Ted Tuesday: Matt Killingsworth's "Are We Happier When We Stay In The Moment?" TEDTalk and "Happiness" App

"When are humans most happy? To answer this question, researcher Matt Killingsworth built an app, Track Your Happiness, that let people report their feelings in real time. Among the results: We're often happiest when we're lost in the moment."

Good Morning Folks,

As your Chief Happiness Officer, over the past months, I've chosen TED talks to share here about the path to happiness and self-fulfillment that will enlighten and inspire you in unexpected ways. 

These short lectures explore why we’re often unhappy, why we feel happy when we do, and how we can overcome the many opposites of happiness so that we can live every day of our lives in a positive, enriched, and deeply fulfilling way. 

What is it that makes us happy? We’re told that money that doesn’t buy it, or success, or even love. Can happiness be created, or must it be discovered? Does the path to a happy life require certain ingredients—self-discovery, confidence, a loving group of family and friends, spiritual guidance, the opportunity to fulfill one’s dreams—or can anyone be truly “happy?” 

We spend our entire lives on the pursuit of this elusive state, which we so often think we recognize in others, and which we constantly struggle to find for ourselves. Thousands of years of philosophy, psychology, and sociology have studied what it means to be happy, but what if it could be a whole lot simpler than that? 

In today's talk, seen by almost 3 million on You Tube and Ted sites, by Matt Killingsworth, a doctoral candidate at Harvard who studies the nature of human happiness, is “Want to be Happier? Stay in the Moment.” Though the title might recall the clichéd “live in the moment” philosophy, Killingsworth is actually referring to the fascinating research he has done on studying the moment-to-moment happiness of research subjects to help him and other scientists learn what makes us happy and unhappy. 

Through his website trackyourhappiness.org, Killingsworth has made a research tool that allows him to track people’s responses to questions such as: “How do you feel?” “What are you doing?” “Are you thinking about something other than what you’re currently doing?” 

His research has shown that 47 percent of the time, people are thinking about something other than what they’re doing in that moment, and that there is a direct correlation between people’s “mind wandering” and their feelings of unhappiness. In other words, no matter what we’re doing, we’re substantially happier when we’re aware of and engaged in the moment than if we’re cluttering our minds with other thoughts. In this short, concise lecture, Killingsworth shows us how his statistics have the power to reveal when we’re the happiest, and how maybe being happy is a lot easier than we think. - 

When are humans most happy? To gather data on this question, Matt Killingsworth built an app, Track Your Happiness, that let people report their feelings in real time. Among the surprising results: We're often happiest when we're lost in the moment. And the flip side: The more our mind wanders, the less happy we can be. (Filmed at TEDxCambridge.)



Thanks to NPR and SpiritualityHealth.com and, most of all to you for “caring” (and sharing!).

Have a GREAT Day,



Mitchell D. Weiner
Chief Happiness Officer  

Ideas are not set in stone. When exposed to thoughtful people, they morph and adapt into their most potent form. TED Tuesdays on MitchWeiner.com highlights some of today's most intriguing ideas. Look for more talks on Technology, Entertainment and Design -- plus science, business, global issues, the arts and much more— HERE.  


About Matt Killingsworth

Researcher Matt Killingsworth designs studies that gather data on happiness. While doing his Ph.D. research at Harvard, Killingsworth invented the Track Your Happiness app.

He's now a Robert Wood Johnson Health and Society Scholar examining such topics as the relationship between happiness and the content of everyday experiences, the percentage of everyday experiences that are intrinsically valuable, and the degree of congruence between the causes of momentary happiness and of one's overall satisfaction with life.
track your influence!

About FSO Onsite Outsourcing
Recognized on the Inc. 5000 list of the nation's fastest growing companies for the third consecutive year, and lead by industry pioneer, Mitch Weiner, FSO's growth and success can be attributed to making a positive and powerful impact on their clients' bottom lines, as well as their employees' careers and lives.

Inspire ME Friday: It's FSO That Makes A Difference And You Lead The Charge.

It May Be Winter Outside.
But In Our Hearts At FSO, It's Always Spring.

“Finally, An Outsourcing Partner That Really Understands Me.”

