Last week, I wrote a letter to all men in the form of a blog post. If you haven't read it, feel free to check it out here.
In light of the Dr. Ford case and its verdict, I thought I would write a letter to all women, something I haven't seen out there. So here goes. Dear Women, First and foremost, I adore you. Life begins WITH you. I am empowered by you, WITH you, no matter where you are from, no matter what experience you have had, and no matter what anyone else says. I just love being around you and your energy. WOMEN WITH BOUNDARIES Don't get me wrong. I love Doctors WITHOUT Borders, Teachers WITHOUT Borders, and any other organization WITHOUT Borders. I've coached a bunch of women who begin with, "Well, I just ended up saying yes to this person/situation/event and now I am super stressed out." It's like that nagging thread on a sweater. You think if you just pull it a little, it will come off, but actually what ends up happening (or at least to me) is that it just unravels even more, and before you know it you're walking your sweater to the tailor. Beyond your sweater that needs to be taken to the tailor, the result of not drawing boundaries is a total burn out, which is no bueno. So rather than going beyond your boundaries, if you create them WITH people, you may just be pleasantly surprised that they respect you MORE not less, and you'll have a lot less sweaters to take to the tailors! SPEAK YOUR TRUTH One particular session with my life coach, I lamented, "My friend is making me feel bad..." She asked a few coachy questions and then she asked the question that now plays in my head like a repeat song that won't stop: "Why don't you speak your truth and just tell her how she is making you feel?" I thought of a long list of excuses, you know, kind of like Taylor Swift's "long-list of ex-lovers": She would hate me forever, she would never talk to me again, she would hang up the phone, and the list went on. Don't worry, I did speak my truth, and none of those things came to pass. In fact, I think our friendship is only stronger for it. I think it takes practice though. We are taught to accept the unacceptable, keep quiet and look pretty, don't disturb the peace from a young age. So what I often tell clients, and what I do myself is I start SPEAKING MY TRUTH to people in customer service: Yesterday afternoon I was in a taxi and needed to go pee really badly. I knew it would be a pain for the driver to pull over, I didn't want to inconvenience him, but I decided to SPEAK MY TRUTH and he obliged by pulling over at a hotel. *Phew, crisis avoided.* You'll find once you get going that speaking your truth isn't all that bad, especially when you realize if you don't, it could escalate into a UTI! TMI?! SAY THANK YOU Last night, at a women's networking event, (the second I have put together since starting at WeWork), I noticed when I would do my usual Kyla-Goes-PR-Mode of introducing women I already knew to other women something like, "Oh this woman Gigi is such a badass, she has her own company," the woman I was complimenting would shrink down. Inevitably the response would be, "Oh, I am just a one-woman company," "Oh, I haven't really started it yet," or nervous laughter. One woman had a single out on iTunes, which caused quite the stir (in addition to her many other accomplishments), so we attempted to listen to it on someone's iphone. The songstress/fementrepreneur literally turned around and covered her ears. Ok, before you say anything, I'm not saying you have to be that Cocky asshole who says, "Yes, I am the best X in the world," but remember when you discount what you're doing you invalidate yourself. So just say "thank you." And if you need a little gentle reminder/good chuckle, check out Amy Schumer's hilarious parody of all of this on YouTube. SORRY -> THANK YOU FOR YOUR PATIENCE When I lived in Japan for three years, I felt like I was apologizing for everything: things that were not my fault, things that were beyond my control, for being single, not Japanese enough, for being too early to an event, and the list goes on. When I studied abroad in China, one of my best friends was Japanese. When we were getting off a public bus, the bus door slammed in her face, and she apologized. Meanwhile, the bus driver scolded her and told her she should have gotten off the bus quicker. Wait, whaaaatt?! Last night at that women's networking event, a woman showed up and apologized for not having dressed up enough, another woman apologized for not bringing snacks (even though that wasn't a requirement), and I found myself apologizing for seemingly interrupting a conversation. To break out of this Sorry Syndrome, how about replacing your Sorrys WITH "Thank you for your patience" instead? YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL I'm about to give you some shocking statistics. Are you sitting down? Maybe grab a cup of coffee/tea before reading on. In a Dove global study of beauty it was revealed:
YOU'RE NOT ALONE When I began talking about my depression after my mom's dementia diagnosis, I was so terrified at being judged. What I found instead was a bunch of women in my amazing community here in Songdo who reached out to me, came over and talked WITH me over tea, shared their own stories of depression, and continue to support the heck out of me. You know how we idolize celebrities? Well, recently, Gisele Bundchen was asked by her son, "What is a celebrity?" She answered that they are no different from others, but they just live their lives more publicly. Yes, and they struggle with the same challenges we do. Can you imagine the highest paid super model in the world would struggle with mental health issues and even contemplate suicide? I know, let that sink in a second. Gisele Bundchen! She even recently wrote a book about it all: Lessons: My Path to a Meaningful Life. And of course, because she is so awesome, she is donating all proceeds from the book to a charity. In an interview on Good Morning America she cries talking about that moment she was out on her balcony contemplating suicide. If you need even more evidence that you're not alone, two journalists wrote this book called The Confidence Code. They revealed that the likes of Hillary Clinton, Sheryl Sandberg, and other global leaders also self-doubt just like us. WHAAAT?! I know. See? You're not alone. DON'T PUT YOURSELF DOWN! On a recent trip back to the U.S., I took a shuttle bus to the rental car center from the airport. Those shuttle buses--for those of you who have taken them--ain't the easiest things to board...especially with luggage. I recall this scene so vividly because this woman basically put herself down in such a dramatic and showy manner. I am sure, ironically, she didn't want to call any attention to herself at all. Once she boarded the bus, there was no more space for her suitcase in the luggage storage area; so her suitcase tipped over and she was at once mortified exclaiming, "Oh my gosh, I AM CLEARLY A HOT MESS!" I can assure you, nobody was even thinking that. Well, nobody these days cares much about what anybody else around them is doing. I mean, she could have been doing a little song and dance for all anybody knew. Except as you can probably guess, everyone was preoccupied with their phones. So the next time your suitcase falls or something happens, rather than putting yourself down, just walk away calmly and smile remembering that we are all imperfect humans. Oh and do a song and dance, why not?! If you've made it to the end of this letter, thank you--thank you for your patience (I won't apologize for writing a long blog post). And if you could pass this along to a woman you adore, then we have done something great together. We have created an incredible movement of women who support each other, work WITH each other, lift each other up, and help each other create those much-needed boundaries. Oh and don't forget, YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL! Wishing you Happiness, Kyla
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"What are some Happiness tips?" This is one of the number 1 questions I get on a regular basis, whether at my workshops or from my clients. So I decided to include some of my happiness tips here WITH a caveat: they have worked for me, they may or may not work for you; create your own though, you know? May these inspire you to create not just happiness tips, but happiness in your life on a daily basis.
