‘If you aren?t doing what you want to now, stop!’

Shine: How to Survive and Thrive at Work is Chris Bar?z-Brown?s fresh road map for getting maximum out of your work to live up your life. The book is full of examples like how Bono can guide you to become Elvis at work and why office naps can lead to creative success. His endeavour as the founder of Upping Your Elvis is to help ordinary people live extraordinary lives. He works with global companies like Coca-Cola, Nike and Citibank. Excerpts from an email interview with Rajiv Tikoo of The Financial Express:

If one has grown up, just working, isn?t it difficult to change and attempt to thrive?

It?s never too late to thrive! Otherwise you have given in to the circumstances around you, not to your unique, innate talents that can create amazing possibility.

How does one balance short-term day-to-day needs with long-term lofty aspirations?

There is only today. If you aren?t doing what you want to now, stop! Today must ladder up to who you want to be tomorrow, so live it now.

Most people get drawn into responding to the situation around them rather than shaping it. How do people break free?

By being aware that they have a choice on how they want to live their lives. You must be clear on who you are and what you want and then life will reward you by sending you opportunities as opposed to blowing you chaotically around.

Though most people believe in working to live and not living to work, but they tend to forget it often. Is there a prescription to get out of this mindset?

We all need reminders. I write books about it to keep me true. Others have pictures in their pockets, alarms on their phones, friends who check in with the reminders. Every time you remember that you are extraordinary and have choice in how you lead this life, you become more conscious. Keep doing it and maybe one day you won’t forget.

What is your mantra for leading a good life?

We aren’t human beings enjoying a spiritual experience, but spiritual beings enjoying a human one.

SHINE BRIGHT

Work is a huge part of who we are. Not only does it give us money to live, it shapes our most important life decisions: where we live, who our friends are, the time we spend with our families. Work can define how we see ourselves, often wrongly.

It consumes enormous amounts of our time, energy and focus. The much-used motto of the working populace is: ?I don?t live to work, I work to live?. That doesn?t add up.

If you work full time you probably spend at least forty-five hours a week at work, more than ten hours preparing for and travelling to it, countless hours recovering from it ? and weekends thinking about it. Surely, in order to live life to the full, you must love your work too. You have to create some impact, be yourself and shine as brightly as you can. Otherwise it would be a huge waste of life. You?d just be taking up space. Work is designed to trap us. It is complex and devious. It is hard to even notice the trap?which is why so many of us fall into its clutches. There is always the next thing to strive for. Few ever see the bigger picture; most see only next week. When we are young, most of us take on mortgages that keep us focused on paying off a twenty-five-year debt; this is hardly conducive to taking creative risks and breaking the rules. The grand plan keeps us busy and keeps our heads down, rarely giving us a glimpse of what could be. Of what we could be. Before long we are shaped by what is around us and not by possibility. Our fears make us play safe and play the game. So many people die without achieving their dreams, settling instead for just comfort and security. But it doesn?t have to be this way. Work can be the most rewarding aspect of our lives. It can make us grow, nourish us and even entertain us. It can connect us to worlds we can only dream of and reward us with an enviable lifestyle. It can be stimulating, exciting and fun. Work can be the best game in town. The question to ask yourself is: ?How can I be better at playing that game?

WHO?S ELVIS AROUND HERE?

Bono, the lead singer of U2, is one of the world?s best known advocates of human rights. When he goes into any organization as part of his well-publicized mission to eradicate Third World debt, the first question he asks is: ?Who?s Elvis around here?? It?s a fabulous question. The Elvis Bono is looking for is the person who stands out, breaks the rules, makes things happen, shines more brightly, and probably loves every minute of it. I believe everyone can be a bit more Elvis. Everyone has the ability to stand out. Imagine that every day you could jump out of bed, loving what you are about to do, excited by the game you are going to play, and knowing that you can only win. That?s a very powerful place to be, and provides more laughs per minute than most people experience in a week.

Shining brightly can manifest itself in all business activities. It could be the way you run meetings. It may be that when you interview someone, you try to ensure that the interviewee learns and grows through the process rather than just responds to your questions. It might be that every time you walk through reception, you spread a little happiness and humour. The manner in which you shine is down to you. The only essentials are that shining should be fun, human and engaging, and that you put a little of your unique magic into the business. Shine is for everyone who wants to shine brighter at work. This book is an alarm call. It is shouting: ?Wake up!?

You can work to live and be ordinary, or you can live through your work and be both extraordinary and fulfilled. The only limitation is you: your energy, your belief, your perspective. By playing with Shine you will learn how to be a bit more Elvis and how to get a bellyful of the laughs that are on offer at work.