Good Morning Folks,

I wanted to start this sub-zero Friday morning with a BIG SHOUT OUT TO THE FRONT OF HOUSE AND OFFICE SERVICES

It’s great to see the happiness, hospitality and PERSONAL TOUCH.

Since we outsource our Front of House team from ourselves, I want to brag about it today and tell you why it's deserved all that attention and kudos... why we’re different and so special.


If your company doesn't have that "vibe" from the moment your guests arrive, you may be putting your brand reputation at stake. How goes that saying "you never get a second chance to make  first impression."


Our front of house is the storefront for your organization. Our team brings your brand values to life and make visitors feel warmly welcomed. We deliver high-quality visitor experiences that perfectly reflect your values.

Lunch on me today for the entire front house team and thanks for the welcome home cards, notes and more.. it makes a huge difference.. you should all be proud…. THANK YOU!

This week I was reflecting and made some notes from the skies 37,000 above the ground.

So the Mitch brand. So the FSO brand. So the industry. So the reason people outsource. So the reason FSO exists. So it's in Mitch's heart. So it's what it's all about. 

OUR PEOPLE. They are our world. Our life. You're what customers buy and what I owe to my career for each and every day. And I believe you do the same. 

Our world starts with spotting talent every day in our lives. Think about how many of you I spotted. We both felt it and I am blessed to have you. 

The fundamentals of the outsourcing business starts with finding the talent and building the bench. And training that bench every day so they are ready to go at any given moment. To pump them up and provide them with career aspirations and to full fill dreams. 

And when Dean or Jim need PEOPLE NATIONALLY this teams says to your Future Leaders Team (FLT) person. I time to go. And you are ready. The fundamentals of our business. 

To hire. To train. To inspire. To provide a dream come true and to hold them tight. Hug them. Kiss them and show them we care. 

This is what our clients buy. Are you all familiar with the messenger training? It is the basics of how we run the outsourcing business and every single person who comes to work here has to know what our business is. What our people do for clients. And what we do for people.

I co founded this industry over 20 years ago. And with help of many have made it better year after year. 

Training.  Hospitality.  Happiness. It's in my heart and nothing is going to get in the way. 

No turning back. The time has arrived. We will do the most innovative, to creative new solutions to wow our staff and impress our clients.

But we will do more than the fundamentals. We will (re) imagine what the market is waiting for and blow the competitors away. FLT Is alive and well. And look out because we are going to enlist you. 

I am pumped. Excited. And ready to go. 

Be inspired. Power of focus and positive energy. It's FSO that makes a difference and you lead the charge. 

Have a GREAT WEEKEND!

Mitchell D. Weiner
Chief Happiness Officer

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"A discovery is said to be an accident meeting a prepared mind."
 ~~A. von Szent-Gyorgyi

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LinkUP Thursday: “What if?”

"In fact, Orman might have become a restaurateur if not for a critical turn of events — she lost the $50,000 in a bad investment. The setback, Orman writes, helped launch “a new career passion: helping people take control of their financial lives.”

Good Morning Folks,

The Internet is such a great invention. So many wonderful, useful things that can be applied to our greatest challenges and opportunities in unexpected ways. Things they don't teach you in Harvard Business School. Things just waiting to be discovered or to be pointed out by a friend... which brings me to why we do these LinkUp's on most Thursdays on MitchWeiner.com.

What ties today's stories together with FSO is the movement of (re)IMAGINATION that is taking place in every company of every industry today. Forced to innovate or capitulate in a technology-leveled playing field, (re)IMAGINE is something so simple as it is Revolutionary, showing clients how to look at their business from a completely new perspective, that of a blank canvas. Looking not at “What is” but “What can be”.  But let's start with something more personal, something you can ask yourself....

“What if?”

Depending on where you are in your career, those two words have the ability to inspire — or haunt — you.

If life had taken a different turn and you weren’t in your role today, where would you be? What would you be doing instead? Or if you’ve already changed directions?

