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A Strong Work Ethic - Working 9 to ...
Strong Work Ethic
With Labour day celebrated this weekend in the USA I reflect on some of my work experiences and work ethic.
Observing a strong Work Ethic in my early years
I grew up observing a strong work ethic. Hearing about how my grandfathers emigrated from India to East Africa in their early teens for the want of a better life and opportunities. They faced many hardships and challenges in a new country, culture, language and at the time not much of a community. They went into business at a young age. It was part of the cultural blood. Higher academic education was less of a priority at that time.
My father and his brothers were running business in Kenya while in their teens, being trained and taking over from my grandfather. Then having to restart in a different city before taking the step to emigrate to London in the early 70s and going through the same hardships and challenges of being in a new country, culture, language and at the time not much of a community with the added aspect of cold, wet, raining miserable weather for seasons of the year.
My mother followed 6 months later on her own travelling with 3 young children, the oldest 7 and the youngest, me only 1 years old. Imagine how the airflight was then going through luggage control to get and carry the luggage with a 1 year old in her arms. The cold of the December month and are then a quite racist environment - very distance from the now diverse, accepting, aware and cosmopolitan nation the UK is.
My working career - early days
In my youth I polished shoes and washed cars for family members to earn a little bit of money. Helped my brothers on their paper round. Worked in the holidays and some weekends in my uncle’s news agent shop as well as in another uncle’s jean shop. Mid teens around GCSEs (‘O’ Levels) and ‘A’ levels I had my first Saturday job. I would go to Oxford Street, London to work in Olympus Sport at Selfridges. Did the Christmas season there too.
Strong Work Ethic
Observing a strong Work Ethic in my early years
I grew up observing a strong work ethic. Hearing about how my grandfathers emigrated from India to East Africa in their early teens for the want of a better life and opportunities. They faced many hardships and challenges in a new country, culture, language and at the time not much of a community. They went into business at a young age. It was part of the cultural blood. Higher academic education was less of a priority at that time.
My father and his brothers were running business in Kenya while in their teens, being trained and taking over from my grandfather. Then having to restart in a different city before taking the step to emigrate to London in the early 70s and going through the same hardships and challenges of being in a new country, culture, language and at the time not much of a community with the added aspect of cold, wet, raining miserable weather for seasons of the year.
My mother followed 6 months later on her own travelling with 3 young children, the oldest 7 and the youngest, me only 1 years old. Imagine how the airflight was then going through luggage control to get and carry the luggage with a 1 year old in her arms. The cold of the December month and are then a quite racist environment - very distance from the now diverse, accepting, aware and cosmopolitan nation the UK is.
In those early years I hardly saw my dad as he would leave to go to work as a sales assistant before I was awake and return after I was asleep. I do recall my mum taking on various jobs such as sewing and stitching. Dad did various sales / retail related jobs and was very good at it becoming the manager of the store.
Later he would join the John Lewis Partnership on recommendation of his younger brother. I remember we would visit him on Oxford Street and feeling pride seeing him in action serving customers. He would joyfully introduce us to all his work colleagues.
Mum continued to do various jobs, raise the children, run the household and when I was 7 she went to evening classes to learn skills such as typing. This lead to her getting part-time and full time office related employment.
These observations of work ethic has an influence on me.
My working career - early days
In my youth I polished shoes and washed cars for family members to earn a little bit of money. Helped my brothers on their paper round. Worked in the holidays and some weekends in my uncle’s news agent shop as well as in another uncle’s jean shop. Mid teens around GCSEs (‘O’ Levels) and ‘A’ levels I had my first Saturday job. I would go to Oxford Street, London to work in Olympus Sport at Selfridges. Did the Christmas season there too.
After ‘A’ levels I worked on the famous Bond Street in a Moss Bros clothing store. Often going to Mayfair and Park Lane to deliver tailored cloths to customers or take to tailors to make alterations. Just realised that playing Monopoly helped me become familiar with these places.
During the holidays of the university years I worked Marks & Spencers during the summer, Christmas and Easter. My first summer I was holding 2 jobs at the same time. The Marks and Spencer retail job and also as a steward at Wembley Stadium and Arena. This was really memorable as Prince, Madonna and The Rolling Stones played their gigs.
After my Masters I graduated into a recession hit work environment finding it very difficult to get an IT job. That first Christmas I worked at the retails store Next in the morning and Argos in the afternoon, observing the madness during the sales.
Sometimes you have to make your own luck and opportunities
The recession made it difficult to get employment. You did not get employment as you had no relevant work experience. How do you get the relevant work experience if you did not get opportunities?