Yay! Oh also since we humans remember things in 3s, each tip combines 3 words. 1. COMPARE + DESPAIR We have all been there: Compare and despair land. Well, social media helps us get there faster. We all have that one friend who travels all the time, has a seemingly perfect life, never has to work, yada yada. When I ran in my first 100m dash as an elementary student, my mom gave me some of the best race advice and life advice I could have asked for: "When you run, Kyla, don't look at the other kids. Just look straight. You'll run faster that way." Boy, did I run. My pigtails were flying behind me, and that was the first race I ever won! Now that I am an avid researcher on happiness, what I have found out from neuroscience research is that when we compare ourselves to others, (because there is no one out there quite like our unique awesome selves!) we actually perform worse than if we were to compare ourselves WITH ourselves. Whoa. 2. DO NOT LABEL Right before I was due to leave Japan after having lived there for 3 years, at a night club in Roppongi, I had my handbag stolen. I will spare you the details of all the drama that ensued. However, one curious thing that happened at the police station when I reported it went something like this: Me: My handbag was stolen tonight. Police Officer: Ok, what brand was your handbag? Like Louis Vuitton? Prada? Me: No brand. Police Officer: What? Me: There was no brand. My mom bought it in an alleyway in Hong Kong, I think. Police Officer: Wait, so what brand? And so it goes in life, we have this obsession with labeling things: tall, short, ugly, beautiful, black, white, sad, happy, and the list goes on. With situations that come up in life, we tell ourselves, this is terrible or this is depressing. What if we just accepted it for what it was neutrally, and called it a day? 3. AVOIDANCE | SURVIVAL | GROWTH This I learned recently in my Happiness course online: in every situation we face, we can choose these three ways to face it: avoidance, survival or growth. Most of us usually spend our time in the AVOIDANCE zone. You know, when you decide to go shopping or binge watch that Netflix show instead of addressing what's really going on? (No judgments. I got wayyyy into Narcos.) Then there's the SURVIVAL zone where you're kind of just treading water. The zone to strive for is GROWTH. How do you GROW in every situation you face and help not just yourself GROW but as many people around you as possible? 4. INHALE + EXHALE Yes, breathing is FREE. We all know about meditation and mindful breathing. There are numerous benefits of both: increased attention span, reduces stress, helps to control anxiety, and the list goes on. I had always imagined that I had to live in some remote village, sit cross-legged in that village and meditate for hours overlooking some deep canyon for any of this to even come to pass. Turns out, just 10 minutes of meditation (anywhere) can do the trick. There is a way to breathe properly, I learned at the World Happiness Summit in March this year. Imagine there is an elevator going from the bottom of your abdomen to the top of your head, breathe through your nostrils (not your mouth), and repeat as often as possible! When you're waiting for your friend to show up for lunch, instead of pulling out your phone, BREATHE! 5. SHIFT YOUR FRAME "My boss is an asshole, my boss is an asshole, my boss is an asshole..." I often hear clients repeat the same thing over and over again. I hear myself in them. I get it. One of the tools from the Science of Happiness is called Frame Shifting, where you start looking at your challenge/issue from a different angle/perspective. So for example, rather than focusing on "my boss is an asshole" consider "why is this coming up for me and what can I do about it?" Try zooming out of the challenge/issue and seeing the bigger picture as much as possible. It will help you move from the WHAT of the challenge/issue to the WHY. 6. HYGGE/LAGOM/SOHWAKHEANG Three new words for you here. Hygge is the Danish word for "coziness." Did you know that Danish people use more candles per capita than any other nation? It is this obsession with hygge. Lagom is the Swedish word for "balance" which literally means "just the right amount" in all things: work-life balance, health, gender (they are always in the top 5 for gender equality in the world), and they even created something called "plogging" (jogging + plucking) where you jog and pick up trash as you go (!). Sohwakhaeng in Korean means "small but certain happiness." In a recent movie called "Little Forest" a girl moves out to a more rural town in Korea, grows and eats her own veggies, and starts enjoying the "small but certain happiness" in life. So why 3 new vocab words? Well, it turns out that when we learn new words we actually sharpen our mind, boost brain power, enhance decision-making and much more! You're welcome! 7. DON'T BELIEVE THOUGHTS You know that famous expression, "You are what you eat"? Here's another one for you: "You are what you think." Did you know that the average human has 60,000 thoughts per day? And of those thoughts 80% are negative and 95% of those negative thoughts repeat? Yeah, that's why whenever you're in a situation, you believe the worst will come true. As much as we would like to believe that we have evolved with our ever-changing society fueled by the latest tech gadgets and gizmos, we are actually just hunters and gatherers in brain: if there is a lion, we run. If there is no food, we hunt somewhere else. Nowadays we are primed for lions, but not the dull daily stress of that nagging boss, or that toxic co-worker, so the stress just stays with us. 8. JUST DO IT! I realize this slogan from Nike is more controversial these days than ever thanks to Colin Kaepernick. Whatever the case, one way out of #7 is to literally get out of your head and JUST DO SOMETHING, ANYTHING. At the end of my workshops, we come up with H.A.P.s (Happiness Action Plans)--incidentally, the first 3 letters of the word HAPPY! Thank you for indulging the inner word nerd in me. But in all seriousness, what's that one thing that you have been meaning to do? That one thing that you have been meaning to start? You've got this! 9. YOU ARE ENOUGH You may recall a blog post I wrote about these three words that pulled me out of the depths of my depression and keep me from going back there. Everyone needs a mantra, daily affirmations, what have you. These three words sit right in front of me in my home office as a reminder that I am enough, that I was brain washed into thinking I wasn't enough by society, by family, by bullies, and most importantly my thoughts kept those thoughts swirling in my head for decades. What's your mantra that will bring you back to life? 10. SUCCESS -> HAPPINESS? So in life we strive, and strive, and strive until we get things like a promotion, a car, a raise, whatever. Sometimes at the expense of our own mental/physical health. Do you ever play the "I'll be happy WHEN" game? I'll be happy when... I get the above-mentioned things? Well, don't. What we know from research is that contrary to popular belief and what we are told, the equation looks more like this: HAPPINESS -> SUCCESS. What are you waiting for? Go get your HAPPINESS on! I have never fit in.
