Tag Archives: Resolution

Feb3

Are You Losing Steam with Your New Year’s Resolutions?

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Are You Losing Steam with Your New Year’s Resolutions?

At the beginning of the new year, you probably had a long list of lofty goals. Let’s not call it new year’s resolutions. Let’s call them running goals. They are probably pretty well thought of, SMART (specific, achievable, relevant, time-bound) goals that you are sure can be easily realized this year. These goals are probably listed somewhere because you’re hell-bent on being organized. You might have already started working on them and have even made progress.

But then the rest of the year start to roll in. Before you know it, it’s February and a month has already gone by. You feel like you’re losing steam and that you’re slowly losing the motivation to follow through with your goals. You might not be as committed to them, unlike your rock-solid resolve during the start of the year.

You are not alone in this though. Studies show that a lot of people (around 80%) fail at their new year’s resolution by the first week of February. So, if you don’t want to be part of this statistics, here’s a tip to keep your motivation.

Check your mindset
Stop focusing on the end goal and focus on your mindset. This will keep you going. When it comes to staying motivated and seeing your goals through, having a growth mindset can make a huge difference. Having a growth mindset means that you believe you are capable of growth and of change. It means that you know you can adapt and improve.

In contrast, having a fixed mindset will lead you to believe that your behaviors and beliefs are fixed and innate. This could trick you into thinking that the person you are today is who you are going to be forever. That belief doesn’t allow for self-improvement and can wreck your motivation when it comes to achieving your personal goals.

Let’s say one of your 2020 goals is to spend less time on social media, probably just spend 2 hours per week. Then one day, you catch yourself scrolling through your social media feeds during a slow day at work. With a fixed mindset, you realize you have reached the cap you have set for yourself, feel defeated, and strike that the goal of limiting social media time off of your goals list. With a growth mindset, you accept the fact that your processes need some tweaking, forgive yourself for this slip-up, and vow to build a better system to help you achieve your goals. Perhaps you could stash your phone somewhere you can’t easily reach it (a locked desk drawer or a locker). Perhaps you could install a mobile phone app that could block off social media sites while you’re at work.

However, you approach it, if you have a growth mindset, you will focus on forgiveness and will be celebrating your small wins instead of beating yourself up over a slight hiccup.

What’s your secret to sticking to your resolutions? Share your tips with us in the comments. Remember to work smart and be a blessing to someone today.

Written by Jaie O. TheHelp

Jan27

3 Tips for Successful Conflict Resolution at the Office

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3 Tips for Successful Conflict Resolution at the Office

The office is where you spend ⅓ of at least half of your waking hours. At some point in time, it is inevitable to experience some kind of conflict in the workplace. Whether you, yourself are involved in the conflict or not, conflict can impact employee productivity. In fact, unresolved conflicts have a direct impact on how employees engage in the workplace and can definitely have a negative impact on workplace culture. Therefore, it is important for employees to learn the subtle art of conflict resolution.

Here are 3 tips to learn in order to navigate conflicts successfully:

Learn to communicate effectively
There’s talking and then there’s communicating. Most conflicts would be easily nipped in the bud if people just learn how to communicate effectively. This is not just about getting your point across but about actually listening to what the other person is saying. It’s not just about what you hear either. Effective communication means picking up on non-verbal clues, knowing which parts to not interrupt or having non-confrontational stances and gestures. Conflict isn’t always a bad thing. It can be an avenue to engage and exchange ideas if you manage it well.

Practice your problem-solving skills
This isn’t about being good at solving puzzles. It’s actually pretty straight forward. This skill is about learning how to see a challenge from many angles and approaching it with a clear plan while considering the many possible solutions to it. When people see conflict, they tend to avoid, deny, or pass it on to someone else. However, effective conflict resolution depends on how the people involved approach the conflict. Do they result in passive-aggressive behavior? Do they get into a shouting match? Do they avoid each other until resentment festers? The key is for both parties to see it as a challenge and exhaust all ways to solve it, even if it means getting input from an outsider with a different perspective.

Make teamwork a priority
Studies show that workplaces with a strong, deeply ingrained teamwork culture have fewer conflicts. This is because employees learn to focus on shared goals instead of disagreements that creep up in between. They ultimately have the end in mind. Teamwork also enforces defined roles which can majorly reduce where conflicts stem from. Lastly, teamwork reinforced meeting objectives over personal egos and preferences.

Bonus tip:
Stress management is one of the keys to healthy workplace relations.
Sometimes, it’s not about the work, the culture, or the coworkers. Sometimes people just happen to take their personal frustrations to the workplace and then blow up and vent there. Learning healthy stress coping mechanisms will reduce employee conflicts because they need not take their personal challenges to the office. So encourage employees to take well-timed breaks and vacation leaves. That way, they have decompression mechanisms in place to release bottled up emotions.

What about you, what are your tips for resolving conflict? Share your tips with us in the comments. Remember to work smart and be a blessing to someone today.

Written by Jaie O. TheHelp