Have you ever come across such an exciting offer?– “More happiness credited to your life-account, stress busted out, greater productivity and returns, fear and worry battled out, lemons turned into lemonade, chances of success multiplied manifold, and many more…” – ALL FOR FREE!
Surprised! Isn't it? But, friends, this offer is truly genuine and reliable. Here is the proof... All the above features can be cumulatively equated to one attribute, i.e. 'Enthusiasm.' And, since enthusiasm costs nothing, so, you can enjoy all these exciting features for free, just by being enthusiastic in life. Here, it is important to note that enthusiasm is not synonymous to excitement. While excitement comes and goes, enthusiasm befriends us for a longer period. Unlike excitement, enthusiasm doesn't go up and down; instead, it helps us in crossing through the ups and downs that we encounter in our lives. The difference between the two terms can also be highlighted technically through the following stress-strain curve (Fig. A).
In this curve, Zone A is termed as the 'Elastic Range' and Zone B is termed as the 'Plastic Range'. The elastic zone differs from the plastic zone in the sense that in the former, the object falls back to its original state once the strain is removed; whereas, in the latter, the change gets embedded into the object. In other words, the elastic zone represents a temporary transition whereas the plastic zone represents a permanent shift. It is clear that Zone A is indicative of excitement which comes and goes, whereas Zone B refers to enthusiasm which sticks for greater amount of time.
Let's explore what all enthusiasm offers us in our life and how it proves beneficial in terms of happiness, output, success, performance and in overcoming difficulties.
Business statistics support the fact that success bears direct proportionality with enthusiasm – enthusiasm of employees as well as the leaders. Companies tend to enjoy long-term success by boosting the morale of their workers through different strategies. Surveys have revealed the reason behind this connection. They tell us that enthusiasm propels an employee to look for innovative ways to improve things rather than simply reacting to management's requests; he accepts the task with an energetic and challenging spirit, which helps him in overcoming all sorts of obstacles, thus clearing the way to his goal. That is why, enthusiastic employees are considered as an asset for an organisation.
Coming to enthusiasm in leaders and its relation with success, here is an example... The two main reasons behind the grand success of Steve Jobs, the late cofounder of Apple Computers, were his optimism and enthusiasm. Steve Jobs was known for his enthusiastic style of giving presentations. His presentations were studded with energy-boosting words like “extraordinary,” “amazing,” “incredible,” etc. It was this electrifying enthusiasm, which made Apple sell 20,000 iPods every day!
Lyubomirsky and other researchers discovered the factors that determine our happiness. They represented these factors through a pie-chart. According to the chart, about 50% of our well-being is determined by an inherited happiness set-point; about 10% is related to our circumstances. And, the remaining 40% is attributed to the way we approach the things. Certainly, if we are enthusiastic in our approach towards life, if we take up our activities with zeal and spirit, it will contribute to our happiness. It's basically a chain reaction, wherein the enthusiasm of an employee triggers the spirit to win-over the hurdles and difficulties, which, in turn, imparts inner satisfaction and happiness. This further enhances one's spirit and the chain goes on as expressed below:
Enthusiasm ------- Spirit to win-over hurdles & difficulties ------- Better results ------- More happiness ------- Boosted Morale ------- Enhanced zeal to take up even more difficult challenges and so on...
ENTHUSIASM α PERFORMANCE & PRODUCTIVITY
Jeffrey Pfeffer concludes in his comprehensive review of the research that with enthusiastic employees companies are 30 to 40 percent more productive. Studies reveal that enthusiastic employees are able to work in all kinds of hours to get things done up to the mark. Routinely, they happen to produce significantly more than what the job requires. One can estimate the performance of enthusiastic employees vs. those who are dull and dispirited, with the help of the People Performance Model as depicted below. In this model, along the two axes, the factors are: willingness to perform (i.e. enthusiasm) and capability to learn. One may note that high enthusiasm when clubbed with high capability entitles that person as a 'rising star'. However, when both enthusiasm and the capability fall, that person is termed as a 'deadwood' and is included in the list of those required to be removed from the company. Hence, enthusiasm plays a crucial role in deciding the performance of an individual.
However, after knowing all these benefits of enthusiasm, the moot question arises: “How to build real enthusiasm in oneself?” The word 'enthusiasm' itself provides the answer. Enthusiasm comes from the Greek word enthousiasmos (meaning, inspiration or possession by a divine afflatus or a god), which ultimately comes from the adjective entheos (meaning, in God or having God within). In other words, to derive real enthusiasm, we need to establish our connection with its eternal and perennial source, i.e. God. Once we are tuned to the Lord within (not in words but practically through the time-proven technique of Divine Knowledge), we become the possessors of one of the most precious jewels, i.e.