Attending British schools in Hong Kong, I was never quite British enough. During summer vacations in the U.S., I was never quite American enough. Once I got to boarding school in California, I quickly shed my thick British accent, wanting to fit in. But then I found myself feeling more Asian than anything else given we were in the minority there. Over lunch with the Bootcamp ladies the other day, we talked about how "home" has taken on a whole new meaning for them as they have created lasting friendships and bonds, like the one we have here in Korea as opposed to back home. They continued to share how neat it was watching their kids grow up as Third Culture Kids (TCK), a term I kind of wish was around when I was growing up, or maybe not because it would have confused me even more? Who knows. I love Korea's cafe culture. There is nothing I love better than whiling my afternoon away over a beautifully curated matcha latte--you know the Instagram-worthy kind. Yet I don't drink coffee. In my late 20s and throughout my 30s, I stopped drinking alcohol, because my body just couldn't handle it, but I would go with friends to bars to dance/socialize and have a good time. *wink* I always longed to be able to say, "I'm from ______." Just a one word answer. I looked up to people who had grown up on the same street, knew all of their neighbors, frequented the same establishments akin to The Brady Brunch. In the same way people looked up to child prodigies and math geniuses. I never really seriously dated in my 20s. I mean, I tried, but nothing really stuck (no errr pun intended?!). In my 30s, before meeting Edgar, I was always that one friend who showed up to house parties alone; the friend that people would say, "Ohhh, you'll find someone soon...you're so nice and such a catch" to. My mom thought I was a lesbian. I think I spent a good chunk of my life trying to just fit in. When I first started my job as a professor at Yonsei University, I wore suits, high heels, and pretended to be organized. I wanted to emulate the few other female professors that were around. Truth be told, I was far from it: I would often leave rosters and other important papers behind in class or on my desk, I would show up to class with toilet paper remnants on my face, and I would sometimes wing activities when other activities didn't quite go the way I expected them to. After my first semester, there was a change. It was a tipping point: I started feeling super accepted by my students without really having to try to be someone else. It was when I stopped trying to be someone I wasn't, (which let's admit, is super tiring) that my students were less stressed, because I was less stressed. I began teaching in my quirky style. I began wearing more comfortable clothes and shoes. I began bringing a lot more creativity to whatever we were learning. I could breathe again. You know how you kind of identify yourself with your work big time? Well, that was me. After I left Yonsei, and took 2017 off, I realized it wasn't about fitting in with others. I mean, heck, I was like that weird-shaped peg trying to squeeze myself into a square hole...over and over again. And each time thinking: why doesn't this work? Why isn't this easy? What?! I realized it was more about fitting in WITH yourself. Accepting yourself for the good, the bad, the ugly, and everything else in between. Then something even more magical started happening. The more work I did on myself whether it was through my life coaching work, or my research/work on happiness, the more I began fitting in WITH myself. Then, I started meeting these awesome coaches who had done similar work on themselves and WITH themselves. First, at the World Happiness Summit in March in Miami, and then more recently here in Korea. Over Vietnamese lunch yesterday under a perfect fall sun, one of my new friends remarked, "Gosh, I just wanted to tell you guys, this is the first time I can say I have found my tribe." The fact that she was able to say that, having known us less than a month, spoke to just how much she not only fit in WITH herself (and all of the work she had done on herself WITH herself), but that she had mirrored that very same work that we had done as well--back to us. And just like that, we were 3 weird-shaped pegs not fitting into square-shaped society, but helping each other STAND OUT more. YEAHHHHHH! Thanks, ladies. I've never been a guy's girl. You know, the kind who will go to a sporting event with the team's jersey, drink beer, and yell in support. Once in grad school, with my friend Christy, after the Red Socks won the World Series, we were wondering what all of the fuss was about.
Yeah, we called ourselves Fake Fans. A high school friend of mine even bought me a Red Socks visor for fear I would get in trouble for not having any Red Socks gear during my time in Boston. I've never really had a ton of guy friends. At my wedding, a few years ago, I remember looking around thinking wow, there's only one guy friend on my side. The rest were on my hubby's side. I've always been a feminist: I grew up in a household that whatever a boy could do, a girl could do as well. That was just that. My mom was a working mom, my dad was a working dad, and when my mom went to work, my maternal grandma came from Singapore to live with us and take care of us in Hong Kong. My paternal grandma was the bread winner, supporting my grandpa (who was a gardener/painter) as a real estate agent retiring at the age of 72. My maternal grandma was the only one of her four sisters to fight for and get a high school education. My dad now in his 70s cooks, cleans, and takes care of my mom who has early onset dementia. For her birthday, he made her a woodwork replica of her grandfather's 1940s Packard car with the license plate "DAISY" on the front (!). In that bubble I grew up. I have wanted to write a letter to men for a while now. Even my editor thought I should include a letter to men in my book, but I don't think I was quite ready to write one. Perhaps I was scared, nervous, worried about being judged? Then I realized, I had to take my own advice that I give fellow fementrepreneurs: SPEAK YOUR TRUTH! So here goes: Dear Men, Let me preface this letter with: We need you. We need you to move forward WITH us. We need you to create change. We need you to work WITH us. EMPATHY > EGO Sometimes when I walk home alone late at night, I tend to look over my shoulder more often. I quicken my pace, my heart beats faster, and I put my iphone away so I can be aware of my surroundings. I cannot assume that you have never had that experience, but perhaps you have come close? Well, that is how most of my female friends and I feel on a regular basis. We just ask that you empathize WITH us a little bit. I think a lot of what happens when we are blamed for something is our EGO steps in: "Hey, I didn't do anything, I'm innocent!" I wonder if rather than REACTING to what our ego says, if we all actually took a mindful breath, and RESPONDED WITH empathy instead how that would look? We might actually be able to move beyond the WHAT to the WHY and more importantly HOW to move forward WITH solutions. STAND UP A few months ago, I was having a lunch meeting with the then WeWork Community Manager of Gangnam Station and some of the other Community Associates, as it was his last week there. We started talking about hobbies: Male Staff: Oh, I enjoy going to hotels and eating good food. Another Male Staff: Haha. Do you go with HER?! (Pointing to female staff who looks bewildered and embarrassed) Community Manager: Don't say that. You can't say that. That is considered Sexual Harassment. And with that, the male staff who had inadvertently dropped a sexual harassment bomb stopped. I also stopped in my thought tracks, because this had never happened to me in all of my 8 years in Korea. I wanted to jump up and give the Community Manager a huge hug, but thought that might not be appropriate (given he had just called out sexual harassment) so I sent him a gratitude email instead. Sometimes in the moment, when a comment is made, or an inappropriate action is made, we women FREEZE. If you see that, please help to say something. You may just save a woman's life. INSPIRE GREATNESS A lot of what has been said about the #MeToo Movement and the recent Dr. Ford case have been in defense pessimism: #NotAllMen #BelieveWomen. This assumes we don't believe women and that not all men are well, you-know-whats. And although both may be true, how helpful are the hashtags to moving forward? What if we reframed all of this. Cue Science of Happiness music. What if we could inspire greatness in ourselves and each other? What if we could create change both WITHin first and then WITH others? We could change those hashtags to #InspireGreatnessTogether #MenAndWomenTogether What if we could sit down and have a hard conversation about:
BE A MIRROR and REMIND HER Early on in our relationship, I would complain to my hubby about how I felt chub or I would put myself down/self-doubt; I would not take his compliments when he called me "beautiful." So one night he sat me down and said, "Honey, I honestly mean it when I say all those things--I'm not just trying to flatter you. You're a badass. Stop putting yourself down." I remember crying because I was so touched. Then he said something else: "The focus of your work, your book should not be me. It should be YOU." Drop the hubby mic. Thank you for reading this letter and for being willing to work WITH us women, empathize WITH us, stand up WITH us, inspire greatness WITH us, and be a mirror WITH us. Wishing you Happiness, Kyla *This blog post is dedicated to ALL men out there. I believe you will work WITH us to create much-needed change.* 100 Things I am Grateful forAt the end of one of my recent workshops on the U.S. Military Base in Seoul, two U.S. Embassy-related participants looked at me eagerly after they asked this question: "Well, your workshop was great and all, but the real question is how do we maintain and sustain happiness in our daily lives?"