In this latest series on LinkedIn, “The Road Not Taken,” some of the world’s most successful professionals were asked to explain how their career paths might have turned out differently. From Suze Orman and Deepak Chopra to the World Bank’s Jim Kim and General Electric’s Beth Comstock, more than 60 Influencers chimed in with inspiring tales and reflections of what might’ve been. In some cases, as with Randi Zuckerberg, Influencers also revealed what’s on the horizon.

Read on to find out what might’ve been for Suze Orman, Shark Tank’s Kevin O’Leary, MSNBC’s Mika Brzezinski, and others.

Some careers are made by turning misfortune into opportunity.

Before Suze Orman became “the Money Lady,” she worked as a waitress who aspired to open a neighborhood restaurant. In an amazing display of generosity, Orman’s loyal customers rallied behind her: “When [Fred, a beloved customer] finished his breakfast, he didn’t just leave a tip. He gave me a $2,000 check and commitments from other diners/friends that totaled $50,000 (the equivalent of nearly $150,000 today) along with a note:

As a teenager, Shark Tank’s Kevin O’Leary worked at an ice cream parlor. One day, his boss ordered him to scrape gum off the floor. “That’s not my job,” I said. “My job’s to scoop ice cream.” Next thing out of my boss’s mouth was: “You’re fired. Get out of my store.”

This early experience was all the inspiration O’Leary needed to become his own boss.

Though Randi Zuckerberg loved to sing, she abandoned her love of singing for more “professional” endeavors at Facebook. “I learned quickly that in the corporate world, it’s ‘distracting’ for women to have side interests, aside from work and family – and that if I wanted to be taken seriously in my career, I would need to shelve my passion for performing,” Zuckerberg writes.

Now years (and one Broadway stint) later, Zuckerberg says she’s ready for her second act.

Other career crises may feel as if the universe is conspiring against you.

MSNBC’s Mika Brzezinski describes getting fired from CBS as an “out-of-body experience. I sent my work to other networks and the response was… crickets. I went from everything to everyone to nothing to no one.”


As her severance pay and job prospects dwindled, Brzezinski reluctantly broadened her job search: “I’ll never forget the moment. Driving my pickup up the hill near my house, the ’93 Ford 150 with roll-up windows just stopped… Stalled out and died. I knew that meant another $500 at the shop. $500 that I did not have. Then my cell phone rings. It’s the PR firm. Wanting to know if I can come in this week…”

Should she leap at the much-needed job opportunity? Or should she stay the course?

But whether reflecting on the road not taken brings angst or clarity, it’s what you do next that matters.

In the coming days, don’t miss these other “The Road Not Taken” stories, and more:

Deepak Chopra on how he learned self-awareness the hard way (note to self: never dump a pile of papers over your boss’s head and storm out…)

eBay CEO John Donahoe on the PayPal split and why he’s stepping aside next year
World Bank President Jim Kim on what he’d be doing as a doctor on the front lines of the Ebola crisis

Shark Tank’s Robert Herjavec on when he realized he needed to be the supplier, not the seller

Looking not at “What is” but “What can be”, is what sets FSO apart from the other outsourcing companies and what has made us the fastest growing outsourcing company in the nation.

It is woven into the culture of who we are, it is part of everything we do. (re)IMAGINE allows us to uncover those hidden cost savings every company is looking for, identify innovative ways to improve their business, and inspire those who take care of them. 

If your outsourcer is not keeping their commitments nor fulfilling the promise of all the advancements and new technology at its hand, I invite to you call me directly and I'll set up a time for you meet with a member of our (re)IMAGINE team and learn why of 250 companies have made the switch to FSO in the past 4 years.

TALK TO US. WITNESS US. AND MOST IMPORTANTLY, EXPERIENCE US! 

Call me directly at 212.204.1193.

BTW, You can write your own "What If" post; be sure to include the hashtag #RoadNotTaken in the body of your post so LinkedIn can find your great stories.

Thanks to Amy Chen at LinkedIn and thanks to you, for listening.

Mitchell D. Weiner
Chief Happiness Officer

Learn more about what DIFFERENTIATES FSO here

Ted Tuesday: A Selfie on Steroids— Sergei Lupashin: A flying camera ... on a leash

"Fotokite is a unique solution for versatile aerial photography. We are building a safe, intelligent flying camera that anyone can deploy in under a minute."

