How do you stay motivated? The key is knowing that you are appreciated and that you matter. Whether it’s family, friends, that special someone, or even your customers, it’s good to be loved.
In the quest for the very best customer service experience or whatever life endeavor we are pursuing, it can often be difficult to stay motivated each and every day.
Life is hard. Customer service is hard. I’ve often said that customer service is harder than programming. There’s very little appreciation for how hard it is to be neck-deep in other people’s problems.
Regardless of what others think, do, or say, it doesn’t mean that we can’t be happy delivering an exceptional customer service experience. It’s not dependent on your co-workers, it’s not up to your manager, and it’s not based on what company executives say. The power to motivate positive customer service is within each and every one of us.
I admit it, I’m a happiness junkee.
1. Take time to reflect on your reasons for gratitude
Everyone loves a heaping helping of gratitude in his or her life. Whether it’s a thank you received after solving a problem, or receiving the seemingly awkward hug from a coworker for a job well done, or just the simple murmur of a thank you from a customer, all forms of gratitude—big or small, given or received—make us all a tad bit happier and—surprisingly—healthier.
Customer service creates little bits of happiness for me each day. The simplest problem solved, the slightest sense of customer appreciation matters. Return those positive feelings to customers and feed the cycle of positivity.
2. Get high on happiness
As multisensory creatures obsessed with brightening our states of mind, it’s astonishing how many of us look outside of ourselves for mood enhancement instead of leveraging gratitude as the best, most viable, most abundantly available and free natural resource.
The “happiness high” we all search for can be experienced 24/7 by constantly (not sporadically) operating from an active state of gratitude. Realize that even though others play a role, your happiness high is dependent on your state of mind.
3. Gratitude will snap you out of your service funk
Here’s a quick test for you. The next time you are feeling down, depressed, upset, or just plain old out of sorts, start a gratitude journal and make a list of everything you are grateful for in your life, in your work, and in your relationships and watch how your heart and mind positively respond to the gratitude you are expressing by instantly enhancing your mood.
In the darkest times where everything has gone wrong, step back and remember that tomorrow is a new day, be grateful for an opportunity to start again.
4. It’s ok to be a pill-popping, happiness junkie
Every time you thank someone, send a thank you note or share an act of kindness from the heart without expecting anything in return you are fueling your own emotional well being. These small moments are what I think of self-induced “happy pills” of gratitude.
5. Do you need a quick “hit” of happiness?
So when you need a “hit” of happiness, try showing someone else even just a little squib of gratitude, or take a moment to note to yourself some small thing for which you are grateful. Every time, I promise, you will feel happier, calmer, and a bit more positive about your day.
Over time, with daily practice, this conscious approach will improve your overall sense of well being. And the best part of it all is gratitude and the mood enhancement doesn’t only impact you but spreads instantly to those around you. In effect, a chain reaction occurs and in time every ones mood improves a bit, right alongside yours. Happily, gratitude is one of the world’s most contagious conditions!
6. Happiness creates real physical, emotional, and psychological effects
I’m taking a page from Gina Rudan, speaker and author of PRACTICAL GENIUS: The Real Smarts You Need to Get Your Passions and Talents Working for You.
One thing to remember: There are no short cuts when it comes to the good that comes out of gratitude. In order to sustain a happy mood and improved mental and physical health, gratitude needs to be practiced as a daily ritual.
This year, as you reflect on your reasons for gratitude, remember the powerful effect a blissful state of gratitude can have in your life. Watch how your well being and worldview naturally improves and gratitude becomes the best habit you ever developed.
I don’t wish you luck, I wish you hard work
In this new year, I wish you much hard work, but not luck. It’s not up to luck whether or not you achieve your desired goals. It’s you who has to do the work, but you can do it. Your desire, ambition, hard work, and dedication to your cause that will help rise above the rest.
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