I nodded in complete agreement. Having been to a women's retreat last December, I was struggling to keep up my meditation rituals, yoga for beginners, and all around zen-ness. I wanted to come up with an eloquent and inspiring answer, but all I could muster at the time was "I do these monthly workshops in Seoul at WeWork, would love to have you join!" They walked away most likely as dazed and unsatisfied as I was. I knew all of the research around GRATITUDE, I kept my own daily GRATITUDE log, yet it was something I rarely if ever shared with others, especially clients and workshop participants. It wasn't as if I was hiding it nor was I ashamed of it, but perhaps it become so ingrained, like brushing my teeth that I didn't think it would be a big of enough thing to mention? I need to think about that more. Regardless, there are so many benefits to GRATITUDE:
Ok, I have never been a fan of long lists, but have always admired and respected deeply the effort in which it takes for people to create these lists, so I thought I would create my own Gratitude List pulled from my own Gratitude Journal. So here goes: The Basics (to me) 1. Drinking Water (More than 40% of the world's population does not have access to drinking water) 2. Electricity and how affordable it is in Korea 3. Hot Water (In 2012, I went to visit my sister in Rwanda where she was living in a tiny village: there was no hot water and intermittent electricity) 4. Clothes (Even though I probably only wear 20% of my closet, it's nice to be able to have a closet full of clothes to choose from) 5. An Oven (In my studio apartment where I lived the first 5 years of my time in Seoul, I didn't have an oven) 6. Furniture from Ikea (Additionally grateful that my hubby helped assemble most of our pieces while I was away speaking at a conference) 7. A washing machine (When I lived in Beijing during the summer of 1999, my roommate Dessi and I did not have a washing machine, so we washed all of our clothes by hand) 8. A built-in dryer to the washing machine 9. A roof over our head 10. A/C (This summer was one of the hottest recorded summers in years) 11. A working toilet (Having lived in Beijing and traveled to countries with squat toilets, I can appreciate a nice working not squat toilet) 12. T.V. (This is the first time in my adult life where I have actually owned a T.V.--well, part-owned with my hubby) 13. Plates/Bowls/Utensils (When I lived in my studio apartment in Seoul, I literally had one bowl and plates and utensils that were kindly donated to me my friend Katherine's mom) 14. Shampoo and Conditioner 15. Soap 16. Lotion 17. Contact Lenses 18. Glasses (You can get them made super inexpensively here in Korea) 19. Things to write with like crayons, pens, pencils, colored pencils, etc. 20. Lots of paper to write ideas on and brainstorm on The People 21. My community here in Songdo, Korea (some of the most generous and thoughtful women I have ever met) 22. My bootcamp class 23. My hubby who is the most loving, positive, inspiring, intelligent, encouraging human I have ever met in my life 24. All of my friends around the globe (thank you for all of your support, encouragement and love) 25. My family (thank you for always being there with unconditional love and support and encouragement). In particular, I am grateful that my sister has been more supportive of my parents, my dad has thoughtfully stepped into his role as my mom's caregiver-hubby, and my mom has become a super grateful person! 26. My fruit lady (who always gives me the best fruit, delivers fruit for free, and updates me on the neighborhood happenings) 27. The Eye Glass Shop Guy (who always gives me and hubby a few free contact lenses when we buy mine) 28. The Barber Shop Peeps (who patiently listen to how Edgar wants his hair cut in English) 29. The Paris Baguette Owner (who has the warmest smile and always asks after Edgar whenever I go in alone) 30. The Staff at My Gym for always being super polite, kind and helpful 31. Strangers who Smile 32. People who are changing the world 33. Any public transportation driver who drives safely 34. All of my former students who have inspired me to be my best educator self and continue to do so 35. My colleagues (former) 36. My WeWork "colleagues" for inspiring a different way of working and for believing in my Happiness work here in Korea 37. My collaborators around the globe 38. My Coach friends around the globe for having done the work on themselves WITH themselves and inspiring me to do the same 39. Every single woman out there who has overcome some societal expectation of her 40. #MeToo women The Superfluous 41. Savings in the bank 42. My laptop 43. My iphone 44. My iphone battery-charging case 45. My chargers 46. Being able to travel for work + pleasure 47. Internet Access at some of the fastest speeds in the world and even underground! 48. Food delivery without a delivery fee 49. Massages 50. Onsen/Jijimjilbang/Spa time 51. Vacation time with my hubby 52. Being able to visit friends + family in the U.S. as often as we do 53. Baking with Almond Flour 54. Access to baking supplies on iHerb 55. Getting books sent to me through Amazon 56. Extremely reasonably priced public transportation 57. Nearby Parks, outdoor areas, rivers, and other nature options 58. Not having to have a car 59. Living in a relatively safe neighborhood with low crime rate 60. Feeling safe walking alone at night as a woman Particularly Korean 61. Chicken delivery 62. Being able to eat out inexpensively and healthily 63. You can get free additional side dish orders 64. If you become friendly with some shop owners, they are likely to give you some free stuff here and there 65. I can speak enough Korean to get by and survive around Korea 66. Korea has some of the best cafes I have ever seen 67. Green Tea from Jeju Island 68. O'Sulloc (A green tea cafe chain) 69. Jjimjilbang (Korean spa) 70. Convenience stores everywhere--I recently bought a pair of socks in one! 71. Noraebang (karaoke rooms) 72. The Ajummas (Aunties) who carry your groceries on the bus when you give up your seat to them 73. Little Korean kids who wave to you 74. Clean and efficient public transportation 75. You get gym clothes and socks at the gym here so you don't have to bring your own! 76. Many Millennials here now speak English and are open to speaking to and meeting foreigners 77. A good conversation with a Korean taxi driver: Usually consists of a little bit of politics, the latest in Korea, where to eat the best kinds of Korean food, and why I am in Korea 78. Customer service is super efficient and the people in the industry are usually polite 79. You don't really ever have to wait in line for a long time anywhere 80. My Korean neighbor (she is a grandma, often gives me hugs, and we have been exchanging letters and gifts in Korean recently) Miscellaneous 81. Sunny days 82. Being by the ocean 83. This ocean side cafe in Songdo 84. My Dream Jar 85. Lobby and my other stuffed toy animal buddies 86. That my life, work, purpose, core values are aligned 87. That I get to do the kind of work I do 88. That I get to meet the kinds of people I do because of my work 89. Summer Vacation 90. Boogie-boarding 91. Learning how to surf 92. Horse-back riding 93. Learning new recipes 94. Learning new languages 95. The combination of good home-cooked food, good conversation with good friends 96. I don't have to work under anyone anymore (except for myself) 97. I get to work on myself WITH myself 98. Writing as a therapeutic process 99. People who are humble 100. My life *Dedicated to and inspired by all of the people who have come into my life, inspired so much GRATITUDE around it, and continue to do so.* Over Thai dinner before our karaoke outing with other boot campers, my bootcamp instructor locked eyes with me, and said,