Good Morning Folks,

Let's admit it: aerial photo drones and UAVs are a little creepy, and they come with big regulatory and safety problems. But aerial photos can be a powerful way of telling the truth about the world: the size of a protest, the spread of an oil spill, the wildlife hidden in a delta. Sergei Lupashin demos Fotokite, a nifty new way to see the world from on high, safely and under control.


Thanks to you for “caring” (and sharing!).

Have a GREAT Day,



Mitchell D. Weiner
Chief Happiness Officer  

Ideas are not set in stone. When exposed to thoughtful people, they morph and adapt into their most potent form. TED Tuesdays on MitchWeiner.com highlights some of today's most intriguing ideas. Look for more talks on Technology, Entertainment and Design -- plus science, business, global issues, the arts and much more— HERE.  

About FSO Onsite Outsourcing
Recognized on the Inc. 5000 list of the nation's fastest growing companies for the third consecutive year, and lead by industry pioneer, Mitch Weiner, FSO's growth and success can be attributed to making a positive and powerful impact on their clients' bottom lines, as well as their employees' careers and lives.

Happiness Ahead: Welcome to Outsourcing Nirvana

"How good is it to be part of a family who really cares about you, where you go, what direction you take, give you opportunities to grow, and reasons day in and day out to be proud of who you are 

and who you work for." 

Good Morning Folks,

If nothing makes you happier than making other people happy, then you're in good company this morning.

It's simple: happy companies make more money.

According to recent research from WooHoo, "This means that happiness at work is no longer a luxury. It's an absolute necessity for any organization that wants to be competitive and successful."

The study concludes....

• Happiness at work is one of the 3 most important sources of happiness in life.
• Happiness at work is the best antidote to stress. Stress doesn't necessarily come from working too much but from feeling bad while you work.
• Your happiness at work is your responsibility. Not your boss's, not your co-workers' and not society's. Yours.
• Your boss and your workplace are responsible for creating a setting where it's easy to be happy at work. 

Our own Experience Director Joseph Yapp reflected on Happiness at our place of work in a recent internal communique:

"As the year comes closer to the end, I get reminded of our 2013 Awards Night.   

It was a powerful reminder of all the hard work, sweat and smiles that led into getting an award. And as a recipient of a couple of awards that night, it took passion, personal dedication and a productive smart approach to work to be nominated, just like my peers. Masters of our trade!! Everyone mattered. You are somebody and we all know who you are.   

How? Because here at FSO, we communicate!!! We let everyone know what we did!!! We send pictures!!! Management writes about us, talks about us and the Owners acknowledges us in emails, company meetings, newsletters, blogs, social media.   

Here at FSO, when you get recognized you feel like a celebrity, a VIP and YOU actually mattered!   

How good is it to be part of a family who really cares about you, where you go, what direction you take, give you opportunities to grow, become someone, carry a title and give you reasons day in and day out to be proud of who you are and who you work for.  

When I first joined FSO, I did not know the concept of a happy office nor understood the title “Chief Happiness Officer."   

As weeks went by, I realized that the title is also a way of life. HAPPINESS!!! That is the key to success!!! 

Happiness is when you want to do a great job for your client and provide that HOSPITALITY experience (remember that feeling of euphoria when you complete a job well done?) 

Happiness is when you can help your staff achieve their goals or even just helping them perform their jobs (that feeling of giving), happiness is being part of a bigger picture and that your contributions are just as equally important as everyone else.  

I can honestly say when you come to HQ, you feel that ENERGY!! the EXCITEMENT!! the PASSION and see the smiles in people’s faces.  People hugging?? Yes!! Where on earth do you see such happy folks?? Is this outsourcing nirvana?? Yes folks, it is. And all that happiness radiates nationally to the field, regions, states and even in New Jersey!!!  

When I first started with FSO, I was a newbie at this happiness concept, now you can call me an expert. Because I spread it to my clients, my staff, my peers and more importantly to my family (personal & FSO)."

You see Joseph, as the WooHoo study validates, "happiness at work doesn't come from the organization's policies, strategies, plans or values. It comes from the things that you and I do here and now."

