Tag: how to be happy

Disney Is The Happiest (work)Place On Earth

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“Disneyland is the Happiest Place on Earth” – a genius tagline for an iconic company.

But is it really just a marketing slogan?

A few months ago, my family came to LA to visit Disneyland for the first time. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to step through the gates, because I was emcee’ing an event for one of Disney’s other properties, the El Capitan Theater.

When we all got together for “family” dinner – 3,000 miles away from our actual home- we had the same story about our day: “Wow, the people are so happy and friendly. What are they on?”

Because, a family filled with MD’s must assume they are “on” something to be that happy.

My parents were impressed with the greeters, who were able to retain their same – HIGH – level of energy and friendliness throughout the day while everyone else in the family was utterly exhausted. I was blown away by my bosses who repeatedly thanked me and expressed their gratitude… for accepting a job!

As we compared stories, my mom said, “Well, I’ve heard about that Disney culture and I guess it’s really true,” referencing the book The Disney Way by Bill Capodagli.

While I encourage everyone to read it, here are some quotes that sum up this happy Disney Corporate Culture:

Building and reinforcing a strong, positive corporate culture is a keystone of Disney’s success in Cast engagement and Guest happiness.

The word “no” is discouraged as it shuts down hopes. Leaders must use positive language such as “yes if…” and “yes and…” if they want to foster a collaborative culture.

Employee satisfaction, not customer satisfaction, should be a leader’s priority. Employee satisfaction will trickle down to the customers.

Disney uses unique business language to set the right tone. Employees are “cast members”, jobs are “roles”, uniforms are “costumes”, and customers are “guests”.

Disney hires attitude over aptitude. “We can teach someone to drive a bus. We can’t teach them to smile and be happy.”

 

Happiness is the mindset the brain needs to be in order to function at its most optimal level. According to Shawn Achor of The Happiness Advantage, the brain at happiness versus negative or neutral is 31% more productive, people are 37% better at sales, and there is less turnover (aka costly turnover) when employees are in this mindset.

And therein lies the secret as to why Disney is the happiest – and one of the most successful places- on Earth.

And the best part is that you don’t need to work at Disney to start feeling the rewards of being happy, you can train your brain to work at its optimal level.

But hey, working at Disney doesn’t hurt either.

 

 

5 Things I Learned from Mom

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1. Be an eternal optimist.

As the Dalai Lama says, “Choose to be optimistic, it feels better.” Now, I’m not saying my mom is the Dalai Lama, but she did want to be a nun when she was younger (true fact!), so I think she knows what’s up by living with this motto.

2. Remember, you’re living someone else’s dream.

Just the other day I was feeling discouraged that I wasn’t further along in life. Really I called to get the good ol’, “I’m proud of you- blah blah blah” type of praise all of us children expect, but instead she said something very profound. She told me that while it’s great to want to be the next Ryan Seacrest or Cat Deeley (aka have goals), I need to remember that at this moment, with all my travels and incredible gigs, that somewhere out there I am living the life someone else is dreaming about. I feel like she should trademark that quote.

3. You’ve got good genes.

Breaking news! Women are first judged on their looks. Women judge other women on their looks. And in Hollywood, you can be hired or fired based on your looks. Do you see my mom? She’s over six decades old, never touched one thing on her face, and doesn’t have a wrinkle on her. Thank you Mom, because plastic surgery is expensive.

4. In wine, there is happiness.

When all else fails, my mom encourages me to drink a bottle of wine. Well, she really just says, “Why don’t you open up a bottle of wine and have a hot bath?” I usually take that as drinking the entire bottle and ordering in cupcakes, but, well, you get the gist. There is nothing better than parental approval for imbibing.

5. Experience > Money.

I feel so grateful to come from a Midwestern family with Midwestern values. That is, you bring people into your life based on who they are, not what they can get you. Growing up, there was no such thing as designer bags or sports cars. In our house, you worked hard, you did well, and you were rewarded with what you needed or wanted within reason. Instead of giving us things, though, my mom gave us opportunities to follow our passions, whether that was athletics, traveling or pursuing higher education at a very expensive private university. This built more self-esteem than anything you can buy in a store, and I’m eternally grateful for this life lesson.

Happy Mother’s Day!

How The 4 Hour Work Week Will Change Your Personal Life

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Today, my best friend’s dad passed away unexpectedly. By today, I mean a half an hour ago. I’ve been sitting, staring at my computer, trying to figure out what to do and how to help. The truth is… there is nothing to do but to make sure my phone is next to me at all times and just wait for her call. Helpless. The feeling that I hate the most. I’m crushed.

So where does a self-help book about outsourcing and productivity fit into this story? Well, big moments make you re-evaluate life, especially ones like these. Life is too short. Be Happy. Say I Love You more. We’ve all heard the cliches, but this book is different. The 4 Hour Work Week by Tim Ferriss is all about re-evaluating your life, goals and pursuits on a daily level. It is about changing the way you view life so that you can live in the moment.

The common ideology is, “I’ll work hard now so that I can make a lot of money and retire on an island when I’m 65.” The 4 Hour Work Week questions this. Why do you want to make money? The answer is so that you can have the freedom – i.e. money and time- to do the things you want to do NOW. But instead of waiting for your life to end to start living, the book says, work hard enough to get to that goal, and enjoy a “mini-retirement” right away.

My friend’s dad was super healthy and barely into his 50’s, maybe even late 40’s. Young. Too young to retire. Too young to even see his eldest daughter married. We can try to plan. But you don’t plan for this. I wonder if he has regrets. Had regrets. I hope he’s somewhere to think like this…

We don’t know what tomorrow will bring, but we do know one day there will be no tomorrow. So we might as well live in the present. If you’re like me, your reaction to a statement like this is, “Great, ya, sure, whatever that means.” <Brush-off-and-continue-the-daily-grind> What I found especially helpful about the book is that The 4 Hour Work Week makes the theoretical into a tangible game plan. It gives you tools that you can use, like how to budget your bank account, how to increase productivity, how to outsource, how to afford the seemingly “unaffordable,” and the list goes on.

I was going to take a month vacation this year, or a “mini-retirement” as Tim Ferriss would say. And then I decided that I did not have the time or the money to do this. Or rather, that I didn’t “deserve” to be living the good life when I have so much to accomplish in my career and finances. That’s changed today. I can make sacrifices to afford this trip, because the other sacrifice, the sacrifice of my dreams and wants, is in the end much more costly. If we can’t enjoy life now, what the hell are we living for?