"If you ever need reminding of how awesome you are, just let me know. I will always be here to remind you." It was said with the same intensity in which she pushed me and my fellow boot campers when we were struggling with that final sit-up, burpee, or just talking too much instead of working out (!). A WEEK EARLIER... Over Indian lunch with my bootcamp class, the almost-cool fall breeze was lightly lingering, "What's going on, kiddo?" my bootcamp instructor inquired with a note of concern in her voice. I tried to hide what was going on with me by avoiding eye contact throughout class earlier. My logic was if I just avoided what was happening, it would eventually go away. I knew perfectly well, it wouldn't. I was in the AVOIDANCE phase of the AVOIDANCE ->SURVIVAL -> GROWTH paradigm. "Well...it's just my book. I am terrified that no one will buy it... I guess I feel paralyzed by fear." On the one hand it was such a relief to blurt everything out to these women I deeply respected, but then I worried what they would think of me and what I had just blurted out. I was doubly relieved when a barrage of concerned and thoughtful suggestions came flowing out like the fall breeze: "You could hire a graphic designer for your book cover..." "Don't worry, you have us! We will buy your book!" "Have you had anyone read a draft? I am happy to buy one and read it!" "It's just a small obstacle, you can overcome it!" "If you just change one person's life, if just one person reads your book, and has their life changed then you've done something..." MIRRORS Everything they were saying was true. It was hard to believe that I had just sort of started bootcamp on a whim the previous year, but each week, I grew closer to these women. One woman even began bringing me back little gifts with "HAPPY" on them whenever she came back from the U.S. Other women would make sure I had a ride (as I was the only one without a car), check in on me when I wasn't at bootcamp, and were just super supportive of my burgeoning coaching business. Back at the Thai restaurant, "Coaches need coaches. I see how you are with everyone, Kyla. You give so much," my own bootcamp COACH continued. Hearing her say that, and looking into her deeply concerned eyes, made me want to cry. I truly respected her so much--not just as a coach, but as a woman, former marine corps vet, mother, wife, and all-around human-being. BELONGING, MATTERING, AND SAFETY I recently read the book Power Your Tribe. 3 things the author mentions that every corporate tribe needs to thrive: belonging, mattering, and safety. These past few weeks, I have felt deeply that these 3 things could extend to any community--corporate or not. Without belonging, mattering, and safety, we can't reveal our true selves. After one of my Happiness Workshops last week, as we went around sharing our true selves, one of the participants found a mentor in another participant: they were both minorities in some way. Later I heard they exchanged stories at Dunkin' Donuts. If they had never felt comfortable enough to reveal their true selves, they would have never found belonging, mattering and safety with each other and the community of our workshop. Research shows that when we carry around emotional burdens, they become physical burdens. I get it. During one of my workshops, I had revealed many of my own emotional burdens to the workshop participants. After that particular workshop, there was a line of people just waiting to reveal theirs to me: PTSD from surviving a car accident, a rape survivor, a parent's death, and the list goes on. Whoa. It is no wonder that participants in that research on emotional burdens -> physical burdens, would look at a hill and think it is steeper than it really is when they were carrying around heavy emotional burdens. THE SECRET (TO LIVING LONGER) Turns out, it ain't good air quality and exercise. In her TED Talk, Susan Pinker talks about the top two predictors of longevity: 1) Social Integration and 2) Close relationships. Social integration is all about the quality of the relationships you have throughout your day: Made me think about my fruit lady who makes her husband deliver my fruit and always gives me free ripened bananas knowing I use them to bake; or the guy who works at the glasses shop who gives me free contact lenses whenever I buy a box or two. Close relationships pertain to the people you can call when you're in a pinch: I immediately thought of how a friend of mine was in a pinch in the U.S. a few months ago, and I called one of the amazing ladies from my community who immediately came to our aid. UBUNTU "If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together." I am a huge fan of Shola Richards. He is a fellow overcomer of workplace bullying. He just came out with his second book Go Together. He talks about this concept of Ubuntu in his book: there's a legend of these kids in an African village. A man tells them that when he says "GO!" they will all run towards the tree where he has candy hanging (think piñata but more rustic style). Legend has it, the kids didn't try to out run each other, but instead, they ran TOGETHER holding hands. When questioned by the man, the kids said that it wouldn't be the same if one kid got all the candy. In this world that is increasingly divisive, I am that much more grateful to be part of a community that embraces this concept of UBUNTU. At another bootcamp lunch, I was talking to two newcomers: "This community of women is truly exceptional. They are mothers, wives, daughters; they are talented and gifted fementrepreneurs; they give back to their communities, they donate. And some of the humblest, most generous giving women I have ever come across. All in one community." *Dedicated to + Inspired by my Songdo Sisters: Thank you for supporting me, encouraging me, being my mirrors. I am eternally grateful to be a part of this incredible UBUNTU community.* DEAR FUTURE FEMENTREPRENEUR,
I have always wanted to start my own thing. Perhaps I was inspired by my mom who ran her own successful real estate company in Hong Kong for decades. Perhaps I was inspired by my paternal grandmother who survived the internment camps for Japanese-Americans during WWII, then went to night school, and became one of the most successful real estate agents in her area working into her 70s in LA. Whatever the case, it was in my bones. "How did you start your own thing," Andrea asked, in her thoughtful and curious manner. Andrea and Catrina and I had met in college. We had all been part of CORE (Community Outreach Effort), a group that volunteered at soup kitchens and helped the community at large. We had decided to spontaneously meet up in Denver for the weekend. Lounging in the living room of an AirBnb, after getting spa pedicures, we chatted away about life, work, money, men, and everything in between. I thought about her question, deep into the night, and wanted to do it justice, as well as inspire her and Catrina to do their own thing. Here's what I came up with. 1. Hit the PAUSE button Ok, so I know not everyone has the freedom to hit that button whenever, but in whatever form