At One Planet Group, we like to start the week out with a little Monday motivation in the form of a reflection. Andre Segovia, Chief of Staff, shared his thoughts on a quote from Baha’i teachings that he has been reflecting on since he was a child.

“I want you to be happy… to laugh, smile and rejoice in order that others may be made happy by you.” -Abdu’l-Baha

“For me, that has always been the premise of the way I viewed the world”, Andre begins. While this quote itself provides a lot to think about, the reflection took us one step further and provided other examples of tie-ins in both personal and professional life. This reflection is relevant by reminding us to keep perspective on how everything is connected, no matter what your role in life or work.

The first example was an article on www.psychologytoday.com relating to volunteering, an activity that is inherently more about giving than receiving. The author explains how volunteering when depressed allowed her to not only give back, but changed her own life. At surface level, volunteering may be just giving back to others, but a likely unintentional, positive outcome is the sense of responsibility and joy the experience brings to the person volunteering.

In the article, How Exercise Changes Our DNA on the New York Times Blog, author Gretchen Reynolds explains how exercise affects not only our health but makes an impact on our actual DNA. There is a similar correlation to connectedness and inner motivation with exercise as with volunteering. While your initial reason for exercising may be to improve your health, the impact you make could be much greater. Because of how exercise affects your DNA, evolution, as a result, could create benefit for your offspring.

The work we do each day, whether as an individual contributor or working with a team, has a greater impact than we might initially realize. It is important to acknowledge that working as a team not only helps us as a company to be successful, but also impacts our customers and their success. Your work is not just about you, but rather about helping those connected to you.

Sources:

www.psychologytoday.com, Author, Susan Noonan, MD

https://well.blogs.nytimes.com, Author, Gretchen Reynolds