HELP, I'm Retiring !!

The transition from working life to retirement is a major challenge for many. Suddenly you are often alone and can or have to do what you always wanted to do.

Since I am part of it myself, this topic has become very important to me.

Before Retirement

In fact, everyone is looking forward to retirement. Because then the money comes in without having to do anything for it. This is new and very pleasant!

Also, you don't have to get up so early. You finally have time for your hobbies. This is how one expects retirement - a time of freedom and a better quality of life!

At least that's what happened to me - this February (2022) I retired!

….

And my dear wife double just after - 64 in June 2022. Let's see how our retirements will affect our lives !!??

Then It Comes - Retirement!

Suddenly she is there. You can tell that everything is calming down. When you lose your job, you suddenly lose the sense of achievement that influenced your self-esteem. In addition, the automatically numerous social contacts that have supported one's own importance are reduced.

Diverse business trips are a thing of the past - now you have time to use your cooking skills again. "But there shouldn't be an onion in there!" it says suddenly from behind the back. The woman is surprised that he has recently become so interested in cooking. She sometimes feels pushed aside. "That's my job!"

But she soon got used to it, she's really happy that she can cook with her husband. Depending on the man, there may be a need to cook alone.

Certain companies offer pre-retirement courses to their employees who are about to retire. That might help a little, but it usually turns out differently than expected.

Sometimes it is possible to create the necessary sense of achievement with small projects, which is important for the quality of life.

Have more time to shake hands again! What a quality of life! The quality of relationships largely accounts for our happiness. Now we finally have more time for it!

Continue Working Despite Retirement

Many already feel at 60 that their energy is slowly fading. You get tired faster and often less tolerant. According to the OECD, around 11 percent of those over 65 in Switzerland remain in some form of employment.

Competence is at its peak at this age. Why give up then?

Anyone who has built their self worth in correlation to work will find it very difficult to get off. They need the sense of achievement of their performance. Without them, they feel worthless. This can lead to depression and premature death.

It is therefore important to find meaning in your life. For many, their Christian faith can help. For some, schedules fill up so quickly that executing all plans will be a challenge.

Surprise your partner !! He/She deserves it. Anyone who has stuck together for so long, despite ever-increasing challenges - should also be honored for it. It's wonderful to make your partner laugh. Laughter is very healthy!

Tips For Life After Work

Finances are a priority for many people. After all, at the age of 50 you started to gear your finances towards retirement. Then there are various organizations such as Pro Senectute in Switzerland, which offer seminars where the social and human component is also covered.

What a privilege to retire with a dear partner! And learn together to deal with the time and finances constructively and productively!

Good Planning Is EVERYTHING!

You can ask yourself the following questions BEFORE you retire:

• How could I diversify my everyday life?

• What do I not want to change, what should definitely change?

• How much challenge do I need and how much should the rest be?

• What is the gain and what is the loss of retirement?

• What meaning in life makes sense then?

• How will my relationship world change?

• And what will happen to my finances?

• What jobs around and in the house will I enjoy?

• How important is my health to me? What can I invest for you?

• Is my apartment still suitable for the next few decades?

Remember: Exercise, water, a healthy diet and mental challenges significantly improve retirement!

Happy retirement!

Laughter Is Healthy - Really?

Many people claim that laughter is healthy. If that were true, then a lot more people should laugh, wouldn't they?

Influence Of HUMOR

1. Why do we laugh so little?

It is probably our performance mentality, indeed our performance society, that keeps us on our toes with a wide variety of tasks and demands that we constantly switch to the next urgent task.

As adults, we are particularly quick to recognize our responsibility. As a result, many of us are so stressed to perform that there is hardly any time for laughter.

Adults laugh an average of 15 times a day, while children do it up to 400 times!!

There is a Temperament, that is often successfull due to a strong display of emotions.

Another temperament uses joy and enthusiasm to influence others!

2. What can we do about it ?

First, our ability to make decisions will enable us to make necessary changes:

YES, I WANT TO LAUGH MORE BECAUSE LAUGHING IS GOOD FOR ME!!

As soon as you have made this decision, nothing can stop you from profiting from laughter!!

We must aware that laughter can have a surprisingly large impact on our mental state.