Sometimes you have to make your own luck and opportunities. My brother shared a snippet from a computing journal that a US based consultancy was going to set in Europe including in London. The article the the company name: Cambridge Technology Partners (CTP) and that it was based in Richmond and perhaps the name of a manager as part of a quote. Armed with this information before the time of the internet or Google search I proactively called the phone directory service with the company name and area based to get a phone number. Calling the number I said I had seen the article and was interested in joining the company. I was asked to send my C.V. This lead to an interview and subsequently a job offer where I become the 6th or so UK employee of the firm.
The IT Career
I travelled to Cambridge, Massachusetts near Boston for a few weeks of orientation training. The next few years as junior consultant I learnt lots, worked many long hours, developed skills, travelled within the UK and US for projects with household FTSE 100 and Fortune 500 companies like: BT, Unilever, Prudential, Norwich Union Health Care and Disney Consumer Products. One of the main things I learnt was that the life of a travelling consultant living out of hotels without home food, family, friends, routines was not the life for me, especially after becoming newly married.
I moved into financial technology working for Schroders and thereafter becoming a contractor for a few years with long dry spells. Working on projects for United Bank of Kuwait, Equitas (Lloyds of London insurer) before joining Greenwich NatWest. I joined Greenwich NatWest as very soon after Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) announced it was taking over NatWest. I witnessed redundancies, fear, confusion and lots of uncertainty. As the various systems from the merger were integrated I worked on those projects for Finance Technology moving from being a contractor to an employee. Going from a developer to senior developer to technical team lead/project manager. Some projects were very demanding and involved working for long hours for an extended period of time.
I experienced the challenges brought by uncertainty, change and stress during the financial crisis on 2008 and thereafter. Leaving RBS in 2016 through redundancy the next chapter of my career begins.
During all of this I actively volunteered for community groups and took on roles in the Jain faith based charities : Young Jains and SCVP. This further helped my development, growth, skill set, leadership, organising and public speaking skills and confidence.
All Change
All of these varied work and volunteer experiences contributed to :
Understand what is important to me
Clarity on my values and way of working
That I wanted flexibility and control in the work I do
What my strengths are
How I want to contribute and serve
Whatever you do, do you best and give your best
In a way I semi-retired, choosing on how I use my (limited) time. It led to some time exploring various options before training in the Science of Happiness. This leading to starting Happy Life Habits were I combine my interests in : Personal Development, The Science of Happiness and Spirituality to positively impact Happiness and Wellbeing Levels.
I have a portfolio career where I have been a workshop facilitator for NCS The Challenge ( National Citizen Service) and exam invigilator for school exams.
Currently the portfolio career involves:
Carer for mum who is elderly, has Parkinson’s and Dementia
Speaker, Trainer and Coach with Happy Life Habits
Heroic Ambassador and Life Coach with Heroic Public Benefit Corporation
Author for Bookboon
Workshop and Course facilitator for the charity Mind in Enfield and Barnet
Wellbeing Coach with SoulBrite
Non Executive Committee Member at Young Jains
To balance or harmonise work, personal life and community work requires me to be proactive, have plans with priority and flexibility and be organised and really work my habits/routines/protocols for energy, self care, focus and productivity. The Heroic training has helped with this.
What has been your journey? What has helped?
Are you happy with your work?
Happy Life Habits rewires hearts & minds for better productivity, happiness and wellbeing in 10 minutes a day. We help you move out of the comfort zone and into the learning/growth zones. Our products and services help develop habits and continuous personal development.
If you want to receive articles, information on events and support Happy Life Habits sign up to the join the email list and join the Happy Life Habits Community WhatsApp Group
Facebook Group, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube etc links can be found at https://linktr.ee/HappyLifeHabits
Shaileen Shah is a Happiness Coach, Speaker and Trainer. Previously having been in finance technology for the investment banking arm of RBS during the RBS takeover of Natwest, the RBS takeover of ABN Ambro and the financial crisis he has experienced the challenges brought by uncertainty, change and stress. He is certified in The Science of Happiness and shares through Happy Life Habits. Happy Life Habits Positively Impacts Happiness & Well Being Levels by creatively and uniquely combining Personal Development + The Science of Happiness + Spirituality. A business for Good. For more information see HappyLifeHabits.co.uk.
6 month Review 2023
Review
At various points in the year I look taking a moment to a review of the preceding time period. This is often at the end of the year with the Looking Back, Looking Forward workshop, the middle of the year and sometimes ad hoc too. This year I have had the mid year review in mind, thought about it in my head, made notes but not been able to write up and share till now.
