The Classic Pamela Positive: “Find the People Who Can Make You a Better Person.” – Ted Danson

“My philosophy is, don’t hang on to whatever degree of success or celebrity you have,” he explains. “Find the smartest people you can and work with them, even if it means taking a smaller role. Get lost in something that inspires you. Find the people who can make you a better person. That’s how you stay fresh.”

                                                                – Ted Danson

“Sam Malone” from Cheers, CSI, and The Good Place

How true is this. You always want to find great people with whom to work! Then you excel, soar, float and can contribute to the world even more strongly.

Did you know that people who love what they do are 50% more likely to report being rated as meeting or exceeding expectations at work?¹ And it follows that people who work around likeminded people with similar values are more likely to stay. You have work you love, and people that you love. A great (and sometimes rare) combination!

Looking for it? Match up with a good-hearted, values-based team, doing something that you love. Then, identify organizations doing something you love. Or, you can donor vice versa! With both in mind, at some point, both will fall into place.

You’ll learn, grow, and ascend. You will make the world better. Plus it’s so much more fun!

Live With Great People Everyday,

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Edward Bridge Danson III (born December 29, 1947) is an American actor and producer who played the lead character Sam Malone on the NBC sitcom Cheers. During his career, Danson has been nominated for 17 Primetime Emmy Awards, winning two; ten Golden Globe Awards nominations, winning three; one Screen Actors Guild Award; and one American Comedy Award and has been awarded a star on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame. Danson has also been a longtime activist in ocean conservation. In March 2011, he published his first book, Oceana: Our Endangered Oceans and What We Can Do to Save Them, written with journalist Michael D’Orso. Danson has been on a vegan diet multiple times, but he currently adheres to a pescetarian diet.

On October 7, 1995, Danson married actress Mary Steenburgen, whom he met on the set of the movie Pontiac Moon in 1993, and became the stepfather to Steenburgen’s children, Lilly and Charlie, from her previous marriage to actor Malcolm McDowell. 

Bio Source: Wikipedia ¹Hagel, John; Seely Brown, John; Ranjan, Alok; and Byler, Daniel, “Passion at Work”, Deloitte Insights, October 7, 2014, https://www2.deloitte.com/insights/us/en/topics/talent/worker-passion-employee-behavior.html ; Images: Fig¹.  Photo by Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash, Fig².  Photo by Rawpixel on Unsplash

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The Classic Pamela Positive: In Order to Love, You Must First Learn

“The greatest of human emotions is love. The most valuable of human gifts is the ability to learn. Therefore learn to love.”

 – UJ Ramdas

Co-Creator of The Five Minute Journal

and Co-Founder of Intelligent Change

Oh! Dear Leaders today… may we embrace this lovely admonition. Our life is a beautiful life, at home at work, in the depths of despair, in the positive celebrations. We must continue to learn, and continue to love.

I will share this story with you. Early on in my work life, I was running my second company around age 31? 32? And my heart was all in it. It was my calling; it was UniversalGiving. And had worked very hard to get it off the ground.

We were building the team, and it was a young team. Like me… so some were only a few years younger than me, or my age! What to do.

Kindness was key for me. That’s what I grew up with in my home, and I didn’t know any differently. But now, there were points of difference. People wanted things done a certain way, weren’t gracious in their conversation, or they didn’t want to work as much, but we we’re still in startup mode and needed that extra effort in the beginning (in the long-run though, I highly believe in balance!) And I cowtowed.

Because kindness ruled my day, I let that lead everything.

I let them do most everything they wanted, to maintain harmony.

But there wasn’t.

And I got walked on. And tremendously hurt.

I will share this story with you. Early on in my work life, I was running my second company around age 31? 32? And my heart was all in it. It was my calling; it was UniversalGiving. And had worked very hard to get it off the ground.

We were building the team, and it was a young team. Like me… so some were only a few years younger than me, or my age! What to do.

