Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Seventeen

A Life Plan for Effective Human

Relations

Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. 17 | 2

Chapter Preview: A Life Plan forEffective Human Relations

• Success standards that are compatible with needs and values

• Coping with forces that influence work/life balance

• Meaning of right livelihood

• Life enriching, nonfinancial resources

• Developing a healthy lifestyle

• Making needed changes in your life


Achieving Balance in a Chaotic World

• Construct a life plan

• Define success

• Choose a lifestyle

• Define relationships

• Mental and physical fitness


Redefining Our Work Lives

• Labor markets have become a place of churning dislocation

• Changing work patterns have created new opportunities and new challenges

• Visualize a future filled with sharp detours and several redefinitions of our work lives


Toward a New Definition of Success

• Success is often defined in narrow terms

• It is often judged by what is accomplished at work

• Traditionally, progress is equated with pay increases and promotions

• What gives purpose and meaning to life?


Total Person Insight

I call people successful not because they have money or their business is doing well but because, as human beings, they have a fully developed sense of being alive and engaged in a lifetime task of collaboration with other human beings—their mothers and fathers, their family, their friends, their loved ones, the friends who are dying, the friends who are being born.

Ralph Fiennes, Actor


• Experienced workers are finding that ambition and commitment are not enough to save their jobs

• Promised reward for hard work and loyalty was broken for many people

• Others who gave up leisure time and time with family and friends retained their jobs, but have discovered that they feel unfulfilled

The Need for New Models of Success


One-Dimensional Model

• Success measured in terms of work life

• Emphasized– Working long hours– Reaching work-related goals– Meeting standards set by others

• Everything with meaning was connected to the job



We don’t like to think of ourselves as slaves to money, prestige or power, but in fact many only feel worthy by attaining these things. When we allow ‘things’ to have power over us to the extent that we lose ourselves, our values, our ability to choose, we become slaves.

Cheryl ShaversSenior Manager, Intel Corporation


Loss of Leisure Time

• A demanding work ethic is part of American history

• U.S. employees work more and take less vacation than other industrialized countries

• U.S. workers are too accessible during vacations

• Well-managed companies are beginning to realize the negative consequences of long hours on the job and loss of leisure time


Developing Your Own Life Plan

• Personal life can seldom be separated from work life

• Develop your own definition of success

• You have to take 100% responsibility for everything that you experience in your life


Toward Right Livelihood

• Right livelihood can be defined as work – Consciously chosen– Done with full awareness and care– Leading to enlightenment or better

understanding

• Characteristics of right livelihood– Choice– Emphasis on more then money– Personal growth


Conscious Choice

• Figure out what you like to do and what you are good at– May take effort to determine what

motivates you– Do internships or try temporary

reassignments

• It takes courage to act on what you value

• Need to accept consequences of choice


Placing Money in Secondary Position

• Money and security are not primary rewards in life

• Some jobs may not pay a lot of money, but allow for greater personal satisfaction

• May need to trade income for self-expression or personal satisfaction


Work Is a Vehicle for Personal Growth

• Work should fulfill the need for self expression and personal growth

• Many organizations do not yet understand this concept

• Involves work/life balance and the need for human relations skills



Plain talk about our experiences with money remains the last taboo to break in our society…part of becoming an effective, happy person is making old money messages current and bringing hidden money messages out into the open.

Pamela York Klainer

Founder, Power and Money LLC


Defining Your Relationship with Money

• Money is a compelling force in many people’s lives

• Competence in managing your finances is no less important than managing your career

• Personal savings rate in America is at an all time low


True Prosperity

• More money does not bring greater freedom, fewer problems or security

• Prosperity is having plenty of what we truly need and want in life

• An internal experience, not an external state

• We should strive to determine true wants


Mature Money Management

• People deep in debt often experience depression

• Money issues are the number one cause of divorce

• Suggestions for personal finances:– Develop a personal financial plan– Spend less than you earn– Maintain a cash cushion



Keep in mind that there is no harder work than thinking—really thinking—about who you are and what you want out of life. Figuring out where your goals and your skills match up is a painful, time-consuming process.

