Other than being utterly paranoid about the business as a whole (I think in a healthy, determined, ever-improving way), I remained dedicated to looking after myself as much as possible in the pursuit of happy days at work. 

Try and keep a happy face on, even on the tough days. These are some of my strategies; you may find they can help you too.

• Start the day positively every day.

• Don’t make a habit of exhaustingly long days. Never go to bed with important or urgent matters outstanding. I do not work till the wee small hours (unless it’s critical); if you do, something has gone wrong in planning. Rewrite your priority action list at the end of every day and give your brain a chance to wind down – my method was watching the news.

• Immediately someone else presents you with a problem, consider it an opportunity – this mindset itself drives solutions thinking.

• Drink loads of water – and try to avoid the mid-afternoon coffee-kick habit.

• Every day at Pacific Direct started with an inspirational quote, and I bought all sorts of things to provide the quote of the day. The small boosts and lateral thinking brought about by this were, I think, immeasurable. Try it.

• Overall I have always had an attitude of gratitude – in fact, I would take it further than this. I would say I have an overwhelming sense of optimism, though balanced with a street-wise scepticism. Seeing the plus side of everything will stand you in good stead.

• Never become complacent and you can guarantee new challenges each day. The complacent are soon overtaken; fun diminishes when you are not in the front.

This extract is taken from More balls than most © Lara Morgan, 2011 (published by Infinite Ideas). Lara is founder of Company Shortcuts – a consultancy dedicated to excellence in sales and leadership.

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