"Happiness at work doesn't come from raises, bonuses or perks. It comes from two things: Results and Relationships, IE. doing great work together with great people."

"Happiness at work doesn't just happen. It takes a focused effort from management and employees together."

As your Chief Happiness Officer my job is to ensure all of us are showering you with all the happiness and hospitality you deserve. 

Nothing makes me happier than making you happy. All our clients feel it, our staff feels it, you feel it and I feel it. 

As I often say: LOVE Life! Because when you are loving life you are living HAPPINESS simply defined.

Have a GREAT start to a GREAT week as I look forward to seeing all of you soon in my travels.

Mitchell D. Weiner
Chief Happiness Officer

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"When I was 5 years old my mother always told me that happiness was the key to life. When I went to school they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down "happy". They told me I didn't understand the assignment. I told them they didn't understand life" - John Lennon

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Read more inspiring messages from our employees HERE

Inspire ME Friday: Find Your Passion, Create Your Focus, And Success Will Follow.

"Success depends on focus. Focus depends on passion. Find your passion, create your focus, and success will follow."

Good Morning Folks,

A client sends this morning's inspirational message to share:



==> Get Inspired: Find Your Passion, Create Your Focus, And Success Will Follow 
by Ton De Graaf

Just watched the October 19th special event, filmed live at the Apple campus in Cupertino, California where Apple celebrated Steve's life. What a legacy that man leaves behind, just awesome. From a business and executive coach's perspective (yep, that's me) a few thoughts:

Only great leaders create great companies. Great leaders will challenge and inspire their people in their quest for excellence. People will only experience a feeling of pride when they worked hard for their success. If success comes easily, overnight, without too much effort, pride will not enter the equation.

The quest for excellence never stops and is all around. In every piece of packaging. Every swipe of the finger. Every "How can I help you?" 

Everything.

And it doesn't matter just some of the time. It matters all of the time. A great leader must be able to light that spark of continuous improvement within each and every employee. One cannot become motivated just because the boss says so. Only intrinsically motivated people are able to amaze themselves and as a result amaze the world.

Whether you're making a product or offering a service, it all starts with the passion you have for whatever you do and the ability you have to focus your energy to become successful. A great leader creates a clear and compelling vision that makes people passionate.

Success depends on focus. Focus depends on passion.  

Find your passion, create your focus, and success will follow.

The people at Apple have a passion, they've created their focus and became extremely successful by creating products that amazed the world and we now all love.....and that's an emotion.

And it all started with one man and his quest for excellence who became successful by connecting his business to emotions and emotions to business and by attracting passionate people to make it all happen. Quite an accomplishment.

Just some thoughts.....

Like at Apple, the single most  important thing about our culture is, it never wears off. It doesn’t go away. It’s there every day, and it has a huge impact on everything that matters to every business we serve. 

We have the best people in the industry from our mail rooms, front of house, office services, Experience Directors, Regional Directors, Future Leaders and everyone in HQ, to our Executive Leadership Team, marketing, finance, operations, sales and people solutions. There are so many people willing to help our employees at FSO that they can learn from, to make them better in their careers.

For our clients, our commitment to exceeding your expectations, ensuring that every single teammate is the best trained and best prepared employee they can be is what sets us apart!

As Shalaine would say, "Have a great day filled with purpose & love; make each moment count!! LET’S ROCK IT!!!"

Have a GREAT weekend!

Mitchell D. Weiner

Chief Happiness Officer  

Read inspiring messages from our employees HERE

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“If you do not go after go after what you want, you will never have it. 

If you do not ask, the answer will always be NO. 

If you do not step forward, you will always be in the same place."

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About Ton De Graaf: Ton is one of the very few coaches in the world who is designated by the Worldwide Association of Business Coaches as a Chartered Business Coach™ (ChBC™) after a vigorous and independent assessment conducted by the Middlesex University and the Professional Development Foundation in the UK

Inside FSO: The Making of a Memorable Guest Experience

“Since shifting from in-house to outsourcing the cost is better and performance has improved”

Good Morning Folks,

A picture is worth a thousand words. So today we take you inside FSO to show you the before and after ways we never stop (re) imagining a better way to work for you.

