual aspirations. You may know who someone has been and what they’ve done up until now; but do you know who they might like to become and what they might like to do in the future? Aspirations ignored are a potential source of resentment and regret.
5. Offer flex time & variable work week options. Sometimes people don’t want to step away from work completely, but they would welcome a change in pace and timing to be able to pursue other interests or handle other responsibilities.
6. Normalize the process of transition & reinvention. Incidents of malaise and fading interest are not a failure of the individual. They are a normal part of the ebb and flow of life. Don’t berate or belittle someone when they find themselves at a low point in the cycle of renewal. Help them see the truth of the moment and support them in finding their way through.
7. Profile positive examples of others who have rekindled their sparks. Highlight – in newsletters, on bulletin boards, and in conversation – the actions of individuals who are stepping out the their everyday habitual behaviors to try something new and add fresh zest to their lives.
8. Guard against ageism. Malaise can arise in the life of someone who is very young and new in their career, at midlife and mid career, or when someone is older and more senior in their career. Don’t limit options and access to life-sparking opportunities by age or years of service.
9. Encourage those nearing the end of their careers to take on mentoring roles. The opportunity to pass along wisdom and insights can be highly meaningful and energizing.
10. Recognize and celebrate in informal ways the legacy of service and contributions of others. Do this at every opportunity. Don’t wait until people leave – or threaten to do so – to let them know how much they matter.

Above all, as a leader in your organization, model the way by keeping your own spark alive. Be honest about your own past experiences with malaise and renewal and be open about how they continue to cycle through and unfold in your present life and career.

© Patricia Katz, MCE CHRP HoF, is a Canadian speaker and author who works with organizational leaders to ease the load and fuel the spirit. This best selling author of 6 books shares her wisdom regularly with thousands of readers of her e-zine, Pause. Sign up for Pause, and learn more about easing your load here on this site. Contact Pat for programs and publications at info@patkatz.com or 306-934-1807.