Why the World Stinks
“If I know everything about your external world, I can only predict 10% of your long-term happiness.” Shawn Achor
Why the world stinks:
Spending time with grandchildren is life’s great compensation.
A couple weeks ago my wife spent a few days with our grandchildren in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. They have a new dog. It’s a curly haired, medium sized, bundle of puppy-energy.
Mimi, that’s what they call her, noticed that the dog smelled bad. This dog needs a bath. Bad.
She settled in the the living room. It reeked of dog. She went in the kitchen, it stank. The whole house smelled like dog crap. Then she looked down.
She had stepped in dog crap.
If the world stinks, it’s you.
“90% of your long-term happiness is predicted, not by your external world, but by the way your brain processes the world.“ Shawn Achor, author of, The Happiness Advantage
Does your…
- Job stink?
- Boss stink?
- Team stink?
You are the problem – if the world stinks everywhere you go.
Transformation:
The world changes when YOU practice humility.
- If you are the problem, YOU are the solution. Spend more time working on yourself than fixing others.
- Lower your need for others to make you happy.
- Look at the world through the lens of others.
- Stop acting like you’re the center of the universe. You’re just a blip.
- Realize that others can’t humble you. You humble yourself.
- Show up to serve, more than to be served.
- Say thank you to three people before lunch – everyday for the rest of your life. Look them in the eye and be specific. (If no one is around, send a thank you email or make a thank you call.)
What’s your suggested course of action when everything around you stinks?
Thank you for this excellent lesson.
Shawn Anchor spoke at a National Sales Meeting for the company I work for and he’s really amazing. I immediately ran out and got his book. This is a good reminder that I could use a ‘reset’. Thank you for posting
Fabulous tune-up. It’s good to look at others, those close to you and even those out there who appear to have the world by the butt. Then play that old game about trading lives with them. I usually end up pretty good with being me. Heard a Neil Young song last night, Peace Trail – “If I believe in someone, I have to believe in myself.” Great place to start.
Such a good listing; If you are the problem, YOU are the solution. Spend more time working on yourself than fixing others. “Amen, when you refix the focus on what you can do such enlightenment occurs.”
Lower your need for others to make you happy. “I make my happiness by how I respond to others and the world around me.”
Look at the world through the lens of others. “Tough to do if you don’t know the others”
Stop acting like you’re the center of the universe. You’re just a blip.”I am just here on earth for such a short time (maybe 90 years), so make an impact on who and what you can while you are here, think forward for impact beyond your time on earth even if the impact is small (this usually is what you can do for your family)”
Realize that others can’t humble you. You humble yourself. “You can only humble yourself by being calm, take a breath, use some of the above notes to steer your direction”
Show up to serve, more than to be served. “Again amen on this one, look at what you do as serving (an attitude change) in all that you do as usually if you serve more it comes back in good fashion your way.”
Say thank you to three people before lunch – everyday for the rest of your life. Look them in the eye and be specific. (If no one is around, send a thank you email or make a thank you call.). “I say thank you to everyone I run into that I encounter each and every morning along with each and every email in some fashion. i’ve found in some it makes them shine in others “whats there to be thankful for”, but I do it anyway”.
Thanks for the listing today Dan and the dog poop example.
Reminds me of the limburger cheese in the mustache story, where the husband says every room stinks, then goes outside and the whole world stinks. If he just cleaned his attitude (mustache) then the world would smell much nicer!
Someone once told me that if you look for good you will find good, if you look for bad you will find bad.
Another good tip I received was that when you thank people or praise people be for very specific.
Instead of thank you for this article Dan. Thank you for this article Dan, #3 was especially helpful to me because I was only looking at problems through my eyes and not others.
Dan – love the story about blaming the stinky “dog.” Know thyself, as the adage says. Specifically, I plan to utilize #1, #6 and #7. It’s so easy to start criticizing others, when we need to change ourselves/our attitudes. Agree – be specific when you give praise. It’s more meaningful, sincere, and more likely to be remembered by the recipient. Thank you!
The world stinks because of people actually being kind and appreciating others, everyone is just so busy doing what feeds their egos and no one stops to think about anyone else, let alone that dog that just does on the side of the road.
People are so concerned about going to church to pray for others that you forget that a simple phone call is often worth more than a prayer
#getoveryourself
No doubt that’s true. When we get a little bit of life on our shoe, it’s we who have to clean it up, to freshen the air.
I think changing yourself instead arguing with others is the way to go, its easy and you have full control over it.