5 Things To Be Thankful For At Work

“Be grateful for what you have and stop complaining - it bores everyone else, does you no good, and doesn't solve any problems.” 

– Zig Ziglar

About a month ago I met with a friend and we had a long conversation about our jobs. My friend, disappointed, complained about the job he’s been doing for almost 10 years and described the work he does as “terrible.”

“My boss is a jerk,” my friend exclaimed,”and they work us like crazy.” He summarized the rest of his conversation with the words “it sucks.”

I looked at my friend and asked him if there was anything he liked about the job. He pondered a bit and came up with a few things he liked about his job. I followed up with a second question: is it really that bad?

I feel as though many people like to play the ‘victim’ at times and would rather prove why their job is worse than someone else’s. My perspective is quite different because I’ve been homeless, jobless and broke all at once so I cherish certain things that others might not (Read How I Survived With $11 In My Pocket). Here are at least five things to be thankful for at work:

Be thankful you have a job – Is not having a job really much better than having the job you currently have? Be thankful you are currently employed and receive a pay check every month. Some people might not have that privilege.

Be thankful you have work – It is one thing to have a job and another thing to have plenty of work to do. Having a lot of work, or a lot of business, is good. It provides you with stability.

Be thankful for the people you work with – Sometimes the job requires long hours and you might see your co-workers more than you might see your wife. Be thankful for the comraderies, joy and experience you share with your team.  

Be thankful you’re learning – I can almost guarantee that the person you were when you first started working wherever you are is no longer the person you are now. You’ve grown professionally and will continue to learn. Be thankful for that opportunity.

Be thankful for the challenges – When your day becomes more challenging, you become stronger. Without challenges there is no effort, no growth and no strength. Be thankful that you have been challenged physically and/or mentally and you are a smarter, stronger person.

There are other things to be thankful for. Make sure to show your gratitude at work this week and reflect on the positive things your job has to offer. 

Don't forget to share this blog so you can encourage others: family, co-workers, friends. Give them something to get motivated! You never know what they might be going through. A few words of encouragement can go a long way. 

Take The Quiz Now - Know Your Primary Love Language

"The object of love is not getting something you want but doing something for the well-being of the one you love."

- Gary Chapman

The first time I read The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman, I thought I was going to go broke. After reading the book I began to realize that the love language of my girlfriend was receiving gifts. Many things went through my mind. I was getting scared because I'm not a person of giving gifts. For almost three years the only presents I gave were gift cards, board games that were on sale or soccer balls. I also became worried because I thought I would have to spend a lot of money on gifts for my girlfriend because I wanted her to feel loved the way she wanted to be loved.

I later began to ask my girlfriend some questions about the gifts I gave her. I bought her dresses, flowers, clothes and a lot of other nice things. However, I found out later that the best gifts were not the ones I bought. She loved a menu I wrote with my hands for a Valentine's dinner that I made for her. She also loved when made her breakfast in the morning and wrote a little love note to go with her sandwiches. I then discovered something: This whole time I assumed her love language was Receiving Gifts. I was wrong.

In a previous blog we discussed the importance of knowing your love language, but it is as equally important for you to know the love language of the person you love, or the people in your relationships (Read Are You And Your Significant Other Speaking Two Different Languages?). The love language theory doesn't only apply to intimate relationships or marriages. The theory applies to any relationship: the relationship you have with your daughter, the relationship you have with your boss or the relationship you have with your best friend. 

Lucky for you there is help! Below are two links, one so that you can take the quiz online to know your primary love language and the other link so that you can download the same quiz in a PDF form, depending on your preference. I suggest that you also encourage others to take the quiz and maybe have a discussion about this. You definitely want to be on the same page and know what love language you need to learn.

You don't want to assume your communicating in the other person's love language when you're really not. Don't do what I did. In case you wanted to know, my girlfriend's love language was actually Acts of Service. Enjoy the quiz!

The 5 Love Languages Quiz - Online

The 5 Love Languages Quiz - PDF

Don't forget to share this blog so you can encourage others: family, co-workers, friends. Give them something to get motivated! You never know what they might be going through. A few words of encouragement can go a long way.

Are You And Your Significant Other Speaking Two Different Languages?

"Love is a language spoken by everyone but understood only by the heart."

- Unknown

I was boarding a flight to Dallas a few years ago in Los Angeles. I put my stuff away and sat down ready to take flight. All of a sudden, a flight attendant asked a question on the PA: "does anyone know how to speak Portuguese? We need help translating."

Now, I've never taken any Portuguese classes but I have listened to a few songs in Portuguese and my girlfriend took a Portuguese class and would practice with me so I would do what anyone else would do in this situation - I raised my hand. The flight attendant flagged me down and took me to the Brazilian lady who was trying to explain something. I quickly said to the lady, "I speak a little Portuguese" (which were probably the only words I knew at the time). The lady spoke so fast too me that I started speaking to her in Spanish and then in English and then in a mix of what I thought was Portuguese and Spanish. Finally, I decided to use hand gestures and figured out somehow that she was concerned about her baggage being taken to the bottom of the plane because there was no room in any compartment.

I somehow 'made it' work that day, but it was evident that we were coming from two different worlds. Yesterday, I introduced the concept of The Five Love Languages, from a book written by Gary Chapman (Read The Five Love Languages - Which One Is Your Love Language?). You might have guessed which one could be your love language, but did you guess the love language of your significant other? If you concluded that you have a different love language than your boyfriend, or your mother or your best friend, then guess what - you too are speaking two completely different languages!