Kindness was key for me. That’s what I grew up with in my home, and I didn’t know any differently. But now, there were points of difference. People wanted things done a certain way, weren’t gracious in their conversation, or they didn’t want to work as much, but we we’re still in startup mode and needed that extra effort in the beginning (in the long-run though, I highly believe in balance!) And I cowtowed.

Because kindness ruled my day, I let that lead everything.

I let them do most everything they wanted, to maintain harmony.

But there wasn’t.

And I got walked on. And tremendously hurt.

And they spoke down to me. And I let it happen.

There were no boundaries.

And they lost respect for me.

And they left.

And I really, really hurt.

I was staying with my values of kindness, yet, it was a permissiveness that was not actually loving. Love can be strong, and kind, and with boundaries. So I had to learn.

This is why I highly agree with UJ Ramdas. We must love– but we must learn. I learned to love in higher, different way– one based on kindness, firmness and adherance to my values. And with that, my respect for myself — and others’ respect for me — returned. And I could rebuild the team.

If you have a challenge today, seek out what you need to learn, and how you need to love. That’s how we can be our best leadership self. Don’t wait — we start today.  (:

---

UJ Ramdas brings together his passion for psychology and business to create a better world. Along with Alex Ikon, he co-created the “Five Minute Journal” with the goal to enable people to be happier in five minutes a day. With a background in behavioral science, marketing, and hypnosis he consults with hundreds of clients to bring them out of confusion into clarity. Currently based in Toronto, Canada, he is a huge fan of wilderness, eastern meditative practices, and a good cup of tea. You can visit his website by clicking here.

Bio Source: UJ Ramadas Website; Image: Fig¹ Photo by Chewy on Unsplash, Fig² Photo by Pixabay on Pexels, Fig³ Helena Lopes

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The Classic Pamela Positive: Keep Your Balance

I think one key point in life is to maintain balance — the balance between time for work, time for loved ones, time for oneself, time for interests outside of one’s business. It’s so important to keep that balance, or we’ll simply burn out.

I remember once when I was young in my career, and meeting with a fairly older, single woman. She was a successful venture capitalist. But I don’t know that I would consider her life successful. She traveled the world incessantly and was on every important board. But she seemed tired and joy was scarce. She told me to “Pack it all in.”

I didn’t. I kept my balance. I started a nonprofit and I did creative improv. I took care of my very young nephews and nieces. I loved life and I loved the people in my life.

We need to be renewed. We need to feel honored as whole, functioning people with families, outside interests, balanced lives, as well as our commitment to achieving the goals and vision of the organizations we run. The beauty of this balance is that I come back energized to UniversalGiving®. My mind has had “time off” and is thrilled to re-engage with our efforts to serve. I look at challenges in a new light. My energy is renewed. I bring new skills to the table; my thoughts are stronger and more helpful. It’s better for me－and for my organization.

Keeping Balanced for Me, for You and Our Way of Giving Back to the World,

---

Fig¹.  Photo by Aziz Acharki on Unsplash  Fig².  Photo by Vincent Delegge on Unsplash

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The Classic Pamela Positive: In Order to Love, You Must First Learn

“The greatest of human emotions is love. The most valuable of human gifts is the ability to learn. Therefore learn to love.”

 – UJ Ramdas

Co-Creator of The Five Minute Journal

and Co-Founder of Intelligent Change

Oh! Dear Leaders today… may we embrace this lovely admonition. Our life is a beautiful life, at home at work, in the depths of despair, in the positive celebrations. We must continue to learn, and continue to love.

I will share this story with you. Early on in my work life, I was running my second company around age 31? 32? And my heart was all in it. It was my calling; it was UniversalGiving. And had worked very hard to get it off the ground.

We were building the team, and it was a young team. Like me… so some were only a few years younger than me, or my age! What to do.

Kindness was key for me. That’s what I grew up with in my home, and I didn’t know any differently. But now, there were points of difference. People wanted things done a certain way, weren’t gracious in their conversation, or they didn’t want to work as much, but we we’re still in startup mode and needed that extra effort in the beginning (in the long-run though, I highly believe in balance!) And I cowtowed.

