In this episode, Jeff speaks with Chip Conley, Founder of Joie de Vivre Hospitality, and author of the book Emotional Equations.
Here are a few of our favorite Big Ideas + Other Cool Stuff from this week:
Big Idea #1: Despair = Suffering - Meaning
Out of Chip’s own experience of feeling like a prisoner, he turned the book Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl into a simple math equation, so he could remember on a daily basis what was important from Frankl’s writings:
Despair = Suffering – Meaning
The constant in this equation: suffering.
Suffering is always around, it’s always present, it’s just how prevalent and persistent it is.
Meaning is the variable. Remind yourself: in every situation, there are lessons to be learned right now. As meaning goes up, despair goes down.
For example:
3 (Despair) = 10 (Suffering) – 7 (Meaning)
If you raise the meaning to 8, Despair = 2
Big Idea #2: Get Inside Yourself!
How do you show up with your emotions?
Do you say, “They got the best of me,” like they're an evil twin? They can also represent the best of you, if you have an understanding of what’s going on inside!
Once you understand the ingredients of what’s going on, you can understand why anxiety, authenticity, and joy are showing up!
Chip's path for helping with burnout: Meditation – this takes him out of the external world and into the internal world.
Use whatever method you can to help you get inside yourself and slow down.
Big Idea #3: Meaning IN Your Work
We need to find meaning IN our work, not just AT where we work.
If you’re working for a place you love, but counting paper clips, you’ll eventually realize that there's no meaning in your work there.
The "purpose" piece in your life is as important as the functional piece (what you do) – the ultimate opportunity is to find something that combines both: you’ll be alive, alert, awake, and creative!
Other Cool Stuff:
“Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.”
~Viktor Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning
Check out a few of the articles about finding happiness at work from the Harvard Business Review's Jan/Feb issue
Book Recommendations from Chip:
- Molecules Of Emotion: The Science Behind Mind-Body Medicine by Candace B. Pert
- The Service Profit Chain: How Leading Companies Link Profit and Growth to Loyalty, Satisfaction, and Value by James L. Heskett, W. Earl Sasser, and Leonard A. Schlesinger
- Firms of Endearment: How World-Class Companies Profit from Passion and Purpose by Rajendra S. Sisodia, David B. Wolfe, and Jagdish N. Sheth (site for the book)
Here's the book trailer for Emotional Equations - learn more at the site!
Chip has also taught a class in the en*theos Academy: PEAK: How Great Companies Get Their Mojo from Maslow!
We hope you enjoyed and tune in next week!
-The en*theos Team
About Chip Conley
In 1987, at the age of 26 with no industry experience, Chip transformed a seedy 1950's "no-tell motel" into the world-renowned Phoenix Hotel, a legendary rock 'n roll destination catering to the likes of David Bowie, Linda Ronstadt and Nirvana, and launched Joie de Vivre (JDV Hospitality).
After 24 years as JDV’s Chief Executive Officer, Chip now sees himself as a “Chief Emotions Officer” in his role as Strategic Advisor to the company he founded, and in his work as an author and international speaker. In his new book, Emotional Equations: Simple Truths for Creating Happiness + Success (Free Press, January 2012), Chip guides readers further down the path from emotional intelligence to emotional fluency – using math as a way to better understand and manage our emotions.
Website: http://www.jdvhotels.com
Book: Emotional Equations: Simple Truths for Creating Happiness + Success