The most important thing about the love languages, is not so much understanding what your love language is, but more than anything learning the love languages of other people. For example, let's say the love language of your wife is Receiving Gifts. You can tell her how pretty she is every single day, tell her how much you love her every single minute and hug her and kiss her as much as you want but she will not feel loved. She might think what you're doing is nice but if her primary love language isn't Words of Affirmation or Physical Touch, you are speaking a foreign language to her. 

According to Mr. Chapman, most of the time, the biggest reason why couples have certain issues isn't due to financial issues or kids. The biggest issues that couples face is a huge difference in the way they communicate their love to each other. Many times, the way you like to receive love is also the way you like to show your love. Therefore, if your love language is Words of Affirmation, you like to give words to others to show your appreciation or your love. However, that might not be the love language of others and you might be missing out on showing how you truly feel simply because you never learned the other person's love language.

The five love languages is something you should truly examine. Like my experience at the airport, I just barely got through to the other person and I sort of understood what was going on. Are you just getting by in your relationships because you haven't taken the time to understand other people and their love language? True connections are built when you love others the way they want to be loved. Are you and your loved one speaking two different love languages? Feel free to share.

Don't forget to share this blog so you can encourage others: family, co-workers, friends. Give them something to get motivated! You never know what they might be going through. A few words of encouragement can go a long way.

The 5 Love Languages - Which One Is Your Love Language?

"Love is a choice you  make everyday."

- Gary Chapman

A few years ago a friend of mine pretty much went broke trying to impress a girl. He bought her flowers, candy, a bracelet, a purse and would take her to dinner all the time. After a few months of dating, the girl decided that there was someone else for her out there and she went with some other guy. My friend was devastated and didn't know what he was doing wrong.

In 1995, Gary Chapman wrote a book called The Five Love Languages. As a marriace counselor, (just like me, Read How I Accidentally Became A Marriace Counselor In One Month) Mr. Chapman worked with hundreds of married couples, trying to help them get through their struggles. His theory revolutionized the way we think abou love. According to Mr. Chapman, there are five love languages and each person has a primary love language. Let's take a look at the different love languages and see if you can identify your own.

Words of Affirmation
To some people words are extremely powerful, much more than any gift, money or act of kindness. If this is your love language, words mean a lot to you. You would rather here an "I'm proud of you" than get a gift from someone. Hearing the words "I love you" and listening to why you are loved mean the world to you. Words affirm your confidence and confirm the love someone has for you. At the same time, you demonstrate your love to others through words. Similarly, negative words or the lack of words someone gives you can be like a dagger to your heart. 

Receiving Gifts
Most men believe women just love receiving gifts. I assume my friend believed that to be true about the girl he liked, which is why he showered her with gifts. If this is your love language, you not only love to receive gifts (big and small) but you also love to give gifts. You also put a lot of meaning to gifts and probably keep certain gifts for a very long time because of its meaning. You treasure gifts from certain occasions and you feel plenty of joy when you receive gifts. Since this is your primary language, you also love to give gifts to show your love or appreciation to others. You put a lot of thought into what you're going to give someone and probably spend too much time figuring out how to wrap the gift. Every detail in a gift is important to you. 

Quality Time
There are those who love gifts, those who love words, and those who love spending quality time with their loved ones. They don't need words to express themselves or gifts to show love. If quality time is your love language, then you love one-on-one time with people. You love having those intimate, personal conversations and like to be with someone face to face for quite some time. You value the time you have with someone and look forward to every minute. You also hate when your quality time is interrupted. 

Acts of Service
If you come from a more "traditional" upbringing, then Acts of Service could be your love language. If acts of service is your love language, then you love it when people do things for you, particularly your loved ones. You love it when people follow through on their promises and fulfill their responsibilities. You believe your partner should wash the car, take out the trash and help out around the house. That's how you know your partner loves you. Chores are very important to you and maintaining a happy home is very important to you. You like the acts of kindness from others whether is helping you with something, repairing something or cleaning something for you.

Physical Touch
Non-verbal communication is extremely important to someone whose love language is physical touch. You get a good feeling inside when someone gives you a hug, taps you on the back for doing a good job or if your loved one holds your hand without asking. You love kisses and you love to show your affection to others. You hate physical neglect and the absence of someone's touch kills you inside.

According to Mr. Chapman, everyone has a primary love language and a secondary love language. Although you might think you have, or know, all five love language, there is always one that will stand out to you. Which one do you believe is your love language?


Don't forget to share this blog so you can encourage others: family, co-workers, friends. Give them something to get motivated! You never know what they might be going through. A few words of encouragement can go a long way.

You Think Your Job Is Tough? This Is Absolutely The Toughest Job In The World

Time to time I hear people complain about how tough their life is. I hear people saying how they have to balance a job while going to school full-time and how tough everything is at work. I hear how tired people are because they are working 10 hour days and how much their back hurts because of the physical labor that they do. If you think your job is tough, watch this video and then read the rest of this article.

Almost everything we do and everything we think about is about "me" or "I." "I  have a million things to do" and "I am stressing out because of everything that is coming up and everything that I am doing." Those are only a few examples. I am definitely guilty of this selfish pursuit. I want to continue to grow professionally and personally, I am pushing to become the best at my job and I am always busy with all the things I want to accomplish.

However, we owe most of our success and most of who we are to our mothers. Mother's Day is coming and this is only one day that we try to go out of our way for our mothers. This day is only celebrated once a year. Yet, I'm sure your mother celebrated you almost every day from the moment you were born until the day you left the house.

You don't have to wait until Mother's Day to call her. You don't have to wait until Mother's Day to tell her how much you love her. You definitely don't have to wait until Mother's Day to give your mom a present. What if your mom would have said, "I'm not going to get you some new socks until your birthday or Christmas"? Mother's are at work every single day and every single hour. Make every day a Mother's Day.