The Breakfast of Champions

In the 2006 Pew American Work Life Study, 433 respondents were asked questions on what made their work-life meaningful. They were all asked: "Do you have a reliable personal practice that brings you face to face with the most important choices about your life and work?" People who answered "yes" enjoyed significantly higher job satisfaction than workers who just "wing it." Five times as many people with a "reliable personal practice" say they are "completely satisfied" with their job as opposed to those without a consistent habit of reflecting on their life and work.

Why such a big gap? My mother, a primary school teacher for many years, used to say that the main difference between the kids who did well in school and those who didn't was breakfast. She observed that the children who came to school prepared, well fed and well-rested, had a huge advantage over the children who were tired and ill nourished. "You can't learn," she was fond of saying, "on an empty stomach."

As we grow older, we need more than a full stomach and a good night's sleep to thrive at work. We need to make sound choices; and when we don't, we need to change them. For adults, coming face to face with the reality of our decisions and their consequences is akin to having breakfast. It gives us the ability to come to work prepared to give our best, no matter what the ups and downs of the day.

The workplace is full of opportunities to get irked with coworkers if one is in the mood to do so -- especially if someone has not yet come to terms with the consequences of his or her own personal and professional choices in life. For the people who do ask themselves, and answer, the so-called "hard" questions, life and work become a lot easier.
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FORGIVENESS FREEDOM is a blog devoted to exploring effective ways to understand conflict, and restore & reinforce positive connections.