Here are a few tips:

1. Stop whatever you are doing often and take a deep breath.

2. Then try to look at your situation through the eyes of a child.

3. This will then tempt you to start smiling, even laughing.

4. Observe children who laugh a lot. Try to figure out their wonderful recipe.

3. Why is laughter actually healthy?

There are many reasons why laughter is good for us:

1. Laughter improves our breathing - lung function.

2. This breathing provides the brain with more oxygen.

3. In addition, our organs receive a kind of MASSAGE.

4. Stress hormones, ADRENALINE and CORTISOL, are broken down and

5. Happiness hormones, SEROTONIN and ENDORPHINE, are released.

6. This relaxes the muscles.

7. The blood pressure drops.

8. The immune system is strengthened.

9. The body regenerates faster and thereby activates its self-healing powers.

All of this helps us stay YOUNG or become YOUNGER and get better at sports. The following example as an illustration:

4. Interesting 'Detail'

You may have seen the current marathon world record holder, Mr. Eliud Kipchoge, run. He was asked why he was always smiling? He said that if you smile while you're running, you'll improve your running economy by about 2 percent because being slightly more relaxed means you're consuming less oxygen!! No wonder he's also an Olympic champion! At such a high level of performance, little things like that can make all the difference!

Here is his picture - double Olympic champion Eliud Kipchoge

5. What Kind of Laughter is Particularly Positive?

Actually, all types of laughter are positive, as long as nobody gets hurt. Even irony, especially self-mockery, can help us deal with challenging situations more easily and not take ourselves so SERIOUSLY!

Even sarcasm is not inherently negative. It can liven up a conversation among friends.

ATTENTION: If sarcasm is used to make fun of someone, i.e. to devalue another person who would be harmed by it, then you should refrain from doing so.

RULE: LAUGHING is positive when everyone involved can feel good about it!

6. Definition of HUMOR

You probably know the saying:

HUMOR IS WHEN YOU LAUGH ANYWAY!

This definition is pretty close to the truth. Humor is the ability to react calmly to everyday challenges. People who make us laugh are considered humorous.

So humor can be learned, you can train it. There are a number of studies that point in this direction.

TIP: Why not use more humor to increase our well-being and expand our understanding of everyday comedy so that we can laugh more often?

7. The Social Level

How does humor affect the social level? In other words:

Are humorous people more successful???

The probability is significant that humorous people are actually more successful! Interesting - why might that be?

We all like to surround ourselves with humorous people, right? We like them and have a positive, pleasant effect on us. Especially when stressful situations are imminent or occur, humorous friends help to master them with ease.

Bosses with a sense of humor are appreciated more quickly and are strong motivators for their employees. Working in a humorous TEAM is a real pleasure. This also increases performance.

TIP:

Maybe you've heard it before:

Anyone who simply lifts the corners of his or her mouth, thereby helping his or her face smile, influences his or her mental mood. This "I AM HAPPY" mood in the corners of one’s mouth activates the same areas in the brain as a genuine smile. It sends signals to the brain that we are happy.

So try it out right away: LIFT THE CORNER OF YOUR MOUTH - for 10 seconds. BRAVO.

Now we are all happy !!

Four difficult Types of People

We're all different - and that's a good thing, isn't it? How nice it is to recognize and enjoy the otherness in our fellow human beings. Would be boring, we would all be the same !! So we are happy about our differences!

But there are limits somewhere. You have probably already noticed that. There are boundaries of humanity, of being for one another, which are sometimes clearly exceeded and then can hurt.

Work together

In business life in particular, these transgressions of humanity quickly become apparent. Even if there are many good talent management systems that provide information about personality, qualifications and interests, one always comes across types who stand out due to their "extremes". Sometimes you can enjoy it, but sometimes it gets under the skin and leads to digestive problems.

Changing their personality is probably not possible, but you can learn to deal with ‘difficult’ employees. This blog should help you with this.

The chemistry is (not) right

Many types of employees are encountered throughout a career, including difficult ones. With some, the chemistry is just right, with others, additional stress can easily arise. Not everyone can be sympathetic to you. Some show permanent excessive demands, cause constant restlessness through aggressive behavior and thus make themselves unpopular - perhaps despite high professional qualifications.

