Employee Happiness Linked to Workplace Productivity and Performance

NEWPORT BEACH, CA--(Marketwire - May 16, 2011) - Paul David Walker -- successful business advisor to CEOs; founder of Genius Stone Partners -- a company that partners with the C-suite to build business performance; and author of "Unleashing Genius: Leading Yourself, Teams and Corporations" -- has defined the seven steps anyone can take to be happier and more productive, something that a 20-year Gallup poll recently indicated has a powerful effect on companies' bottom-line.

The poll indicated that happier employees are significantly more engaged and productive. Walker has known this and helped companies generate billions of dollars with more engaged employees. Now, Gallup has proven this to be the case. Leaders would be well advised to share Walker's valuable insights with employees to build personal accountability for happiness and well-being on a daily basis, rather than depending on good managers to help them, as Gallup suggests.

"Earlier studies have discovered that happiness and well-being are natural states of mind," says Walker. "All types of suffering are simply conditioned responses to our thoughts. Thoughts that we repeat to ourselves detract us from insight and our natural feelings of joy, love and gratitude."

When people repeat negative thoughts like "I'm not good enough," or "This person is an idiot," it contributes to poor moods and a cycle of negativity, according to Walker. Focus on such thoughts also keeps people from fully engaging in their lives. Instead, Walker encourages people to think of themselves as athletes in "the zone." The best athletes are able to perform at often miraculous levels because they're completely engaged in the present and don't waste energy on either distracting negative or delusional positive thinking.

When he leads executive teams at mid-sized and Fortune 500 companies, Walker shares seven important steps to cultivating greater happiness and well-being in themselves and their teams:

1. Thought is, at best, an approximation of reality. Until one knows this at a deep level, it is hard to find any true happiness. Believing one's thoughts to be real is like eating the menu instead of the food: both are real, but there is no comparing the two experiences.

2. Take your thoughts lightly. Thought is both the greatest gift and the greatest curse to humanity. While thought has allowed humans to create great works of art and science, it has also defined and imprisoned those who allow it to define them. Those who learn to treat their thoughts lightly experience greater levels of well-being and engagement in life.

3. Pain is telling you to stop something. Pain is a warning sign that something is harmful, like the burn of a flame. Psychological pain has the same purpose, warning people that their thoughts are compromising their health. Practice interrupting thoughts to bring attention back to the present.

4. Let go of your thoughts. Patterns can be difficult to break, but it's possible with practice. Notice both your negative and positive thought patterns and let them go. Effective action starts with reality, not an approximation of reality.

5. Understand your road map into wellbeing and happiness. Keeping a "Peak Life Experience" journal helps people to re-experience and learn their way back into their highest states of mind.

6. Be here now. Learning to be present makes it more likely for people to experience life instead of experiencing their thoughts about life. Thoughts about the past and the future are only approximations of reality. Living in the present is the secret.

7. There is no substitute for practice. Letting go of thoughts in the moment takes practice. Meditate, jog, walk or dance -- anything to interrupt thought with some kind of practice. Holding onto positive or negative thoughts destroys happiness and wellbeing.

Sharing these tools with a company can be the first step in addressing the wellbeing issue that affects employee productivity. Practicing them on an individual basis can help company executives lead the way for a healthier, happier workplace -- and a healthier bottom line.

About Paul David Walker: When the CEOs of Fortune 500 and mid-sized companies need trusted guidance in facing serious challenges or making monumental transitions, the wise source they turn to again and again is Paul David Walker, who has led executive teams through mission-critical decisions for over 25 years. Author of "Unleashing Genius: Leading Yourself, Teams and Corporations," Paul David Walker is a master at combining tough business strategy with insightful philosophy, deep understanding and an ability to shift focus from fear to happiness in a way that manifests success at every level of life. He has been -- and continues to be -- mentored by some of the most profound philosophers, business leaders and spiritual teachers of our time. For more information, visit www.pauldavidwalker.com.