that can take for you at the time in your life where you are, whether it is a weekend, an hour at a coffee shop a day, getting up a little bit earlier in the morning, create some space in your head to think about what it is YOU really want. 2. Align, align, align So the question I get asked the most is "How are you so happy all the time?" Let's think about that question for a second: is anybody ever happy ALL the time? Ok, maybe the Dalai Lama, but other than him? Yeah, I don't think so. The question to ask is "How do you align your core values/purpose in life so much that you can live a balanced life?" 3. Reasons to not start your own thing -> Excuses -> Action Plan When I was thinking about starting my own thing, I hired a life coach who was doing something similar to what I wanted to do. I thought I had come up with the perfect reasons as to why I shouldn't start my own thing: I am not good at numbers, my Korean is not fluent enough, I don't have business experience, and the list goes on. My life coach called me out on those reasons, and renamed them EXCUSES. Whoa. For every EXCUSE I had, she was like, "You can outsource that so you can be in your zone of genius (the stuff you're good at)." So turn those reasons into excuses, and then come up with an action plan of you how you're going to move forward with each one. 4. IT Savvy ≠ Business Savvy I talk to a lot of women (including myself) who will say stuff like, "Oh, I don't know how to do X,Y, Z on a computer" or "I don't have tech skills, or social media skills..." I have definitely been there a time or two or gazillion. You know the AirBnb guys? Well, the original 2 founders were art students from RISD (The Rhode Island School of Design). They had absolutely no tech background whatsoever. And now AirBnb is a $30billion dollar company. What?! 5. Brainwash Yo'self I grew up believing that I was not good enough. I went to Harvard. Not good enough. I won multiple teaching awards. Not good enough. And the cycle would inevitably repeat itself. On a call with my life coach one afternoon, I began crying. "What is that all about?" she asked in her usual tough love kind of way. "I have spent most of my 40 years on earth believing I am not good enough." Her advice? Brainwash yourself into believing that YOU ARE GOOD ENOUGH. Whether you recite positive affirmations, journal how awesome you are, ask others what you're good at, a great business starts with a greater mindset. 6. Cheerleading Squad Do you ever have those moments where you think: OMG, what have I done? I have gone so far outside of my comfort zone, and I don't even know... I think FemEntrepreneurs have those moments all the time. After you've brainwashed yourself into believing you are good enough, and you still have some moments (because you're human) where you think something you've done is crazy, make sure you have a tribe of awesome cheerleaders around to cheer you on. Not in an externally validating kind of way, but in a supportive/empowering kind of way. YOU CAN DO IT! 7. INspire I often look to co-interview inspiring individuals for my FriYAYs WITH Kyla FB live episodes. I am always super motivated after speaking WITH these individuals: stuff they have overcome, stuff they continue to do to create change within, and how giving they are to others as well as themselves. Recently I chatted with someone who had come to one of my Happiness Workshops. She was an incredibly inspiring individual: out of poverty, she had overcome a plethora of career challenges all with grace, humor, and compassion. I was completely inspired. Then I thought, inspiration isn't just one way. It's two way, but we can also INspire ourselves WITH ourselves. Is there anything you've done lately that's inspiring? It doesn't have to be anything big. And remember, even though you may not think this is happening, you may just be inspiring someone else around you just by being you! 8. Tough Times + Purpose = STRENGTH I once met this Finnish woman who told me she was going to run across New Zealand to raise awareness of IPV (Interpersonal Violence). What?! Then something she said struck me even more, "My purpose is greater than me. My body is just a vessel to carry this purpose out." Whoa. In tough times, because being a fementrepreneur is not always about rainbows and flowers, when you think about your purpose, it will help you stay the course. No matter how tough it gets. 9. 60% it! A while ago, I read research in Sheryl Sandberg's Lean In that stayed WITH me: women only apply for jobs when they meet 100% of the job qualifications whereas our male counterparts apply for jobs when they meet only 60% of the qualifications. We assumed it was due to a lack of confidence, but further research suggests that it is about our perception of rules around hiring. Check out the Harvard Business Review article here. Whatever the case, 60% it! 10. Be Shameless about Help I hear a lot of FemEntrepreneurs say, "Oh, I don't know how to do this or that." Well, in addition to outsourcing stuff (from No.3), shamelessly ask for help from your mother, your brother, your mother's brother, your cat--you get the idea. But also, GIVE help out as well. Once you master something that could save a fellow FemEntrepreneur time/money/tears share that. You will be surprised at how awesome it feels, but also how much you will learn/grow once you teach something you already know! And never forget: YOU ARE FUCKING AWESOME! *Dedicated to + inspired by my college buddies Catrina + Andrea, FemEntrepreneurs in the making.* AN OBSERVATION
"Kyla, can I share an observation with you?" He asked. Gosh, when people ask you that, you can't really say no, even though you kind of want to and just run away as fast as you can. "Ok, go ahead," I answered hesitantly. "Well, I have noticed that you are really externally validating yourself all the time..." If that came from anyone else, I might have blown it off, but it came from someone I really respected--a next level happiness guru someone. I continued the conversation telling him that I had literally just had a conversation with my sister that morning telling her how after meeting him and his colleague, I was so inspired by how ego-less they both were (even though they were both such badasses), and how I was becoming less and less ego-driven myself as a result. This past week, I had two conversations with two new clients. Both of them asked the question I often get wherever I go, "How come you're always so positive/happy?" I think that is a great question, but a better question would be "How do you accept yourself no matter what crazy shit is thrown AT you in life?" I spent the week contemplating whether I was externally validating myself. The observation haunted me. I had spent much of 2017 working on myself, getting my life coach certification, working on my book (which deals with a lot of this stuff), and just taking a huge life pause. When I explained this to the guru, he said, "You know the difference between a foolish and a wise person? The fool thinks he/she is wise. You can never stop working on yourself." OUCH. PUNCH. I recalled the conversation I had had with the guru to my two new clients separately. They were both shocked to hear that he would say I was externally driven, especially since both had attended my Happiness Workshop where I literally open the workshop with all the external things that used to drive me, and how now I focus more on the internal ones. The guru probably sensed my denial/defensive nature and simply said, "Don't think too much about this. You know, you can't think yourself out of this. Just feel if there is a lack over the next few days and when there is a lack, try to figure out where that comes from." CONVERSATIONS WITH GIRLFRIENDS Over lunch the next day with a girlfriend in my bootcamp class, over shaved ice, we traded over-critical mom war stories. "Yeah, my mom would scold me for like 15 minutes whenever I spilled milk...talk about not crying over spilt milk," I attempted to make a joke to make the situation a bit less serious. "Yeah, my mom would do that too," my girlfriend shared. It was the first time I had heard her talk about her mom in that way. It was the first time we were both talking about our moms that way. "It took me a long time before I realized that my mom was extremely verbally abusive..." I continued. "Yeah, my mom...