1. The Dominant Control Addict Type

Identifying Features

If you can support this type of person in their advantages, but also incorporate limits, then a lot is possible.

These people often come across as bully, are courageous and assertive, which is easy to get aggressive. They are impatient with others, demand more from others than they do themselves, and love their influence. Everything has to go according to your head. It can often happen that they have great ideas, can make difficult decisions quickly, but repeatedly cause unnecessary conflicts due to their narrow-mindedness. An often harsh tone makes this person unattractive in a social context. One avoids being near. (Link Choleric)

Good cooperation!

This type of person has some advantages that should be learned to appreciate. They respect others who are similar to them, who can hold their own, get to the point and are efficient. There is not much talk and gossip, but rather efficient work.

2. The Analytical-Obsessive Type

Identifying Features

This type is sometimes called the "bean counter". is actually a valuable part of any well-functioning organization. He adopts a methodical approach, loves logic and has very high standards. This makes this personality perfect for a lot of administrative work and dealing with numbers. But the often conservative attitude, the better knowledge and the love of detail, the careful and pragmatic approach that results, can make working in a team more difficult and hinder innovation. (Link Melancholic)

Good cooperation!

Analytical obsessives are wary of anything new or different. Many different fears can be their motivators. If changes are desirable or even unavoidable in the business or at home, early preparation and advance warning, both mentally and practically, prove to be a great advantage. Open communication about new techniques, tools and processes and the clear recognition of their advantages reduces the fear of the unknown.

If you want to praise this personality, it is best to avoid the word YOU and simply use a factual description of the performance. "I think this plan is excellent!"

3. The Expressive-Impulsive Type

Identifying features

They love the comedy, the enjoyment of attention and the lust for life. Everywhere you will find something positive to laugh about and enjoy. They always know something funny to tell and can enjoy little things.

This personality type has two completely different "faces". On a good day he is optimistic, full of good ideas and shows great energy for team morale. On the other hand, on bad days he is nervous, unpredictable and unreliable.

His greatest wish and trademark is to receive recognition for his work. Since his thinking is very related to the present, he often realizes the consequences of his behavior too late and then still refuses to take responsibility for it if something has gone wrong.

He enjoys the moment, the beauty of his own perception and the bigger picture, ignoring uncomfortable details and his own responsibilities. (Link Sanguine)

Good cooperation!

Let them know that you value their dedication, talents, and ideas. With challenges and tasks that require organization and structure, you can help these people to plan even larger tasks correctly through mind control and self-discipline and to focus on the essentials. Enjoy their positive attitude and indestructible optimism.

4. The Skeptical-Passive Type

Identifying Features

He loves to analyze comfortably. His passivity encourages the activity of others. His ability to optimize is valued and often makes life easier.

Skeptical-passive people are pessimists. Your glass is often half empty. This can easily spread to other people and lead to poor work and life morality, because negative things can also be easily contagious. Because this personality type can quickly identify problems and discrepancies, it also tends to "capitalize" on this knowledge and to criticize others. He finds mistakes almost everywhere and is happy when others get excited about it and look for solutions. He is a good spectator and can also handle certain stress with ease. (Link Phlegmatic)

Good cooperation!

This personality type is often inconspicuous and likes to hide from work. But if he feels pressure, he can surpass himself and perform very efficiently. They don't like arguments, so they love a peaceful mood. That is what they are committed to. They appreciate it when they have their say, when you listen to them and when they are left alone. You work in a highly solution-oriented manner so that the work can be done as quickly as possible.

Improve EQ in Everyday Life

EVERYONE can contribute something that can support something to the common good. How does it work ?

Perhaps you, dear reader, have already read the previously published blogs on EQ. The following links are recommended for new readers:

EQ0-Definition - EQ0-AreasOfLive - EQ1-Marriage and Family - EQ2-Job - EQ3-Health

As a reminder: The five areas of social life:

1. MARRIAGE u FAMILY (mutual understanding based on self-image)

2. PROFESSION (dealing with colleagues, subordinates, with the boss, motivation)

3. HEALTH (healthy lifestyle promotes frontal lobe development)

4. ENVIRONMENT (privacy, public and society can see added value)

5. SPIRITUALITY (understanding and dealing with belief in a postmodern context)
   

4. High EQ in my Social Environment

Three examples

1. There may be your neighbor who is just difficult to get along with. He doesn't say hello, runs over you with exaggerated ramblings and lets himself be carried away to inappropriate, even untrue comments. How can you help him?
   

