In today’s episode of The Sweaty Startup, Nick talks about life and happiness. Nick has been reading How to Win Friends and Influence People and reflecting on the book and on his life. He challenged himself to try 3 simple habits for a week.
- No complaining- Nick decided he was going to go a week without complaining about anything. That included to his wife, to employees, to friends, or anything.
- No blaming others- He would only view circumstances in what HE could control. No matter if it was out of his control, if it something is his fault or someone else’s, he would look at it and see what he could do to make it better going forward or prevent it.
- No criticizing others- Be it family members, neighbors, coworkers, customers, or anyone. Nick decided to not criticize others on their actions.
After a week of doing this, he discovered that he was happier throughout the week, and probably a lot easier to be around as well! In his business, Nick and his partner discovered early on that they could not succeed if they didn’t follow these principles.
Instead of complaining about the economy ruining their ability to hire employees or find warehouses, they took ownership into their own hands and did everything they could to make it happen.
Instead of blaming employees for mistakes, they asked themselves what they could do to make the workflow simpler and easier. This led to better productivity and employees being able to manage their workload much better.
Instead of criticizing others, they looked at the business and asked what they could do from a managerial standpoint to make the experience better for the customer, the employee, or the partners.
Nick challenges YOU to take on the challenge of trying these habits for one week. It will be very very hard, but it’s worth it to try. Bad habits are contagious and it can be difficult to cut out, but once your good habits start becoming more natural, those become contagious to others as well! Good luck on your habits, and check back in to let us know how it’s going!
If you want to check out either of the books Nick mentioned in this episode, follow the links below!