RUNNING ALL THE WAY TO THE BBC
I have had the most terrible night. My wife, Michele, is away and unfortunately I am not the greatest cook. I reheated some food from the freezer and, to my utter dismay, having dieted hard for the last two weeks and actually losing some weight, my stomach ballooned. This was rather scary, but thankfully just a mild form of food poisoning.
I am dictating this week’s blog from the car. I am being very brave, as I have terrible toothache and am on the way to the dentist.
Moan, moan, moan, sorry about that. You know it is not my habit. I am feeling a little nervous as I am appearing on a BBC radio programme this afternoon. It is an hour long programme, where the interviewer will ask me questions about my life, and in between will play some of my favourite music. The problem is I am not very good on music, and now I am worried they will ask me why did I make that choice? I have no idea, especially as most of the records were chosen by my wife Michele.
I do have one favourite, by the French Singer Edith Piaf, Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien (I have no regrets). This is totally untrue, especially after microwaving the salmon last night. Thankfully, I now look like I have given birth. Ouch.
I am now on my way to the studio. My mouth is all swollen and my tongue feels like it belongs to someone else. Hopefully I will be able to get through the interview okay.
Typical of our media, it was reported yesterday that if you are married and you have a close friend who is married but splits up from their partner, you have 75% more chance than anyone else of getting divorced. What a gloomy prediction. What about the other way round? If you are happily married surely you have 75% more chance of continuing this way.
Maybe this applies to work as well. If your colleagues are happy, then you have more chance of being happy and vice versa. The question I would like to ask you is, who is responsible for ‘happy’? Is it the employer, your colleagues, yourself? What is the definition of happy at work?
We are often coming across people who are showing signs of stress, and when we have an opportunity to discuss the matter with them, it is interesting to note that it is pretty hard to be happy at the workplace if you are not happy at home. Leaving the house stressed and miserable in the morning, means you have to be pretty single minded to get through the day in a positive way. So what can you all do about this?
At thebigword, for some time we have introduced a confidential counseling line. We are not aware of who calls it, and it is only when people tell us that it was useful to them that we really know it is working. The reason we have had some honest feedback is people say it great to have an external source that is not biased and they don’t even have to give their name.
We are also getting great feedback on the increase in social activities such as quiz evenings, planned bike rides, and even this week the sushi demonstration by our Japanese staff is making for a more happy workforce.
I have been really excited about the number of emails I get from my blog, so on the subject of work place happiness, I would like to hear your ideas, so we can pass these on.
My tongue is starting to feel like it belongs to me again, so wish me luck with my radio interview, and hopefully I will connect a link to the end of the blog on my return.
Have a good rest of the week. Keep smiling.
If you'd like to listen to Larry again on BBC Radio Leeds, click here.
I am dictating this week’s blog from the car. I am being very brave, as I have terrible toothache and am on the way to the dentist.
Moan, moan, moan, sorry about that. You know it is not my habit. I am feeling a little nervous as I am appearing on a BBC radio programme this afternoon. It is an hour long programme, where the interviewer will ask me questions about my life, and in between will play some of my favourite music. The problem is I am not very good on music, and now I am worried they will ask me why did I make that choice? I have no idea, especially as most of the records were chosen by my wife Michele.
I do have one favourite, by the French Singer Edith Piaf, Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien (I have no regrets). This is totally untrue, especially after microwaving the salmon last night. Thankfully, I now look like I have given birth. Ouch.
I am now on my way to the studio. My mouth is all swollen and my tongue feels like it belongs to someone else. Hopefully I will be able to get through the interview okay.
Typical of our media, it was reported yesterday that if you are married and you have a close friend who is married but splits up from their partner, you have 75% more chance than anyone else of getting divorced. What a gloomy prediction. What about the other way round? If you are happily married surely you have 75% more chance of continuing this way.
Maybe this applies to work as well. If your colleagues are happy, then you have more chance of being happy and vice versa. The question I would like to ask you is, who is responsible for ‘happy’? Is it the employer, your colleagues, yourself? What is the definition of happy at work?
We are often coming across people who are showing signs of stress, and when we have an opportunity to discuss the matter with them, it is interesting to note that it is pretty hard to be happy at the workplace if you are not happy at home. Leaving the house stressed and miserable in the morning, means you have to be pretty single minded to get through the day in a positive way. So what can you all do about this?
At thebigword, for some time we have introduced a confidential counseling line. We are not aware of who calls it, and it is only when people tell us that it was useful to them that we really know it is working. The reason we have had some honest feedback is people say it great to have an external source that is not biased and they don’t even have to give their name.
We are also getting great feedback on the increase in social activities such as quiz evenings, planned bike rides, and even this week the sushi demonstration by our Japanese staff is making for a more happy workforce.
I have been really excited about the number of emails I get from my blog, so on the subject of work place happiness, I would like to hear your ideas, so we can pass these on.
My tongue is starting to feel like it belongs to me again, so wish me luck with my radio interview, and hopefully I will connect a link to the end of the blog on my return.
Have a good rest of the week. Keep smiling.
If you'd like to listen to Larry again on BBC Radio Leeds, click here.