(she began crying) was not only verbally abusive but physically abusive..." Over an iced green tea latte at the last not-so-hipster cafe in Seoul, I met up with Youjin, a former prosecutor who had started an online magazine written by Asian women for Asian women. She was super animated in her facial expressions and body language--I felt immediately at ease around her. "When I was in Europe, I realized Asian women experienced severe discrimination, and no matter whom I spoke to, they all had similar childhood experiences. They grew up with parents who were extremely demanding of them. But they were all serious badasses...super talented." HOW TO MOVE FORWARD To answer that question of LACK (basically asked by my guru and two new clients in different ways), we have to take a step back and figure out when life throws stuff AT us, whether we respond WITH our true selves or our EGO? 1. Feel the lack. Where is YOUR lack coming from? For me, it came from an over-critical mom, which then made me seek external validation from others. 2. Once you figure it out, don't judge yourself, or the other people that might have contributed to this LACK. Forgive yourself and them. 3. Have a little talk WITH your ego. Whenever someone makes an observation about you, or gives you feedback, how do you take it? If it is wrapped around LACK, ask yourself, is it really YOU talking or your EGO talking? 4. If it is your EGO talking, do some mindful breathing, until your EGO is gone, and it is just the REAL and true you. 5. Figure out an action plan. Are there triggers that bring up LACK? Can you use these to instead of bring your EGO out, bring yourself out? 6. Repeat steps 1-5 often. And remember what the guru said, "A foolish person is someone who thinks they are wise." Thank you, guru. Connection and Purpose Kate Spade At a Vietnamese dinner with two young Asian fementrepreneurs I had my blue Kate Spade sunglasses out on the table--the only Kate Spade thing I have ever owned, which was gifted by my parents in part to help distract my mom from a meltdown at the optometrist’s office (she doesn’t like dealing with doctors of any kind in the U.S.). At that point, we already knew of my mom’s dementia, and that perhaps it was triggered by her depression and living alone in Singapore after my Popo’s (maternal grandmother in Cantonese) passing. That night at dinner, completely engaged in the conversation, I didn’t notice that when my sunglasses had fallen, a part of the hinge broke off leaving the sunglasses to bend funny. In the days that followed, I would discover that Kate Spade herself had taken her own life because of depression. Star Wars At a workplace happiness bootcamp in Mumbai, whenever they played the iconic Star Wars’ themed music, all of us had to get together and connect to each other by placing one finger on the palm of whoever was closest to us…until we were all connected. Over the course of the three days, we talked about how to make workplaces happier. On day 2, I noticed a lot of people were getting frustrated: they wanted best practices, they wanted answers, they wanted a cheat sheet of what worked for other companies. It’s like when you take a course at university, and rather than learning and figuring out how to study, the importance of studying, you just get your roommate to give you all of the answers not ever fully comprehending what the course was about in the first place. In an exercise on gratitude, I looked around at the Indian men at my table: they had come from different parts of India, from the north, east, south, and west. They were responsible for bringing back what they had learned from the bootcamp to their company, and in a way, I was somewhat responsible for helping them achieve that in the best way I knew how. In an exercise on gratitude, we had to go around the table and talk about what we were grateful for and this is what I said: “Coming to India for the first time, I couldn’t be happier that you guys were the first people I got to meet, interact with, and get to know. You guys are like my Indian brothers.” Then of course, I got all shy and nervous, and probably said something weird. We did end the session with a group hug, which was warm and fuzzy, and not-so-awkward. It was in that moment, I recalled my own purpose and just how important it was. It wasn’t just about happiness. It was about saving lives. And if I could help them bring that back to their company, they could in turn save thousands more lives. I recalled a conversation with an Indian life coach, “Did you know that every hour in India, a student kills themselves? Every hour.” And at the end of the bootcamp on the 3rd day, as we are saying our goodbyes, Anil turns to me and says, "Kyla, if you're ever in India again, don't hesitate to let us know. Between all of us we have got you covered, we will take care of you." I look up at my other Indian brothers' faces and they are all nodding in agreement. Prakash appeared with some gratitude gifts he had purchased for us and the Delivering Happiness book by Tony Hsieh for me. Now, that's connection. Thanks, guys. The Sari "You are pulling off a sari very well, Kyla." "You look good in a sari..." People were coming up to me throughout day 3 and shaking my hand while complimenting my sari--the sari. It was the closest I have ever felt to Bollywood royalty... I briefly mentioned to Jaya, one of the bootcamp staff members who is a communications coach, that it was always a dream of mine to buy and wear a sari. She took this to heart. On our second night together, she took it upon herself to take me to Irya (a part of Mumbai where they sell saris), bargained for me, and the following morning, came to my hotel room to help me put it on. She even lent me her chori (sari top), some silver earrings, and placed a pink bindi on my forehead (!). Along the way, in our auto-rickshaw, I learned about her extraordinary life view: helping others, spending time getting to know others, spreading happiness, educating others to communicate in a way that was purposeful and connected. I was completely blown away...I mean, it was like taking an auto-rickshaw with a spiritual guru. Wow. Anthony Bourdain About a week ago, a good childhood friend of mine encouraged me to reach out to our old middle school French teacher. So I did. Turns out he remembered me and was happy to hear from me. We connected on FB and caught up on almost 25 years of our lives on FB messenger. Recently he posted how he had actually met Anthony Bourdain many years ago, not even really knowing who he was, and was