One month into 2014 and how many of us have broken our resolutions? Part of the problem may be our attitudes and outlook towards the task, feeling like we cannot keep it up…WE CAN!
No, I haven’t gone crazy. As part of our personal development at Smoking Gun we have been taking part in group training with the lovely Gillian from Mentor Corporate Coaching. The sessions are aimed at improving the aspects of our jobs that can be overwhelming and enabling us to focus on making the most of the working day. We have undertaken sessions on topics such as time management, problem solving and delegation, all hugely beneficial, yet the one topic that stood out to me was the attitude training.
Gillian gave us a task early on in the programme, a simple memory task. We all anticipated that remembering 30 words in a particular order was virtually impossible, yet low and behold we all successfully completed the task. The point of the task wasn’t how many words we could remember or a way to challenge your colleagues, but to show us how the success of completing that task meant we viewed the next task in a positive light. We all faced the next memory task and knew we could do it. Why? Because we had altered our perspective.
This task could be transferred to any situation; altering the way you look at tasks gives an instant positivity. I began to have a look at other attitude discussions on the internet. Each article focused on positivity and how our attitudes make tasks easier, all basic points that seem so obvious yet are so easily overlooked. One website that seemed to reoccur in recent articles was #100HappyDays.
#100HappyDays is a website that challenges participants to focus on the small things each day that make them happy. Many of us focus on bigger tasks which can seem daunting or impossible.
The site says the following:

 
Now that sounds like a good challenge! Finding something each day that makes you happy gives an instant positivity. By taking a quick photo you truly acknowledge the thing that made you feel happy, and finish the challenge with a list of happy moments to look back on. The site claims that after the full 100 days participants outlook will change for good.
We are taking up the challenge as an agency in the SGPR office, let’s see in 100 days if we can practice what we preach!
Watch this space…