Like journaling, writing and sharing the review helps me celebrate the wins, learn from the challenges, see growth and gratefully acknowledge the opportunities.
Gratitude and Journal Habit Immersion Training Course Celebration Dinner at Little Resham
Review
At various points in the year I take a moment to a review of the preceding time period and what is forthcoming. This is often at the end of the year with the Looking Back, Looking Forward workshop, the middle of the year and sometimes ad hoc too. This year I have had the mid year review in mind, thought about it in my head, made notes but not been able to write up and share till now.
Like journaling, writing and sharing the review helps me celebrate the wins, learn from the challenges, see growth and gratefully acknowledge the opportunities.
Here is review from 2021 and 2022.
2023: 6 month review Highlights
The year started with a key note presentation for an HR conference in Athens.
We launched a new program Inner Compass and continued with the Master Mind Program.
Took part in 2 podcasts : People on Purpose and Estrella of Happiness - Within You.
Delivered two 3 hour workshops on Gratitude for Wellbeing for the charity Mind in Enfield and Barnet and supported Mental Health Awareness Week on the theme of anxiety sharing resources daily in a dedicated WhatsApp group and Master Class on Anxiety.
Our flag ship 30 Day Gratitude and Journaling Habit Immersion Training Course celebrated it’s 3rd year. We positively impacted trainees when we ran the course in March and a last minute decision for June. June was opened as free gifted refresher to previous attendees.
We celebrated completion of the June course and three year anniversary for the first time with an in person celebration dinner (which was open invite for all Happy Life Habits Community members) at the restaurant Little Resham. We shared delicious, vegan food, conversations and connected deeper with the use of the gratitude cards.
Gratitude and Journaling Habit Immersion Training Course Celebration Dinner
We have a discount available at Little Resham for Happy Life Habits members. Be on the WhatsApp Community Group and email mailing list to show proof you are member of Happy Life Habits Community.
Little Resham discount code for Happy Life Habits members
Regular positive focus
The Happy Life Habits Community on Facebook now has regular weekly questions to help focus on positivity, happiness, optimism and hope.
These include :
A check on how happy you currently are at this moment
What small wins can you celebrate from the week?
What did you learn?
What good things happened to you?
What are you grateful for?
Come join us in the group and share your thoughts.
We have set up a Happy Life Habits WhatsApp Community Group. This is the main way to stay informed of Happy Life Habits activities followed by the email mailing list.
To start the day with a positive focus we have a HLH Daily Quote Group.
Daily Quote, Question or Reflection. Max 1 a day, 4-7 days a week. A regular dose of positivity, happiness and meaning to help counter the world's negative bias.
I became an author! The ebook is “Every Day Happiness”.
I joined SoulBrite as a Wellness Coach, part of a team delivering wellbeing workshops into companies.
I am a hero and so can you be
I completed the 300 Day Heroic Coach to be a certified Heroic Performance Coach and also an Ambassador. This is a great personal development program and platform. Something for everyone who wants to learn, grow, change and make a positive impact. I really like the theory and practice delivered in short videos. audio are written format along with live training calls. You can check out the impact of the Heroic materials here in this research done by the Happiness Researcher Sonja Lyubomirsky and get free access to book summaries and great content.
The Heroic training has helped me focus on three areas:
Energy
Work
Love
With each of these areas I define 3 elements:
Identity
Virtues
Targets
Who I am or want to be in each area, my Heroic best self. How I want to show up to be that Heroic best self and the daily things I need to do to show up as best Heroic self. These are reviewed and committed to daily as part of morning routine.
I have got immersed again in voluntary roles for Jain faith based community groups and projects.
looking forward
Some of the the future plans and activities are:
Supporting World Values Day with some workshops
Continuing Gratitude Wellbeing Workshops for Mind In Enfield and Barnet. They have asked me to design and deliver a 10 week course in the Autumn.
30 Day Gratitude and Journaling Habit Immersion Training Course and Thanksgiving Dinner.
Reading 1 book a month - inspired by the book Limitless by Jim Kwik
Keep focus on Energy, Work and Love.
Keep sharing what I learn and making a positive impact.
Shaileen Shah - Happiness Coach, Speaker, Trainer and Author
Happy Life Habits rewires hearts & minds for better productivity, happiness and wellbeing in 10 minutes a day. We help you move out of the comfort zone and into the learning/growth zones. Our products and services help develop habits and continuous personal development.