heartened by how down-to-earth and friendly he was after he found out that he was Anthony Bourdain. I was struck by how many people I knew had actually met Anthony Bourdain. It was like the 6 degrees of Kevin Bacon thing. Everyone began posting photos of Anthony Bourdain on their FB walls. Gosh, we really are more connected than we could ever imagine…Anthony Bourdain, Kate Spade, heck, anyone and everyone who has ever been depressed my mom and I included. The Cheat Sheet Sitting at the table, our table #4, a table I had hesitantly walked over to on the first day of the workplace happiness bootcamp, and looking at the faces of my Indian brothers on day 3, I understood what that cheat sheet for not just workplace happiness but personal happiness would look like if there ever was one: connection + purpose. In our increasingly tech-driven world, we are more and more socially isolated than ever. Our ancestors sought solace in communities: eating together, hunting together, protecting, and supporting each other. Those communities are now called workplaces. But if you can create and sustain connection and purpose not only in your personal lives and work lives, imagine how many Kate Spades and Anthony Bourdains you could save? I thought about all of the rejections I had faced in the past with regards to my own purpose: “Kyla, who is going to pay you for happiness?” “Why would you try to make Korea happy? Wouldn’t it be easier for you to start your business in the U.S.?” “Corporations only care about ROI, not happiness.” Beyond the data that I live and breathe about personal and workplace happiness and how employees are not only happier, but more productive, more innovative, sales increase, retention rates increase, sick leave decreases, blah, blah blah, isn’t it our moral obligation as humans to help each other be happier? Be more connected? Live our purpose? And just connect WITH each other. Go on, may the force be WITH you. *Dedicated to the Kate Spades and Anthony Bourdains we are more connected WITH than we ever thought. *Inspired by everyone who battles depression on a daily basis. You are not alone. You are more connected WITH us than you ever thought. It is said that by 2025 Millennials will be 75% of the global workforce, according to a recent survey by Gallup. Just 29% of Millennials are engaged at work, I guess that's better than the global average of 13%? But if we really are to create happier workplaces, wouldn't it make sense that we should start by making Millennials happier? Recently a good friend asked me, "How do we engage millennials in the workplace?" As I pondered that question, she continued, "Well, I mean, you did that every day as a university professor. You won awards you were so good at it." Then I thought, perhaps the workplace was not that much different from the university classroom, when done right. People still had to work on teams. People still had to work on goals. People still had to perform well in order to get to the next level. And after all, everyone wanted to be successful. Last year, I was asked to inspire Merck Millennials in Malaysia. Some of the activities I did in my workshop were no different from the activities I used to use to inspire my former university students. Maybe I did know a thing or two? SET THE GROUNDWORK FIRST (CLEARLY) In the first two weeks of each semester, I work really hard to: memorize names, make sure everyone is on the same page, make sure people respect each other, listen to each other, put their cell phones away, and the list goes on. I learned the hard way that when I didn't do that early on and work hard at it, I would lose people very quickly later on in the semester. Millennials (and employees in other generations!) need to know what is expected of them otherwise it is extremely stressful. In fact, 72% of Millennials who agree strongly that their managers help them set performance goals are engaged at work according to that same Gallup study. CREATE COMMUNITIES (NOT WORKPLACES) When students come into my classroom, they are always astounded that I greet each one by name. My classes usually maxed out at 24 students, so I was able to memorize each student's name by taking what my students would call "mugshots" with my cell phone camera. Even in my bigger Happiness Freshman Seminar that I created (150 students), I would sometimes go to class early, and just sit in the huge lecture hall of 150 students chatting WITH a group of students and getting to know them. In Power Your Tribe: Create Resilient Teams in Turbulent Times, Christine Comaford who has been coaching companies for 30 years, says employees just want to have 3 basic needs met: safety, belonging and mattering. MAKE PEOPLE CRY (NOT WHAT YOU THINK) Every semester, I have students come to my office hours. Not because they necessarily wanted to talk about academic stuff, but because they wanted to talk about life or some kind of challenge they were facing. I actually loved talking about this stuff--it was the beginning of my life coaching really. Great coaches will tell you though, when you elicit an emotional response, it means you have empowered your clients in the direction they needed to go in. So often emotional responses are frowned upon in the workplace or school place, but when you can make people cry, then you know you have made them realize something so much deeper that they couldn't have figured out on their own. Further, I realized that students were often so touched that I took the time to talk WITH them, listen to them, and care about them that they cried. In Shawn Achor's latest book, Big Potential: How Transforming the Pursuit of Success Raises Our Achievement, Happiness, and Well-Being, Achor proves that teams with high EQ outperform teams with high IQ (!). COMPARE NOT! As humans we compare. Social media has not helped with this obsession either. When I ran in my first 100m sprint as an elementary school kids with pigtails flying, I remember my mom's advice, "Don't look at the other kids. Just look straight ahead." Think about it: In this race we often call life, if you look at other people while you are "racing" will you be faster or slower? Actually, what I didn't know at the time is that when you compare yourself with someone else, you actually perform worse, because it is an impossible comparison--there is only one you in this world. You'll be happy to hear, that was the first and last race I ever won, but I've been winning at life a little bit more. GIVE A LITTLE (OR A LOT) I have always been a giver. Perhaps it stems from the fact that I was a people pleaser. I have always loved giving things away. When people come over, I pack them home with whatever I have in my fridge. It wasn't until later, I realized what I was doing had links to happiness. People who are generous are happier. But did you know that people who give are not just happier but more successful? In Adam Grant's Give and Take: Why Helping Others Drives Our Success, he proves that medical students who helped other students on their exam, actually outperformed those who didn't. Encourage people around you to give to each other, give back to their communities, give food to cleaners, give to themselves. *Dedicated to my friend Amanda who asked how to create happier workplaces. Here's to creating more happy millennials together!* |
Kyla MitsunagaHappiness coach, Theta Healer®, author, WITH Warrior in Chief <3 Categories
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