THE POWER OF A SMILE

On October 21, 2011, In @ Work, By Bryan Dodge

Everyone is searching for a great life. Maybe it’s the home run at work which will elevate you to the next level in your company. Maybe it’s the supportive spouse or the child that excels at school and sports. Yet the golden ring of greatness is always just a bit out of our reach. We never can grab the ring and achieve the great life. Instead we continue on the merry-go-round of life—in search of the good life.
As you have probably discovered, a good life is one of those interesting paradoxes. It is both easy and difficult to attain. It’s easy because we were made to live a good life. But it can be difficult because we seem to go out of our way to make ourselves unhappy. We seem to focus on the great moments in life and not appreciate the good life that we have each day. A good life requires both a decision to be happy and a commitment to follow through with those actions, thoughts, and behaviors that will give us the good life we deserve and should have.
The focus point that I want to share with you brings me to a statement that I have heard before: “People who smile a lot don’t know why.” The most pleasant people are those who smile a lot. A smile doesn’t cost you anything and it is one of the universal signs worldwide that is never misunderstood. A smile says, “I like you; I’m glad to see you; I’m glad to be with you.” It is a sign of recognition to both loved ones and strangers who cross your path. You will never run out of smiles no matter how many you give away. As people smile they set free the light within them. They know that love helps to ease pain, grief, discouragement, failure as well as the other negative experiences and emotions. Their smile communicates a good life.
Those who are afraid, in need of control, have given up and lost hope, rarely ever smile. They have lost touch with the light within themselves. I suggest the next time you see somebody in the office or pass a family member in the hallway, just send him or her, a big smile and watch the good life grow. A smile is your choice. Just please understand why it is so important now, more than ever, for you to consistently focus on the “good life!” Always remember, “Life is too short not to be happy and life is too long not to understand the power of a smile for you and those that depend on you.”

The Good Life Rules when you smile!
Bryan Dodge
Dodge Development, Inc.

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What does your face say about you?

On May 18, 2011, In @ Work, By Bryan Dodge

Living a better life both at work and at home starts with your ability to smile more often than not. Life is to short not to be happy, and way too long not to learn how to tell your face that. Whenever you get a grin on your face, your brain is releasing serotonin, the happy hormone. Smiling is the natural way to force your-self to be happy. Many people even smile for five minutes straight in the morning to get themselves in a great mood for the day. It is a very powerful tool that is utilized less and less as we grow older and need happiness more than ever. Just remember that while happiness leads to smiles, smiles also lead to a better you.

To keep that smile you must also learn to be unaffected by the words of others. Most people get very upset when they are called negative names by others; I use a simple trick to overcoming this. Here it is: If I went up to you and called you a dog, would you be upset? Of course not, obviously you are not a dog you are a human being. The same concept applies to when someone calls you something that you know you are not. They are foolish for saying such things, so why would you react with such anger? The only exception is when someone calls you something that is true! In this case, you should thank them for alerting you to a weakness, one that you can now work on changing. Good advice to building a better you.

Bryan Dodge – President
Dodge Development
www.dodgedevelopment.com

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Losing the Vision

On May 28, 2010, In @ Home, @ Work, Relationships, By Bryan Dodge

One evening, while I was channel surfing, a teaching caught my attention. I guess it was because I had a professor in college who taught on this subject and I had not heard of it since. The subject matter was the cycle of the rise and fall of great nations. In the history of the world, many nations have risen to be a world power and then fallen back again in a cycle that usually lasts around 200 -250 years. I found the teaching most interesting. I certainly could relate it to the history of the United States. I scribbled the eight steps as they were taught on an advertisement page in a magazine:

From Bondage to Spiritual Faith
From Spiritual Faith to Great Courage
From Great Courage to Liberty
From Liberty to Abundance
From Abundance to Complacence
From Complacence to Apathy
From Apathy to Dependence
From Dependence to Bondage

I could not help but to think that these same steps are relevant in business as well. Perhaps the cycle is less than 200 years, but it is still much the same. Look at General Motors (GM) as a prime example. GM was formed in 1908. It reached its peak in 1954 when it enjoyed a 54 percent share of the auto market, a period of abundance. It became complacent and didn’t react strongly enough to the gains of European and Japanese cars and the Arab oil embargo. Although it had some good years of profit in the mid to late 1980s, it began its fall from greatness in 1991 when it posted a $4.5 billion loss, never to really recover and only to find itself trying to survive in bankruptcy courts today.

I am also reminded of something that was referred to as the weakness or fault of second generation management. The founding person had vision for the company and fulfilled the vision bringing it to greatness. When the founder dies, the second generation loses the original vision and passion that made the company great. Both the second generation management and employees lose the founder’s vision, and they focus more on the benefits that the company can bring to them. Soon the company’s profits start to flounder and it loses its greatness. It is also known as the bell curve in the business cycle. Is there a lesson to be learned here? How many businesses really last over a long period of time? What stage of the business cycle is your business in? What can be done to keep the founder’s vision and passion alive in a company?

Frank Massine
Vice President, Dodge Development, Inc.

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Understanding and Controlling Worry

On May 6, 2010, In @ Home, @ Work, Relationships, By Bryan Dodge

Most people fall into one of two categories when it comes to worrying. Some are compulsive worriers, who get stressed out about details large and small and are frightened and anxious about making decisions. Others go the other way and decide that they’re just going to deny things that deserve worry or attention. They’re the people who just seem to be resigned to whatever happens to them, good or bad.

Worry is something you’re going to have to face in your life whether you want to or not. My wife likes to say that worry comes from fear, and fear is life’s message to you that you need to pay attention. In other words, paying attention to legitimate worries and fears can save you from pain and disaster.

Worry can be your best friend if you recognize the legitimate concerns that brought it on, act on them, and then let the worry go. The problems start when you either don’t let the worry go, or you refuse to recognize the concerns that need to be addressed.

What things are causing you stress right now? Pick a situation about which you’re really dreading the outcome. Maybe it’s a job review with a boss you don’t love, your child’s behavior problem, or an audit from the Internal Revenue Service. To confront your worry, start by visualizing the most undesirable outcome. Maybe you’ll get fired. Maybe you’ll have to go down and meet with the principal of the school. Maybe you’ll have to write a big check. By visualizing the worse-case scenario, you’ve immediately turned something nebulous and speculative into something concrete. You can focus your attention on a single outcome—not twenty different ones—and say to yourself, “What steps do I need to put in place to avoid this outcome?” I bet you’ll also start realizing that most of the time, even the worst case scenario isn’t an insurmountable tragedy.

Most of the time, the things that worry you won’t be nearly as bad as you thought, and by being prepared for the worst-case scenario, you’re going to be pleasantly surprised.

Last year, a man approached me after I finished a big speaking engagement, and he asked me if I ever got nervous in front of a big crowd.

“I sure hope so,” I said, without a hint of sarcasm. “Because the day I don’t worry about what I do is the day I quit doing this. It means I don’t care about the outcome.”

In the short term, when you’re getting a project in shape at work or you’re dealing with a crisis at home, worry is useful. It pushes you hard to do what you need to do to solve the problem.

If you can look at yourself and know that you’ve done all you can to prepare and you’ve given your best effort, that’s when you can let go of the worry and accept whatever consequences there are. After all, what more can you do than all you can do?

The Good Life Rules!

Bryan Dodge

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