2. There's the church member, a woman in her sixties. She acts dominant and disrespectful, although she actually has nothing profitable to say. And that for 12 years. Can you turn it off somehow ?
   

3. There is our choir director. A great guy. Whatever he says has hands and feet. His sayings reveal wisdom and social intelligence. Incredible his empathy with which he can tune us into our songs and sensitize us. He is loved by everyone. Where did he get this gift from?

Classical music usually has a proven positive influence on our brain, our emotional world and our balance. Anyone who has the privilege of playing an instrument, if possible from an early age, has fundamental advantages.

Bringing in feelings is not a problem if they are balanced and do not go overboard. In a social context, reason and feelings are important. If they are lived in balance, this promotes community among people. Such people are valued by everyone else. A wise person betrays himself through his social intelligence. What do you mean with that?

Empathy + Social Skills = Social Intelligence

Daniel Goleman says that social intelligence is an important interpersonal part of emotional intelligence.

This interpersonal intelligence can be seen, for example, in the following skills:

• Organize groups

• Influence group activities

• Willingness, leadership and thus responsibility

• Being able to inspire and motivate others about something

• Bringing solutions into a process

• Negotiating, mediating or preventing conflicts

• Being able to establish a personal connection with outsiders

• Perceiving and understanding feelings, motives and worries of others (social analysis)

Outsider

People who have poorly developed these skills or who have not developed these skills are prone to interpersonal problems, appear uncomfortable and can easily be labeled as outsiders by society. It often happens that such individuals are oblivious to a group's emotional agenda and tend to take a lot of self-attention. To the chagrin of group development. Or they hide wherever they can.

Sometimes it is necessary not to go with the current flow. Namely when the flow is traveling in the wrong direction. Our world situation shows that one cannot rely on the majority. An emotionally intelligent, wise person feels when he has to leave the majority and when not.

Social Chameleons

These people are adept at adapting their feelings to the needs of the group, as we often do with actors, salespeople, diplomats and politicians, but they cannot find the balance between their own needs and feelings. You have not developed your own identity or it is underdeveloped. They are dependent and have hardly any integrity in their backpack.

Chameleons are under animal welfare because they are endangered. They are mostly iguana-scale lizards and live mainly in Africa. They have interesting advantages: Their eyes can look back, to the side and to the front at the same time, which symbolically can be interpreted as a foresight into the past, present and future. This is an important skill for EQ enthusiasts.

A lack of social intelligence can also show up as follows:

• reduced willingness to trust someone

• own area of responsibility is neglected

• Tendency to be wrong

• ruthlessness

• Selfish lifestyle, no willingness to serve

• Dogmatic inflexibility, even fanaticism and extremism

• general learning disabilities

• proud personality structure

Social competence, on the other hand, is shown as follows:

• social harmony - peacemaker

• Interest in efficiency (profitability) and effectiveness (efficacy)

• Tolerant attitude

• Good warning and admonition skills

• Interest in learning processes

• Good service provider

• humble personality structure

“An honest heart bears fruit in humility”

The increase in COURAGE is HUMILITY. Unfortunately, this attitude is not so well known these days. It changes people and makes them wise, far-sighted, and happy people. Have the COURAGE for HUMILITY.

Some Tips

1. Become aware of where you still have learning fields and development potential in everyday social life.

2. Decide to improve one and / or the other finding.

3. Learn to limit yourself to the factual and informational level in a discussion and to exclude the personal character level (communication is important).

4. Observe your own reactions and find any hidden fears that have led you to unwise words or deeds. Consciously replace these fears with loving motives and remember this. A reminder a day or week will help you make this a habit.

5. Take an interest in those around you, especially difficult people. Personal interest in their needs sooner or later makes them friends.

6. Try to stay in balance, not to apply unnecessary pressure, to integrate the situation and the needs of a thing and / or person as possible.

