Self Improvement

You probably think that only children suffer from bullying. Wrong — even adults are subjected to bullying. Consider this scenario: a group in your office wants to have casual drinks every Friday night but you don’t want to join. At first, you get cajoled into joining.

If you refuse again, then you get the teasing for your ‘holier-than-thou’ attitude. If you stick by your decision, then you’ll probably get the cold or silent treatment. Worse is the guilt tripping where you’ll be accused of ruining the company morale! You’ll end up getting the pressure to join just to avoid any more of this treatment. That’s bullying.

It happens even outside the workplace. School committees or fund raising community activities, for example, where you don’t get a choice on what you want to do. Sometimes a friend or a relative volunteer you for work without even consulting you first. In both cases, you are forced to work because the guilt trip will be worse when it comes to people you have a relationship with. That’s bullying.

Here are a few more techniques. Easier said than done

3. Act. Do not procrastinate.

All your dreams, plans and goals are worthless if you don’t act on them. Your ideals, no matter how lofty, will not come to fruition if you remain rooted to where you are.

While it is true that you have a tendency, like the rest of nature, to follow the line of least resistance in surviving this challenging world, you can evolve and turn out to be way stronger than you once were. Say goodbye to stalls.

Stop making alibis. Kick those enumerable excuses that hinders you from becoming a better person. Act now.

4. Tackle the toughest assignments first.

When you have two or more projects to finish, try to accomplish the more difficult one first before proceeding to the next. In that way, your mind will be clearer and you will get through it more quickly.

A professional should separate his/her personal feelings when it comes to business.

Our natural inclination is to try and get along with everybody but in business, teamwork and friendships don’t always come together. You must be able to separate your personal relationship from that of your function as a co-worker. Much more so, if you are a supervisor or manager.

The primary goal should always be on how the business will benefit or get affected by your work and/or your group’s work. So you must draw a line on what you can allow as a friend from what you have to do as a professional.

For example, your work is getting affected by another employee who happens to be your friend. You might try talking to him first as a friend but if the situation does not improve and the damage is spreading, you have to bring up the matter to a superior officer. You can’t cover for him anymore; it’s not right. Remember the line of friendship and your job. That’s what a professional should do.

There will be times when you will be called to task or be given more work than what you were expecting. Being a professional means that you must not take this as an attack on you personally. It’s not you, it’s the job. Use the lesson to improve yourself instead of delving in pity. That’s what a professional should do.

We’ve all been in situations where irritating things or people can get you to start gritting your teeth to hold your temper in check. First, it’s bad for your teeth when you do that, so take pity and stop it. However, it’s also not good for you to bottle up that irritation. Here are some tips to deal with your irritation without committing murder:

Say it out loud

Expressing yourself allows you to let the irritation flow out. If you’re dealing with a pesky sales call for example, tell the person that you are getting irritated with his call and tell him your decision (or lack of it) for the time being and ask him not to bother you again.

Sometimes, all it takes is for the other person to hear that and he’ll stop. If it’s an irritating customer or a co-worker or boss and you can’t say anything to his/her face, get a trusted friend to talk about it after work.

Your friend can either choose to be just a sounding board or someone to bounce ideas with and give you good advice. Either way, you’ll eventually feel the irritation fade away and you’ll be able to think clearer. Letting it out means you can let go of it.