Monday, June 21, 2010

How Can I Retire Early to Pursue Happiness

I have been getting this question a lot lately.

“How can I retire early to pursue happiness?”

In this recession, everyone is feeling the squeeze whether or not they still have jobs. Many who are not laid off are doing two or three people’s jobs. It’s not hard to understand the pessimism. We start to think that happiness and work are mutually exclusive. As we constantly raise the bar on ourselves, we come to believe that happiness cannot be achieved until we have lots of money and time. Somewhere along the way, we lose sight that happiness doesn’t have to come in bulk and that it can come in small chunks.

What if you could bring meaning to what you do every day?

I have met many business professionals who devoted their money and time outside of work to social causes. So why do we stop short of bringing the same level of compassion to our workplace? Giving is gratifying because it is a testament of our ability to make a difference in someone else’ life. What if you could have the ability to impact the lives of your colleagues?

The zero-sum mentality in the corporate world holds us back from being a resource to others at work. Contrary to the thinking, those who give are generally more successful and happier, according to my recent interviews with a number of corporate executives who have a track record of helping others at work. The sense of purpose and fulfillment from helping others often become positive energy that empowers the givers to make great business impact at work.

You may feel too time-strapped and exhausted to help others because of your work load. The secret is that time is limited but energy can be re-generated. By giving and lending a hand, it rejuvenates your energy and fulfillment, which in turn support you for bigger challenges at work. You will be happier and more productive.

What if we could be present in every moment?

When we were kids, we couldn’t wait until school was out and we wanted to grow up fast. Do you ever notice how old people reminisce the past and can’t stop talking about what they used to do? As we are right in the middle of our journey, recognize that we have an opportunity to live in the moment with learning from the past to shape our future.

Celebrate small and often. Some clients came to me for coaching because they hit a road block and feared that they would not be able to achieve their goals. Once we took the time to examine their progress along the way, they gained confidence and clarity which give them the strength to move forward. Celebrating before reaching your goal is not a sin. Celebrating milestones helps you to reflect and move steadfast toward your goals.

Instead of living for the future, enjoy this moment when you are not too young to know what you want nor too old to do what you want. Why waiting for the big bulky happiness far out in retirement when you could create small happy moments throughout your work life?

What is that big happiness you are hoping for at the end of your career? Break it down and enjoy it in small chunks. Instead of guzzling down a bottle of wine, enjoy it in sips to savor its aroma and flavor. If your goal is to travel around the world after retirement, try visiting one country each year while you are still working. If you would like to do volunteer work in the future, you can find something similar in a smaller scale now. Are you waiting to try a different line of work after retirement? Sign up for a class or seminar to learn about it today.
Align your present with your future!

Instead of living for your future, choose what you have in every moment. Wouldn’t it be better to be happy early than to retire early?

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

The Answer Is in the Question!

Many of us go through life looking for answers that will lead us to fulfillment in life or to career success. Very often the answers seem so hard to obtain. So we spend most of our time asking the same questions over and over again, searching and waiting for the right answers.

Has it ever occurred to you that you might be asking the wrong question?
Someone once asked me, "I have a good job at a great company but my dream is to have my own start-up company. It is hard to take the risk because I have a family to support. What should I do?"

"What I am hearing is that you have been asking yourself the question, 'What would happen to my family's finances if I quit my job?'". I pointed out that the question kept him focused on his problem. I suggested that he asked himself a different question,

"How do I start a business while maintaining financial stability for my family?"

This question opens up creativity and imagination and encourages the seeker to look for options to overcome his challenges while pursuing his goal. It fosters ideas such as the possibility of working on developing his business at night while he is still at the current job, or of reinvesting his stock option to generate an extra income stream as a safety net.

Many years ago, I worked for a U.S. personal care company in Asia. One of the products I managed was a line of tampons. The product category only had 1% usage rate because it was considered very intrusive in a conservative culture.
One year we ran multiple focus groups. I was sitting in the observatory room, eavesdropping on the consumers, when I heard some very unusual comments about the product. I had an "ah ha" moment and subsequently wrote a new marketing plan to shift the focus from brand advertising to educational and PR campaigns.
A few months later I was asked to drop by the sales meeting and share the new marketing strategy with the sales team. With the new strategy, I explained, product sales could grow by more than 30% during the peak season. The reception was cold.

Five minutes later, as I was waiting in the lobby for the elevator, a saleswoman who was in the meeting came up to me and told me what happened in the conference room after I left. The sales director said to the sales team,
"I have never seen any growth in our tampon sales in the 20 years since I joined the company. The marketing team had tried different campaigns to improve the revenues but all resulted in little change. How could a 30% growth be possible!?" He smirked. The whole room broke into laughter, according to my colleague's account. I remembered feeling a chill running through my body when I realized that I had become a laughing stock in the company. I was mortified

I gathered just enough strength to get back to my office. I called the production manager. The sales team was very powerful in the company at the time. Without their buy-in, I would not have the authority to change the sales forecast numbers that the production department would use to increase their production of the product. I told him about the challenge.

"What can be done to avert the product shortage? What is possible?" I asked. The product had to be imported so if the sales exceeded the previous forecast, the shortage could go on for months.

"Well, are you certain about your growth projection?" The production manager asked me.

I told him that this strategy had never been tried before but the research indicated a strong consumer fear which the new strategy was designed to overcome. There was no past event that I could use as a reference. However, if this were the right strategy, I was confident that we could generate 30% growth based on historical store data for similar products.

"As you know, I cannot increase the order size because the sales projection has not been bumped up. Hmmm.... Let me think about what I can do." He said, weighing the requirement to comply with the sales forecast already in our system and the potential of a product shortage. In the end, he came up with a great idea to hedge his risks. He decided to order from our European plant the same quantities as the original forecast but a few weeks earlier than usual. If sales picked up, he would request air shipments. If the sales remained flat, we would ship the order by sea.
Soon after the new marketing strategy was implemented, the tampon sales started to increase. The educational materials we created were flying off the shelf so quickly that I had to order more after just 2 weeks. The production manager, who was watching the sales activities closely, requested air shipments so we did not lose sales momentum. We were easily able to achieve the projected sales growth.

You see, by asking different questions, they triggered different responses and results.

"How could this be possible?" casts doubt and focuses on concerns.

"What is possible?" encourages brainstorming new ideas to achieve the goal.

Are you ready to challenge yourself or do you want to remain hindered by the obstacles you believe you face? Instead of asking yourself why you never have time for things that matter to you, ask yourself how you can make time for things that matter to you.

If you are feeling stuck and unable to make progress toward your goals, try asking a new question that encourages you to overcome the obstacles and points you at a new direction that you haven't looked at before.

So what is the question you have yet to ask yourself?