Julie Connelly

Contributing Editor, Fortune


Nonfinancial Resources

• Make the biggest contribution to a happy, fulfilling life – Good health– Intellectual growth– Leisure time– Healthy spirituality

• The starting point is to realize that most of your resources are nonfinancial

• Enhancement of your nonfinancial assets is the way to enrich your life


Figure 17.1 Put Balance in Your Life


Physical and Mental Health

• There is an interrelationship between health and outlook on life

• It is something you can choose at any time

• Exercise and healthy diet produce– Greater mental clarity -Self-esteem– Higher energy levels -Self-confidence– Youthful appearance -Positive outlook


Education and Training

• Rewards come to workers who take personal responsibility for learning

• Think of yourself as a unique brand

• Be selective in what you learn

• Take advantage of various learning pathways


Leisure Time

• Schedule creep is when work expands beyond the normal schedule and replaces available leisure time

• You may feel pressure to work at the same pace as someone who has given up most of his or her leisure time

• If this happens, try to identify the consequences of being overworked

• If too much pressure to overwork, it might be time to look for another job


Benefits of Leisure Time

• Social connections can be good for your health

• Work satisfaction increases when you get away for awhile

• Skipping vacations is hazardous

• Quiet time each day can bring balance


Healthy Spirituality

• It frees us to become positive, caring human beings

• Spirituality encompasses faith

• Often associated with religion, or personal beliefs

• It involves acts of generosity, sharing and kindness

• Can be a stabilizing life force

• It leads to more ethical organizations


Ways to Achieve Healthy Spirituality

• Meditation

• Prayer

• Spiritual Reading

• Time with nature



Don’t get crispy fried in business. The insidious suction of achievement could leave you with no soul.

Author, Unknown


Developing a Healthy Lifestyle

• The first step in developing a healthy lifestyle is to become well informed

• There are several guidelines that form the framework for a good diet and exercise program


Figure 17.2 - U.S. Departmentof Agriculture


Guidelines for a Healthy Diet

• Maintain a diet that is balanced and varied

• Reduce calorie intake

• Cut down on fatty foods

• Eat foods with adequate starch and fiber

• Avoid too much sodium

• If you drink alcohol, do so in moderation


Table 17.2


Improving Your Physical Fitness

• Physical fitness is the ability to perform daily tasks vigorously and have energy left over to enjoy leisure activities

• You do not need to become a fanatic to get the benefits of an exercise program

• Start slowly with aerobic activity

• Develop a program that has a variety of fitness activities


Planning for Changes In Your Life

• Identify some behaviors you want to adopt or modify that will make an important change in your life

• Once you have identified the behaviors, you can set goals and do what is necessary to reach them


The Power of Habits

• They are consistent, often unconscious patterns that express our character

• The process of breaking a habit involves five steps:– Motivation– Knowledge– Practice– Feedback– Reinforcement


The Goal-Setting Process

• The goal-setting process requires that you be clear about what you want to accomplish

• Progress will be difficult to observe if goals are not well defined


The Choice Is Yours

• Remember you are someone special

• You are a unique combination of talents, attitudes, values, goals, needs, and motivation, all in a state of development

• You can decide to tap your potential to become a successful, productive human being, however you understand those terms


Chapter Review

• Success standards that are compatible with needs and values– Traditional definitions of success are too

confining• Almost entirely in terms of measurable

job achievements• They leave out the intangible successes

– True success is a combination of achievements


Chapter Review

• Coping with forces that influence work/life balance– Labor market uncertain due to churning

dislocation– Increasing pressure to work harder, longer

hours, and give up more leisure time– Learning to cope has never been more

challenging


Chapter Review

• Meaning of right livelihood – It is an important dimension of success– Right livelihood is work consciously

chosen, done with full awareness and care, and leading to enlightenment• Based on conscious choice• Work is a vehicle for self-expression• Places money in a secondary position


Chapter Review

• Life enriching, nonfinancial resources

– Nonfinancial resources make biggest contributions to a happy and fulfilling life • Physical and mental health• Intellectual growth• Leisure time• Healthy spirituality


Chapter Review

• Developing a healthy lifestyle – Many Americans are working to achieve

healthy lifestyles– Healthy lifestyles give us

• Energy• Greater sense of self-confidence• A more positive outlook

– Good health leads to • More endurance• Less time feeling tired or ill• Less missed work


Chapter Review

• Making needed changes in your life– Planning your life requires changing habits– The process of changing habits involves

• Motivation• Knowledge• Practice• Feedback• Reinforcement

– Goal setting is important for successful

Chapter Seventeen

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