A Happy Little Secret

You know that old saying, “happiness comes from within”? The topic of self-love and its connection to a fulfilling life has been the subject of many a self-help book and countless articles over the years.  Being happy with ourselves promotes happy and healthy relationships with others.  It also contributes to our self-confidence, which in turn contributes to success in our personal and professional lives.  

Now I know what you’re thinking – “easier said than done”.   Sure, it sounds great in theory but it’s a lot harder in practice.  I get it.  We’re human after all, and life isn’t perfect.  Far from it.  It can be tough to love yourself sometimes.  Maybe it’s a battle with low self-esteem.  It's hard to feel good about ourselves if we don’t have confidence in our abilities.  Or maybe it’s feelings of inferiority: “I wish I was as popular as her”, “why can’t I be as confident as that guy?”, “I’ll never amount to anything”.  And then there’s that little (big) thing that we’ve all pondered at some point -- our life's purpose. “Why am I here?”, “am I important?”, “do I matter to anyone?”

Indeed, loving yourself is very important in building healthy relationships.  But what if I told you that the key to a truly fulfilling and joyful life is NOT inside of you?   You read that right.  The key to happiness is not inside of you.  If it is happiness that you seek, you need to look outside of yourself.  There is mounting evidence that the secret to a truly joyful and purpose-driven life is found in service to others.

The great news is that there are many ways to serve in your community.  You can volunteer with any of the hundreds of organizations right in your city or neighborhood.   They can sure use the help.  But before you sign up, take a moment to think about the following things:

1.     What skills or talent do you possess that can help others? 

In other words, what are you really, really good at and how can you put that skill to use in making someone’s life better?  (More on skills-based volunteering in my next blog post)

2.     What are you passionate about?

Every act of service is important and will leave you feeling great afterwards; but volunteering for a cause that really speaks to you kicks that feeling up a few notches from happiness to bliss.

Serving others creates a sense of purpose in our lives; and a purpose-driven life is a happy life.  We see the world differently when we feel good about the direction our life is headed in.  Our perspective changes for the better.  The way we view ourselves changes, too.  We're more confident and we just feel good about ourselves. 

TIME.com published an article in August of this year that delves deeper into the connection between volunteerism and a life of happiness.  The article is entitled "The Secret to Happiness is Helping Others".  Spread the word!

Happy Sunday.

United in Service

Volunteering unites us in a way that few other activities can.  Joining together to assist others who are in need reminds us of our humanity.  When we volunteer, we set aside our differences and focus on a greater purpose – to come to the aid of our fellow brothers and sisters.  Volunteering reminds us that we are one human family.  

If you are looking for volunteer opportunities for the upcoming National Day of Service in commemoration of the September 11 anniversary, or to assist with relief efforts in areas affected by hurricanes Harvey and Irma, go to the following website:

www.volunteermatch.org

Search by city or by cause to find opportunities near you.

Finding Our Purpose (and Happiness) Through Giving

"Since you get more joy out of giving joy to others, you should put a good deal of thought into the happiness that you are able to give." – Eleanor Roosevelt

I’ve written before about the many benefits of giving, both for the beneficiaries and the giver.  The feeling of happiness we experience when we volunteer.  The sense of purpose and a connection to "something bigger" than ourselves when we contribute to a cause or help others in need.  There is medical evidence that giving creates chemical changes in the brain which activate the brain's reward center, resulting in higher levels of energy and overall feeling of happiness.  

I want to share another article written by Alice Walton, Forbes contributor and Biopsychology and Behavioral Neuroscience PhD, that supports these findings.  The article talks about recent studies which provide more evidence that giving has real, tangible benefits to our overall health.   It also contains links to other studies that have shown that living a life of purpose promotes overall well-being and happiness.  The data suggests that purpose in life is associated with better memory and overall cognition as we get older.  Here’s the link to the article, entitled "The Science of Giving Back".  Enjoy!

https://www.forbes.com/sites/alicegwalton/2017/07/10/the-science-of-giving-back-how-having-a-purpose-is-good-for-body-and-brain/#4683974a6146

In The Beginning....

I guess you could say that I was always drawn to charitable causes and helping others. I credit my mother and grandmother with my passion for community service, as they were always putting the needs of others before their own. My mother, Jane, has always been a very giving person. I remember many times as a child hearing her say that you should perform random acts of kindness and lend a hand to those who need it most. My grandmother, Angelina, was a very religious woman. A Roman Catholic by birth, she attended Sunday mass every week and would spend most of her days reciting the rosary.

One of the fondest memories I have of my “Nonna” was when I found her reciting her prayers one day in her apartment. I asked her why she was always praying, because it seemed to me that she was never without her rosary beads. I remember joking with her that if she couldn’t get into Heaven with all the praying she’d done over the years, then surely there was no hope for the rest of us. She replied, “I’m not praying for myself, I’m praying for our family.” When I asked why, she said, “I know how busy everyone is with work and life, and that you may not have the time to pray. So I am doing it for you.” My grandmother passed away in 1993, and those words still resonate with me today. To me, it’s the perfect example of selflessness. That she would spend her entire day praying for the benefit of others and not herself amazed me.

Fast forward to 2004. I had been at my company for eight years. While we had always been a giving organization, our philanthropy was focused mainly on making charitable donations to a number of local nonprofits. Most of our donations were made out of our corporate headquarters. The leadership in our other locations oversaw charity donations to their local nonprofits, but no one owned the overall effort, and there wasn’t a strategy or plan around it.

In the midst of this donation program, a small group of employees at our headquarters was taking it upon themselves to coordinate events aimed at boosting employee morale. One day, the Senior VP of Human Resources, who was my manager at the time, asked us in a staff meeting if anyone would be interested in representing HR on this volunteer team. I raised my hand and with that became the HR representative.  