Bring it on ?

CHOOSE TO STAND OUT

Shining isn?t compulsory. If anything, the opposite is true. Society certainly won?t encourage you to shine; it will do its best to make you fit in, small and unnoticed.

Business needs its worker ants, those who turn up every day and toe the line, head down, never challenging the status quo. Most managers will admit that it?s harder to manage Elvises. The talented ones are too much for a mediocre manager to bear, as they constantly strive to improve standards. So there is plenty of space for you to carry on in this world without causing ripples, without being noticed, and no one will object if you do. But there is another option. You can be you. All of you. You can be that extraordinary human being that you have always known lies deep within you.

You can decide that it?s time for the real you to cast off the shackles you have been using to define yourself, and shine in all that you do.

You can stand tall, take a huge bite out of this life and savour the taste. The choice is yours. Why aren?t you making it? If you are scared, what are you scared of? What can really go wrong? If you are lazy, take a good look at the person you?ll become if you don?t change. If you don?t know how, read this book. And if you just don?t want to change, then why did you buy it?

KNOW WHAT YOU STAND FOR

Things change because people care. There is no point trying to have a big impact on something that is meaningless to you. Why would you bother? We also have a need for focus. Without it we don?t function well?our brains are less efficient and our energy becomes dispersed. So we have to choose carefully where to invest our time.

To really stand out, we have to know what we stand for. History is littered with people who have achieved extraordinary things because they had no choice.

Geldof and Gandhi believed so adamantly that they must change the world, so they just had to.

The Sultan?s Elephant

One of the most spectacular events I have ever seen took place in London in 2006, when the centre of the capital was sealed off so that a 40-tonne elephant could be paraded through its heart. The elephant in question was the Sultan?s Elephant, a twelve-metre-tall puppet created by French artists Royal de Luxe, and over one million people came to see it. The show had an incredible effect: people were crying in the street, overcome by emotion. It was nothing like a typical London day.

After the terrorist bombings in July 2005 London had become highly policed. The idea of shutting the streets for a work of art sounded crazy; but not to Helen Marriage. She was the producer of the event through her company, Artichoke, a visionary who believed passionately in bringing the remarkable spectacle to the people of London. When she agreed to take on the project, however, the Metropolitan Police, Buckingham Palace, the Royal Parks and London Transport had all refused permission for it to go ahead. Undeterred, she eventually managed to persuade all the relevant authorities and bring the city?s commercial centre to a halt, all with a core team of four. It was a monumental achievement. On a typical weekend Oxford Street is visited by over a million people and is the scene of many arrests. The same number came to witness the Sultan?s Elephant and the police arrested no one. London was touched.

Time stood still. An extraordinary moment happened all because one woman stood up for something that she really believed in. London shone a bit brighter because of Helen Marriage. Although there were many talented people involved in making the event happen, David Aukin, Chair of Artichoke, gives us a sense of why she achieves what she does: ?Helen is exceptional, and not only because she makes it impossible to say no to her. She has the gift not only of making you believe anything and everything is possible, but then also of proving that it is.?

The good fight

These days, it?s all too easy not to care about anything very much at all. Life is easy. Most of us have all we need to succeed and thrive in comfort. In the developed world, few are hungry, cold or homeless unless by choice or catastrophic circumstance. Few are exposed to the really dark side of human nature or plumb the very depths of despair. Most of us live our lives on autopilot and wrapped in what is seen on the news can seem as unreal as a Hollywood film. Our headspace for soul searching is limited because we fill every moment with stimulus so we hardly ever hear what?s inside. We keep our minds busy by flitting from one indulgence to another, or one to another. No wonder there are fewer rebels these days. What is there left to fight against? Plenty. I believe there are many things we should all feel strongly about, things we can stand for, things that would make the world a better place. I am not talking about lofty causes like banishing famine or war, but the principles behind those actions, such as fairness and humanity. They are in us all, but are often anaesthetized by the hamster-wheel of society. What?s important to you, important enough to fight for, important enough to make a stand? What have you read that has created a real reaction in you? What have been the real highs and lows of the last year, and why? What was it that created such resonance in you? Are you passionate about learning and growth, trying new things, diversity? Do you feel challenged by exciting stimulation, collaboration, or risk taking? Do you love the arts in business, or helping others discover their talents? You can be motivated by anything that gives you energy and helps you make a mark on the world in a unique way. How can it be linked to what you do every day? Once it is, you will have the power of stampeding elephants and the belief that changes the big stuff.

Make it happen.

Extracted from Shine: How to Survive and Thrive at Work with permission from Penguin