Who is the author of The Joy in Business?

The author of The Joy in Business is Joy J D Baldridge.

Career & Success

The Joy in Business Book Summary - The Joy in Business Book explained in key points

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The Joy in Business summary

Name: The Joy in Business
Rating: 3.8 (73 reviews)
Author: Joy J D Baldridge

Joy J D Baldridge

Innovative Ideas to Find Positivity (and Profit) in Your Daily Work Life

3.8 (73 ratings)

24 mins

Brief summary

The Joy in Business by Joy J D Baldridge is a guide that helps readers discover true joy, purpose and fulfillment in their careers. Through personal stories, it provides insights on how to create a successful and meaningful path in one's professional life.

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Happy Success

Table of Contents

The Joy in Business
Summary of 8 key ideas

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Key idea 1 of 8

What’s in it for me? Get some tools for living a more joyful life.

When you think about a tool, what’s the first thing that comes to mind? It’s probably a hammer, a screwdriver or some other physical object.

But a tool can also be a verbal or mental device, such as a phrase, an idea or an analogy that helps us to think about something more effectively. These linguistic and conceptual tools can be even more useful than their physical counterparts. After all, by reshaping our thoughts, they can also help us to change our behaviors and thus our very lives!

In the following blinks, you’ll find a treasure chest full of these tools, along with some other nifty tricks and techniques that can help you boost your career and be happier in both your personal and professional lives.

In these blinks, you’ll discover

a pair of powerful metaphors that can change how you see the world;
a wide range of techniques for thinking more positively; and
a versatile set of tricks for improving your communication skills.

You can change the emotional state toward which you tend to gravitate.

Conceptual tools come in many forms, but few of them pack such a big punch as the metaphor. We’re going to begin with one such metaphor – a simple but powerful way to reconceptualize your emotions and find more happiness in life.

To understand the metaphor, begin by imagining four houses. Each house corresponds to one of the four primary emotions from which all of our other emotions are ultimately derived: sadness, anger, gladness and fear. In each house, you’ll find a wide range of variations on the primary emotion it represents – variations such as sorrow, despair and devastation in the House of Sad; annoyance, anger and fury in the House of Mad; contentment, happiness and elation in the House of Glad; and nervousness, panic and terror in the House of Scared.

From day to day, hour to hour or even minute to minute, we tend to move from one house to the next. For example, imagine someone loses something that’s important to you – a family heirloom, let’s say. You might start off in the House of Sad, as you lament your loss. Then you might move into the House of Mad, as you get angry at the person for losing the heirloom.

But despite all this moving around, one of the houses tends to be our primary place of residence – the one where we spend most of our time. For example, if you wake up with anxiety every morning and feel nervous throughout the day, you might be living in the House of Scared.

Now, here’s the bad news: most of us tend to live in the houses of Sad, Mad or Scared. Sometimes we find ourselves in the House of Glad, but we’re more like occasional visitors than residents there. But here’s the good news: if you’re dwelling too much in one of the negative houses, there’s a simple solution: move out of it!

Of course, that’s easier said than done.

In the next blink, we’ll start looking at practical steps for moving into the House of Glad. But the point of the metaphor is simply to realize that moving is possible. If you’re feeling some variant of sad, mad or scared most of the time, the emotion isn’t a permanent condition; it’s a temporary dwelling place, which you can leave behind.

The House of Glad awaits you!

By blocking light from your eyes and controlling your breath, you can recharge yourself.

So how do you make the House of Glad your primary place of residence? Well, to play on the house metaphor some more, you’ve got to pay your RENT! That’s an acronym for Rest, Exercise, Nutrition and Thoughts. To live a happy life, you’ve got to maintain healthy habits in all four of these areas. In this blink, we’ll focus on rest. Then we’ll look at the other areas.

Now, when we talk about rest, we’re not just talking about getting enough sleep. Rest is anything that helps you refresh yourself. Regardless of how much sleep you get, you could probably use some more refreshment throughout the day. Here are two quick ways to get it.

You can get more exercise and better nutrition by taking small steps, embracing spontaneity and eating protein.

Now we come to the letter E of the RENT you need to pay to live in the House of Glad: exercise. If that word sends shivers down your spine, don’t worry. This blink isn’t going to be about trying to get you to run a 5K on a daily basis.

