How to Get in a Better Mood and Succeed More

In a recent post by Rosabeth Moss Kanter for the Harvard Business Review blog, Ten Reasons Winners Keep Winning, Aside from Skill the Harvard Business School tenured professor leads the list of how winners win by staying in a good mood. 

Good mood. Clearly everyone feels good about winning, while emotions sag at failure. Emotions affect performance. Positive moods produce physical energy and the resilience to persist after setbacks. While losers use any excuse to stop, winners sometimes play on even while injured, lifted by a kind of winners' high. Moreover, psychologists find that moods are contagious. Winners' exhilaration is infectious. Losers' gloom can be toxic. 

So how do you get into a better mood?

Go for a walk. This is simple action that has dramatic results. Just the act of walking will increase your blood flow, inspire creativity and clear your mind. Leave the phone at your desk when you go and avoid distractions. Just spend a little time thinking and reflecting on the things that are going well.

Start writing affirmations. Every morning you should wake up and write down three to five affirmations. These are simple sentences written in first person with a goal or objective. For best results include emotional and action-oriented words including: quickly, easily, happily, comfortably, effectively etc. An example would be: I easily finish my tasks at hand while happily over delivering in every situation.

Laugh. Just like emotions, laughter is also contagious. Find a funny video online, read a joke, call a friend who makes you laugh. Plenty of studies have been conducted on the power of laughter. Building this into your day will have a huge impact on your productivity and success.

Clean up your environment. Is your desk messy, your room, your office? Taking a moment to clean the space around you will both improve your mood and give your mind a rest. Clutter causes stress and getting a better mood is a lot easier when the place you are in is clean and organized. Even if this means just one corner of the desk today, getting started will have an immediate impact.

Write down three things you are proud of. When you put a pen to paper and actually write down what you are proud of accomplishing your mind will begin to flood you the emotions of those successes. You can write down any moment that made you proud. Even little wins can carry large emotions.

Wake up and decide to be happy. Nobody likes working with a grumpy pants. Get into a routine of waking up each day and telling yourself you're going to be happy today. It takes practice, but in time this little step will move you a million miles closer to being in a good mood … even before coffee.

Jabez LeBret is the author of the Amazon No. 1 bestselling law office marketing book How to Turn Clicks Into Clients. As a partner at Get Noticed Get Found, a legal marketing agency, over the last nine years he has delivered over 800 keynote addresses in six countries. His main area of expertise is managing Gen Y in the workplace, advanced Facebook strategies, LinkedIn strategies, Google+, SEO, local directory optimization, and online marketing.

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