7. Active listening enables you to show respect for those involved.

   Do not forget:

With a healthy lifestyle, especially with NEWSTART PLUS ® (LINK), you promote your performance and willpower in implementing such resolutions.

Important cornerstones are:

• 1.5 - 2 liters of water per day

• Jog 2-3 times a week

• a lot of vegetable and wholesome food as unrefined as possible

Changes are best enforced when they are made in a health context. This strengthens the frontal lobe (LINK), which creates new potential. Take this chance.

I wish you success! :-)

Improve EQ in Everyday Working Life

The work takes up a large part of our lifetime. And this cannot be implemented without health. It is all the more important to lay the foundations for success with wise decisions. With a high EQ.

There are three blogs that have already agreed on this EQ topic. They lay important basic knowledge. Here are the links to it: EQ0 (Definition)  and   EQ0 (AreasOfLife)  und   EQ1 (MarriageAndFamily)

As a reminder: The five areas of social life:

• MARRIAGE & FAMILY (mutual understanding based on self-image)

• PROFESSION (dealing with colleagues, subordinates, with the boss, motivation)

• HEALTH (healthy lifestyle promotes frontal lobe development)

• ENVIRONMENT (privacy, public and society can see added value)

• SPIRITUALITY (understanding and dealing with belief in a postmodern context)
  

  2. Professional and Working World

  
  We have seen that the gain from better EQ is that

  • various fears, including aggression, are reduced

  • better stress and conflict management becomes possible

  • Life goals can be set and also better achieved

  • you become a better life partner and friend, so that you also become a work colleague

  • the quality of fatherhood or motherhood also increases
    

    or in other words:

    Success in life does not depend so much on our knowledge and achievements as it does on the ability to find the way to the heart. EGW

The goal: to find the way to the heart of your most important significant other. That is what defines quality of life. It leads to an understanding of natural laws, which produces quality of life.

Much can be achieved with knowledge and ability that brings honor in our society. But there is no argument against LOVE. She will dominate everything. Those who can give and accept love are on the path of happiness.

Now to the professional:

How far you make it up the career ladder depends 85% on the EQ.

How do you get along with your boss? As good as these ladies with their conductor? The relationship with the manager says a lot about our EQ. The ability to deal with authorities shows in many ways whether someone is rebellious, shy or cooperative in nature.

The greatest challenges in personnel management in modern companies are:

• Social harmony <> because of constant disputes

• mutual tolerance <> because of inflexibility

• constructive criticism management <> because of criticism inability

Stress makes you stupid

Here in the West in particular, motivation is in the foreground, while in Eastern and Southern cultures the ability to build relationships is more emphasized. In a performance society where productivity is constantly increasing, the level of stress also increases. And stress makes you stupid, they found out. Why ?

Stress tends to produce negative thinking, negative remarks, triggering feelings that prevent you from being efficient and constructive. This puts the stressed person into a habit that is difficult to get out of. So the whole working atmosphere can suffer.

Please don't let the stress of this time get you down. Set limits as long as possible. This is your own life. You can also have an important say when it comes to stress. But do this at a high EQ level!

Daniel Jay Goleman, author, psychologist and science journalist writes paraphrased in one of his 10 books:

The skills DISCIPLINE, MOTIVATION and EMPATHY are the decisive trademarks of successful workers. What is really important for a successful life, a good character, happiness and lifelong motivation is EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE. (see "EQ - Why it can matter more than IQ" 1996)

Tips and Tricks

So if we transfer these exercises that we discussed in the last blog to the professional level, then the same thing happens there. Relationships are improving across the board. Likewise the performance. Better feedback etc.
So it's about the virtues like

• Allow self-reflection - admit mistakes

• Control reactions, free yourself from internal injuries

• Act pro-actively (as soon as a problem is identified, look for a solution)

• listen well and reflect (repeat)

• treat with respect

• living a constructive attitude towards people, products and companies

• be capable of criticism and objectively address important problems

Try it: Be PROACTIVE instead of reactive for a week. Show initiative to tackle problems, not naively but carefully, wisely, deliberately. Why not try it?

In order to perform well, you also need good health. Mentally and physically. More about that in the next blog.