On the contrary, it’s about recognizing that setting lofty exercise objectives like these can be counterproductive. That’s because it takes a lot of planning and dedication to achieve them. For example, you’ve got to figure out a way to fit that 5K run into your busy day – perhaps by sleeping in your running clothes and doing it first thing in the morning.

You can foster positive behavior through positive thinking.

Last but certainly not least, we come to the final letter of the RENT acronym: T for thoughts. This is arguably the most important component of the RENT we need to pay to live in the House of Glad. After all, if you don’t have healthy thoughts about rest, exercise and nutrition, you’re not going to be able to cover the first three parts of your RENT! They’re a prerequisite to getting everything else right.

More broadly speaking, our thoughts shape our behaviors in general, so they’re crucial in all areas of our personal and professional lives. The more positive our thoughts are, the more positive our behaviors will be. Conversely, negative thoughts tend to lead to negative behaviors.

A variety of self-talk techniques can help you to cultivate positive thinking.

Our next positive self-talk technique comes courtesy of a nineteenth-century French psychologist named Émile Coué. It’s called autosuggestion, also known as flooding.

To do this, simply repeat the same positive statement over and over again – 20 times in a row, once in the morning and once at night. Try doing this every day for a month and see how it works out for you. Better yet, take it to the next level and also practice it during idle moments of the day, such as waiting in line or driving somewhere.

With the help of two acronyms and an idea taken from statistics, you can free yourself of your worries, anxieties and fears.

To take up residence in the House of Glad, you’ll probably need to get yourself out of the House of Scared. Unfortunately, that’s where most of us tend to live. As we go through our days, we’re almost constantly troubled by our Worries, Anxieties and Fears – or WAFs, in short.

So the question becomes, How do we say goodbye to our WAFs? Well, here’s yet another of the author’s acronyms to the rescue: PAR. That stands for Prevent, Acknowledge and Release.

With four words and a trophy, you can instantly improve the feedback you give to other people.

As we’ve seen, the language we use can have a powerful effect on us. And of course it can also have a major impact on other people in our lives. Just think about how much criticism can sting your ego or a compliment can lift your mood. Words can improve or injure our relationships – so let’s take a look at how we can use them to do more of the first and less of the second.

Now, for many of us, giving critical feedback can be one of our main sticking points when communicating with colleagues, friends and family alike. It’s hard to deliver such feedback without hitting the sensitive spots of someone’s self-esteem too hard. Fortunately, there’s an easy-to-assemble tool that can soften the blow: the Velvet Hammer.

You can communicate more effectively by understanding the languages of different personality types.

We started these blinks by touring the four houses of emotion. Now we’re going to end them by surveying the four lands of personality. With this metaphor in hand, you’ll really be able to take your language game to the next level!

To start off, imagine four countries. Each one represents a different personality type, which is defined by a different motivation. First, there’s the “Land of Social” people. Their motivation is to be accepted and noticed by the people around them. Then, there’s the “Land of Factual” people. They’re obsessed with accuracy. Next, there’s the “Land of Driven” people. Their focus is on winning. And finally, there’s the “Land of Helpful” people. They’re all about giving a hand.

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What is The Joy in Business about?

The Joy in Business (2019) provides a treasure trove of practical tools, tips and techniques for achieving more happiness and success in both our personal and professional lives. Drawing from her experiences as a business consultant, trainer and motivational speaker, the author pulls together the many bits of wisdom that she’s shared with audiences and companies around the world.

The Joy in Business Review

The Joy in Business (2012) is a book that explores the connection between joy and success in the business world, and why it is worth reading. Here's why this book is a good investment of your time:

With its practical tips and strategies, it provides readers with actionable advice to create a more joyful and fulfilling work environment.
Through inspiring stories and personal experiences, the author highlights the importance of emotional intelligence and building authentic connections in business.
The book's insightful perspectives challenge conventional wisdom, keeping readers engaged and eager to explore new possibilities in their own professional lives.

Who should read The Joy in Business?

Positive thinkers looking for some positivity boosters
Negative thinkers ready to change their minds
Anyone looking for a little more joy in their lives

About the Author

Joy Baldridge is the founder and president of Baldridge Seminars International and Top Notch Training and Development. She’s worked as a consultant, trainer and motivational speaker with a more than 200 companies and organizations, including American Express, GE Capital Corporation, JP Morgan and IBM. Her writing has appeared in magazines such as Time Out New York, Working Mother, American Health and Parents. The Joy in Business is her first book.

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Career & Success Mindfulness & Happiness

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