It was the beginning of an amazing and rewarding journey  -- from "A Million Dollars In Change:  How to Engage Your Employees, Attract Top Talent, and Make the World a Better Place" (January 2018 release)

Myth Busting

Myth: You need to invest a lot of money in a workplace giving program to do it right.

This is the biggest myth I’ve heard about starting a workplace giving program, and it's at the heart of why I wrote A Million Dollars In Change.   The perception that you need to make a significant dollar investment to launch a program that will make a difference is simply false. You can actually launch your program with little to no investment and still make an impact in your community. How do I know? Because that’s exactly what I did.  And now I want to pay it forward by showing you how you can do it, too.

Fundraisers and events like clothing and food drives cost your company nothing, and still benefit nonprofits and the people they serve.  Not to mention the good will it fosters among your employees.  Organizing a volunteer effort is also a no- or low-cost activity that drives engagement, generates happiness, and helps to make the world a better place.   Everyone wins! 

Repeat after me:  There is no such thing as “not good enough” when it comes to giving. 

So now that I've dispelled that myth, it’s time to start planning your reality: how you’ll help your company create a million dollars’ worth of change (without spending a million)!  Are you ready to engage your employees, attract top talent to your company, and make the world a better place?  Great!

Sign up today to receive email alerts and information on special offers so that you can be among the first to order a copy of A Million Dollars In Change when it's released in January 2018!

Make A Change

“If you want to make the world a better place take a look at yourself and then make a change” – Michael Jackson

It’s been 8 years since we lost the King of Pop.   “Man in the Mirror” has always been one of my favorite Michael Jackson songs.  It speaks to the difference we all can make in the world.  We take for granted the little things that make a big impact.  Helping an elderly neighbor with some chores.  Donating clothes that no longer fit, or items that are in good condition that we don’t use anymore, to a local homeless shelter.   Taking an hour or two to volunteer serving or delivering meals to those in need.  Donating a bag of cat or dog food to an animal shelter.

Small gestures and acts of kindness add up to positive change if each of us does just one thing.   Channel your passion, whatever it may be, into making the world a more beautiful place. 

Here’s a link to “Man in the Mirror”.   Rest in peace, MJ.  Your music and message lives on.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PivWY9wn5ps

Every Effort Counts

Many smaller to mid-sized companies are dissuaded from starting giving programs and getting involved in their community because they incorrectly assume that they don’t have enough money and/or resources to make a meaningful impact.

The reality is that all companies have the power to make a social impact, and it doesn’t take an outsized amount of money or resources to do so. Organizations that address homelessness, poverty, hunger, and illiteracy, for instance, benefit not only from direct donations but from commitments of time and expertise. 

No effort is too small, but getting started can feel daunting. That’s why A Million Dollars in Change details how to create a corporate social responsibility program from square one. Establishing a program that’s impactful, lasting, and rewarding doesn’t take a million dollars, but embedding charitable activities and making “giving back” an essential part of your corporate culture takes commitment and a clear sense of mission.

With easy, actionable steps and jargon-free language, the book details:

• How to build a business-specific case for a corporate giving program
• How to craft the perfect pitch to persuade leadership to buy in to the program
• How to engage employees, work with nonprofits, and launch a program
• How to make CSR "stick" by embedding it into your corporate culture
• How to leverage CSR to drive engagement, recruitment, brand awareness, and organizational teamwork

Via case studies and my personal experience in creating my company’s corporate giving program, I demonstrate the various ways employees can participate in a giving program that will make them feel empowered and excited to make a difference.

Watch this website for details on the January 2018 release of A Million Dollars In Change or sign up for email updates.

A Million Dollars In Change

Human Resources professionals face the challenge of attracting and retaining talent in their organizations daily. Employees want to feel that their work is meaningful and that they have a good relationship with their manager and their colleagues. Studies show that employees will leave a company if they feel disconnected from their peers or if they don’t feel that their work has a purpose.

My upcoming book, A Million Dollars in Change, will explain how a corporate giving program builds camaraderie among employees, and strengthens their relationship with their managers. By working side by side with their employees, managers not only create opportunities for team building, they also spend quality time together outside the office. The book will illustrate how to create interdepartmental volunteer teams that allow employees to lead fundraising and community projects and develop skills such as leadership, project management, and communication, which are transferrable to their daily job functions. In addition, this book will explain how charitable giving and volunteerism boost employee pride and morale, which contributes to retention.

According to Boston College’s Center for Corporate Citizenship, “employee volunteers are perhaps the greatest asset companies can leverage when trying to have a positive impact in the communities where they operate and do business.” As of 2014, there are 122,500 HR managers in the US according to the Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics. HR managers connect an organization and its employees, and today’s HR is a key component of a company’s strategic planning process. HR is not just about recruiting and benefits anymore. HR directors and executives are involved in organizational strategy development, driving employee engagement, change management, learning and development, and corporate communications. Like CEOs, this group is capable of creating a lasting impact in our communities by involving their organizations in partnerships with nonprofits to solve social issues and create lasting, impactful change.

Business leaders and owners strive to increase the productivity of their staff and attract top talent to their organization. A Million Dollars in Change explains the link between volunteerism and increased engagement and how this leads to higher productivity among employees. The book also sheds much-needed light on millennials and their expectations of a company’s involvement with philanthropy and volunteerism. It explains how volunteerism creates employee ambassadors of corporate culture, thereby raising a company’s visibility and awareness of its brand in the community. What business leaders and owners will find most interesting is the fact that you can launch a corporate giving program with a relatively small budget. In fact, much can be done without any expenditure.

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