Now, to be truthful, when I was growing up I never heard the phrase “Happy as a Pig in Mud.” No…my dad had a different word with four letters that he used to complete that sentence but even still, from a tender young age, I knew that to be “as happy as a pig in ‘mud'” was to be pretty darn happy.
What I didn’t know at that young age was that being just that happy would one day be critical to my success in business.
Several years back, I went through what could only be referred to as a “rough patch” of several major life traumas all in a row, in rather quick succession. In 2008 a car accident left me with very little use of my left arm (I am left-handed!) And even though within 24 hours of that accident (and no, I am not exaggerating!) I had a new laptop with voice recognition software and a fancy new digital tape recorder in hand so I could continue to work, the impact that accident had on me negated any “positive” potential that was gained from having all those gadgets.
I was in shock at first…and then came the night terrors…the anxiety…the depression…and then the PTSD that had been lurking and just waiting for an opportunity to emerge seized the moment and descended.
And at that time, my friends, I was certainly nowhere near being happy as a pig in mud.
And even though nothing according to the outside world changed — we continued to market the business just like we had before, my assistant kept up with handling the bookings, I still worked with clients — the business faltered, and eventually collapsed.
It took months of counseling and sheer determination for me to pull my own self around again, and slowly but surely, my business followed suit. Clients began calling again, and money began to flow again, and I could feel my own happiness and satisfaction in my work also rise.
Progress was slow but steady. Every day that I improved mentally and emotionally, so, too, did the business.
But it wasn’t until I left an unhappy living situation that my business virtually exploded, proving to me once and for all that my own happiness had a direct impact on my profits. I made more money in that first year out of that situation than I had in the previous 6 years combined!
I once read this great quote from Albert Schweitzer: “Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success.” And since I have been charting my own course according to that truth, I have read several studies that support that same concept.
Happy people carry themselves differently than their unhappy counter-parts. There’s a confidence as the head is held high, that is evident to those around them. And that confident carriage is client-attractive. (Who, after all, is going to hire a coach who stares at the ground and won’t make eye contact!)
That happy confidence can also be heard in the voice, which makes callers feel assured and safe in the knowledge that they’ve found someone who can help them.
And I believe that happiness also sends out a positive energetic vibration into the universe that says: I am here. I am happy. I am ready. I can help. Customers and clients sense that and are attracted to it, too.
I also find that happy people make better decisions. Unhappy people rarely think clearly. Their thoughts are muddied by conflicting emotions, which create internal chaos and literally impact the brain’s chemistry and ability to function well. When you’re happy, you’re better able to see all sides of an issue, are less likely to make knee-jerk, reactive decisions, and are better able to strategize and plan for the future.
Furthermore, I find that happy people are more in touch with their sense of humour and are more able to laugh at the craziness of entrepreneurship. They take things less personally, are better at seeing that “business is business,” and go home at the end of the day feeling less at the affect of what’s happened at the office that day.
I’ve a dozen more examples of where I have seen the power of happiness and its impact on business, but what I really want to know is this: do you agree with my assessment? Have you seen the impact of your own happiness on your bottom line? Maybe you’ve even witnessed it with clients and co-workers and colleagues (I know I have!)
So take a few minutes today and do a Happiness Audit. Look back over your own life events and circumstances and how your own feelings have impacted your success. And if business isn’t thriving as much as you’d like at this moment, ask yourself if you’re happy in your life. Is there something you could change? Something different you could do that would add happiness to your life? And if so, what would it take for you to do that, to make that change? Because I tell you this: It will be worth it.
With your happiness in mind,
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Rebecca Liston helps her clients predict, pivot, and compete in an increasingly complex global marketplace. Her clients quickly uncover the root of their challenges and know the actions to take to overcome them. A six-time nominee for the RBC Canadian Woman Entrepreneur Award, Rebecca combines business strategy with intuition, giving her clients the edge on forward-thinking, elegant answers to their most complicated problems. Her clients are entrepreneurs with CEO-mindsets and executives with entrepreneurial instincts. She is based in London, Ontario. What if you could get the answer to your biggest business challenge, in one sitting? Visit rebeccaliston.com to find out more.