For example the centerpiece of a memorable guest experience starts with Our Informationalist Hub (known elsewhere as "Front of House")

The hub is staffed and managed by FSO’s specially cross-trained teams or “Informationalists” who provide a wide array of administrative services from Meet & Greet to meeting room bookings, supply management, invoice reconciliation, scanning and hot desk/hoteling management services behind the Front Desk. (The possibilities are endless!)

• FSO sees the Informationalist Hub™ as the future direction of The Guest Experience and has invested considerable time in research and development in forming the right mix of staff, technology and skills to make this an effective and cost efficient service model

• FSO Exclusive i-Kiosks  are designed to provide a flexible mix of any Administrative Services offerings based on your organization’s needs and desires: End-users can use to submit job tickets, track packages, receive updates and news and see the great things that are happening within your operation firsthand in an engaging and interactive format.  

• Innovative expansion of services includes: Social media support, remote worker coordination, help desk overflow services, presentation services

FSO is driven by fun, passionate people and the value they create. We hire, retain and assign people with that deep inner passion to perform — the spirit that gives them that fire in the belly, that twinkle in the eye, boundless pride in their work and the drive to succeed. New and legacy staff are always attracted to FSO and are inspired by our performance based rewards and opportunities for advancement. At the end of the day, passion is really important. You can’t fake passion—you either have it or you don’t!

Have  a look at how we are raising the bar for hospitality. Then jumping over it:

FSO will never stop (re)IMAGINING the possibilities that exist in the onsite outsourcing world. The way in which business is being conducted and communicated is being revolutionized by FSO. 

For example at mega ad agency Y&R: Y&R had spent nearly 90 years on 285 Madison Ave without having a personal concierge service. In addition, the shift of moving to a newer location felt dramatic, the primary objective and expectation was to have a solid "shoe guy" and "cleaner" in place.

Today Ben, our concierge extraordinaire, has transformed this function into  total service that makes employees lives easier by taking the errands and tasks off their backs and into our capable hands and also relieves stress with massages and other health and happy indulgences.

Says Ben, "I start very early, ready to rock at 8:00 a.m. with a gigantic smile, offering a friendly good morning to everyone who passes by the desk!  Quickly on, the first collection of personal mail trickles in. As the staff/employees begin arriving so do requests for repairs: ripped sweaters, jeans that need hemmed, shirts to be laundered, shoes to go out for sole repair and a quick shine don't forget! In the midst of these urgency's we track a lost parcel for someone, and a Creative Director has just appeared needing her watch cleaned and a battery replaced."

"It's in the great FSO spirit that makes me feel accomplished each and every day when I can make someone's life that much easier while at work. Our clients at Y&R are always on my mind, and servicing them is something I live, breathe, and FEEL, and I want them to FEEL it too!"

And other clients love what we are doing for them too:

“People show up and work gets done. The front desk changed to outsourced model and is very successful.” 

“They are like proactive, like a breath of fresh air. They’re well dressed, presentable and… cheaper!” 

“Since shifting from in-house to outsourcing the cost is better and performance has improved” 

“Always doing more to assist is what hospitality is all about.”   

“The way you anticipate needs and show the care and passion for what you do in commendable!” 

“We are convinced the did the right thing and picked the right company. Things are getting done that were overlooked before, because we have the manpower and expertise that was lacking and, as a result, improvements are being made all the time. I couldn’t be happier with my decision and to present this building to my staff”

These enhanced services and capabilities are just the tip of the iceberg of future enhancements and investments the company continues to make. 

So, if you'd like to turn those outsourcing frowns to smiles, talk to us, witness us. We'll   take you on a tour of client sites and and let you taste the FSO experience first-hand. You'll see how different life has become for some of the best known-brands in the world.

Call me personally at 212-204-1193.

Feel the FSO Experience - and ensure everyone around you does too. 

Here's to a wonderful day!

Love Life!

Mitchell D. Weiner

Chief Happiness Officer  

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"An apology is the superglue of life. It can repair just about anything." 

~~ Lynn Johnston

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