Because kindness ruled my day, I let that lead everything.

I let them do most everything they wanted, to maintain harmony.

But there wasn’t.

And I got walked on. And tremendously hurt.

I will share this story with you. Early on in my work life, I was running my second company around age 31? 32? And my heart was all in it. It was my calling; it was UniversalGiving. And had worked very hard to get it off the ground.

We were building the team, and it was a young team. Like me… so some were only a few years younger than me, or my age! What to do.

Kindness was key for me. That’s what I grew up with in my home, and I didn’t know any differently. But now, there were points of difference. People wanted things done a certain way, weren’t gracious in their conversation, or they didn’t want to work as much, but we we’re still in startup mode and needed that extra effort in the beginning (in the long-run though, I highly believe in balance!) And I cowtowed.

Because kindness ruled my day, I let that lead everything.

I let them do most everything they wanted, to maintain harmony.

But there wasn’t.

And I got walked on. And tremendously hurt.

And they spoke down to me. And I let it happen.

There were no boundaries.

And they lost respect for me.

And they left.

And I really, really hurt.

I was staying with my values of kindness, yet, it was a permissiveness that was not actually loving. Love can be strong, and kind, and with boundaries. So I had to learn.

This is why I highly agree with UJ Ramdas. We must love– but we must learn. I learned to love in higher, different way– one based on kindness, firmness and adherance to my values. And with that, my respect for myself — and others’ respect for me — returned. And I could rebuild the team.

If you have a challenge today, seek out what you need to learn, and how you need to love. That’s how we can be our best leadership self. Don’t wait — we start today.  (:

---

UJ Ramdas brings together his passion for psychology and business to create a better world. Along with Alex Ikon, he co-created the “Five Minute Journal” with the goal to enable people to be happier in five minutes a day. With a background in behavioral science, marketing, and hypnosis he consults with hundreds of clients to bring them out of confusion into clarity. Currently based in Toronto, Canada, he is a huge fan of wilderness, eastern meditative practices, and a good cup of tea. You can visit his website by clicking here.

Bio Source: UJ Ramadas Website; Image: Fig¹ Photo by Chewy on Unsplash, Fig² Photo by Pixabay on Pexels, Fig³ Helena Lopes

TWITTER | FACEBOOK | LINKEDIN | INSTAGRAM | IMDB | WEBSITE | UNIVERSALGIVING

The Classic Pamela Positive: Keep Your Balance

I think one key point in life is to maintain balance — the balance between time for work, time for loved ones, time for oneself, time for interests outside of one’s business. It’s so important to keep that balance, or we’ll simply burn out.

I remember once when I was young in my career, and meeting with a fairly older, single woman. She was a successful venture capitalist. But I don’t know that I would consider her life successful. She traveled the world incessantly and was on every important board. But she seemed tired and joy was scarce. She told me to “Pack it all in.”

I didn’t. I kept my balance. I started a nonprofit and I did creative improv. I took care of my very young nephews and nieces. I loved life and I loved the people in my life.

We need to be renewed. We need to feel honored as whole, functioning people with families, outside interests, balanced lives, as well as our commitment to achieving the goals and vision of the organizations we run. The beauty of this balance is that I come back energized to UniversalGiving®. My mind has had “time off” and is thrilled to re-engage with our efforts to serve. I look at challenges in a new light. My energy is renewed. I bring new skills to the table; my thoughts are stronger and more helpful. It’s better for me－and for my organization.

Keeping Balanced for Me, for You and Our Way of Giving Back to the World,

---

Fig¹.  Photo by Aziz Acharki on Unsplash  Fig².  Photo by Vincent Delegge on Unsplash

TWITTER | FACEBOOK | LINKEDIN | INSTAGRAM | IMDB | WEBSITE | UNIVERSALGIVING