If you want to receive articles, information on events and support Happy Life Habits sign up to the join the email list and join the Happy Life Habits Community WhatsApp Group
Facebook Group, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube etc links can be found at https://linktr.ee/HappyLifeHabits
Shaileen Shah is a Happiness Coach, Speaker and Trainer. Previously having been in finance technology for the investment banking arm of RBS during the RBS takeover of Natwest, the RBS takeover of ABN Ambro and the financial crisis he has experienced the challenges brought by uncertainty, change and stress. He is certified in The Science of Happiness and shares through Happy Life Habits. Happy Life Habits Positively Impacts Happiness & Well Being Levels by creatively and uniquely combining Personal Development + The Science of Happiness + Spirituality. A business for Good. For more information see HappyLifeHabits.co.uk.
Every Day Happiness
In addition to being a coach, speaker and trainer, I am now also an author of the ebook, “Every Day Happiness”.
‘Every Day Happiness’ provides understanding, tools and habits we can utilise to navigate a world with rising uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity. This increase makes more demands on our Physical, Mental, Emotional, Social and Spiritual Wellbeing. Everyday Happiness is a nonfiction book written for professionals, business owners, leaders and managers reminding them to choose to put Happiness and Positive Emotions at the heart of everything they do. Thereby they will have better happiness, mental and emotional wellbeing, productivity and life satisfaction in all areas of their life.
In addition to being a coach, speaker and trainer, I am now also an author of the ebook, “Every Day Happiness”.
I had not planned to write a book yet. The opportunity was presented and I chose to take it.
I've shared as much as possible both of science of happiness and actual ways to apply in order for the reader to choose to have Every Day Happiness. Every Day!
I hope it provides the reader real benefit. More so when they apply the ideas. That's where the magic is.
‘Every Day Happiness’ provides understanding, tools and habits we can utilise to navigate a world with rising uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity. This increase makes more demands on our Physical, Mental, Emotional, Social and Spiritual Wellbeing. Everyday Happiness is a nonfiction book written for professionals, business owners, leaders and managers reminding them to choose to put Happiness and Positive Emotions at the heart of everything they do. Thereby they will have better happiness, mental and emotional wellbeing, productivity and life satisfaction in all areas of their life.
The Contents are:
What is Happiness?
How Happy Are You?
What Makes You Happy?
What Makes You Unhappy?
What Do We Mean by Happiness?
You Cannot Make Everyone Happy: The Fable of the Father, Son and Donkey
What Did I Learn? What Will I Do?
Why is Happiness Important?
The Science of Happiness
The Negativity Bias
How Does Happiness Help?
What Can We Do?
The World Happiness Index and Report
What Did I Learn? What Will I Do?
The Happiness Chemicals – Daily D.O.S.E
The Happy Chemicals
The Daily D.O.S.E
What did I learn? What will I do?
How to Increase Happiness
Models and Frameworks for Happiness
Which Model to Use?
What did I learn? What will I do?
Mindfulness Meditation
What is Mindfulness?
Benefits of Mindfulness
Practicing Mindfulness
What Did I Learn? What Will I Do?
Kindness
Kindness and Compassion
Benefits of Kindness
Practicing Kindness
Self Compassion
What Did I Learn? What Will I Do?
Gratitude
Gratitude and Blessings
Benefits of Gratitude
Practicing Gratitude
What Did I Learn? What Will I Do?
Journaling
The Magic of Journaling
Benefits of Journaling
Types of Journaling
What Did I Learn? What Will I Do?
Happy Life Habits: How to Structure an Every Day Happiness Day
What Do We Include in an Every Day Happiness Day
Habits
The Investment Banker and the Fisherman
Do You Choose to be Happy?
Support
Quotes & Key Messages
Happy Life Habits is available for corporate talks, workshops and training.
Happy Life Habits rewires hearts & minds for better productivity, happiness and wellbeing in 10 minutes a day. We help you move out of the comfort zone and into the learning/growth zones. Our products and services help develop habits and continuous personal development.
If you want to receive articles, information on events and support Happy Life Habits sign up to the join the email list.
Facebook Group, Instagram, LinkedIn, Youtube etc links can be found at https://linktr.ee/HappyLifeHabits
Shaileen Shah is a Happiness Coach, Speaker and Trainer. Previously having been in finance technology for the investment banking arm of RBS during the RBS takeover of Natwest, the RBS takeover of ABN Ambro and the financial crisis he has experienced the challenges brought by uncertainty, change and stress. He is certified in The Science of Happiness and shares through Happy Life Habits. Happy Life Habits Positively Impacts Happiness & Well Being Levels by creatively and uniquely combining Personal Development + The Science of Happiness + Spirituality. A business for Good. For more information see HappyLifeHabits.co.uk.