The Power of Positive Habits

Psychologists and neuroscientists say that building habits is our brain’s way of saving energy. Turning something into a habit or a routine allows our brains to run on autopilot, making us more efficient at important things, like, perhaps, survival. Because of this efficiency, we have become more resilient over time. You don’t brush and floss your teeth because you spend time scheduling those activities into your day, you just do it because they are habit. Because of that habit, your mouth is more resilient to the threat of tooth and gum disease. It’s just one of the amazing ways our brains have helped us along our evolutionary path.

Positive habits are those that make us healthier and happier people. For example, the above-mentioned dental care, quality sleep, healthy foods, or an exercise routine are just a few examples of these positive habits. Just as these habits make us more physically resilient to stress and sickness, there is an entire group of habits that help us mentally and emotionally. These can include a daily meditation practice, volunteer work, or connecting to our loved ones and fellow community members, and these are the habits that make us more emotionally resilient to the stress and craziness around us.

High-performance coach and author Brendon Burchard has a wealth of experience in teaching his clients just how important these habits are to our overall health and resilience in life. In his Positive Habits presentation, he teaches his GrowthDay crowd how strengthening our connections and our relationships is what will build us a strong enough foundation to weather the storms that are inevitably going to happen. Check out this brief and fun video for some tips on how to cultivate more resilience in your life.

A Better Bargaining Table

Whether one approaches the bargaining table from the perspective of leadership or a team member, it always helps to come in with the right attitude. As entertainment mogul Shonda Rhimes said in a recent interview: “Never enter a negotiation you’re not willing to walk away from. If you walk in thinking, ‘I can’t walk away,’ then … you’ve already lost.” Sometimes, however, it’s not about winning or losing. It’s about building better relationships between team members, upper management, and leadership. Now Wharton professor Maurice Schweitzer has co-authored a paper titled: “When Should We Care More about Relationships Than Favorable Deal Terms in Negotiations: The Economic Relevance of Relational Outcomes.”

This may be seen as revolutionary sentiment, and for many it is just that. In the paper and in a new interview, however, Mr. Schweitzer does his best to explain why traditional approaches to hard ball negotiations can be flawed. So flawed, in fact, that he and his co-authors developed a new negotiation paradigm called the Economic Relevance of Relational Outcomes (ERRO). Check out his recent interview and read the full article here. For the next time you’re at the table, it might help to keep some perspective on what is most important.

Healthy Co-Founder Relationships

Running a business with someone else can be a challenge, no doubt about it. The relationship between co-founders is likely the most intimate business relationship two people can have, and just like any other relationship, it can deteriorate without proper upkeep. Still, it’s a bit shocking to learn that 65% of startups fail due to co-founder conflicts (according to Noam Wasserman, author of The Founders Dilemma). That seems like a high percentage, considering a good amount of those conflicts could be solved or avoided altogether with proper coaching and/or training.

Executive coach Alisa Cohn has a lot of experience mediating and coaching co-founders through conflicts so their businesses may succeed. In her new article from Harvard Business Review, Ms. Cohn lays out 5 simple steps co-founders can take to ensure a smoother relationship. Not all these suggestions are going to be easy or comfortable, but they will absolutely be worth it. At the end of the day, with some careful planning and the right coaching, the co-founder relationship can be just as successful as the company each loves.