Blogs I Read

I admit, I'm a very small time blogger and I'm not really here to make money out of this - despite my recent addition of some adverts (just joining the bandwagon) - but this is the first in a series of posts detailing what blogs I read on a regular basis and why.

So the first I'll tell you about is:

The self-styled Chief Happines Officer and in particular one post that really resonates with me. This site is all about the belief that we can be happy at work and I for one applaud that. I'm frequently (at least once a week) accused of being "far too happy" to be in work or some other similar phrase.

Had I not found this site then perhaps I could have taken up this sort of blog, but I do enjoy a moan or two so this is probably not me. The man behind it, Alexander Kjerulf, strikes me as being of Nordic descent and maybe he's even Danish. The only reason I raise that is scientists have recently discovered why Danes are the happiest nation in the world and it is all due to their low expectations. Because they never shoot for the moon, they never fail and thus when the proverbial happens it is always a bonus - and we all know a bonus makes most folks happy.

So, why do I like the post I mentioned above? It's about the simple things in life. The things we should all do and it is the lack of these which are ultimately responsible for most of the world's ills today. The first two are "thank you" and "I'm sorry" - neither of which are hard to say and we all make a song and dance when somebody doesn't do them to us ... but what of when we need to say thanks or I'm sorry? Do we do it straight off without struggle or do we resist like a surly teen?

I have 3 children - the eldest at 17 still struggles with the simple concept that when he's done something wrong then the quickest way to calm me or his mother is to say sorry. However, his 4yr old brother know the magic of a lightning fast 'sowry daddy' .....

The next in the list of four is knowing when to ask for help or better yet when to accept an offer of help. I was taught by a very wise old egg when I first started in computing that (within reason and dependant on the specific job) "one should never go more than 45mins without questioning whether you need to enlist help" - thanks Ian if you're reading this from your eternal resting place. Let me clarify ... the intention of this advice was that if you are stuck at the same point for 45m then you really ought to seek help.

Finally, he says the words - Yes, And - when used in response to a suggestion are better than No or Yes, but. Rather than attempting to rewrite his words, go and have a read yourself and whilst there have a good nosey around. It's all good stuff.