I once had a friend who liked dumping all her troubles on me over lunch. On a daily basis we both left feeling frustrated and worn out. Eventually I decided to try an experiment. Every time my friend said something negative I looked at her blankly, but I gave strong approval to positive comments. Within a week, we were both enjoying our lunch more and leaving refreshed.

So how can we communicate more positively and spread encouragement among our friends and colleagues?

Any time you find yourself working with new colleagues there are likely to be pros and cons associated with the situation.  Even if you speak the same language you may not be able to communicate effectively.  But when it comes to succeeding in a diversified, multinational company that employs a staff from around the world, you might have more trouble than normal.  However, you will also enjoy the opportunity to expand your horizons, learn about a new culture, and create business relationships that span the globe (something that could come in handy down the road).  So if you’re nervous about working with foreigners, here are just a few ways to counteract any potential problems while embracing the many benefits of branching out.

Find yourself heading in the right direction but not quite sure about next steps? Your work and your hobbies are two separate things? Don’t have much time to stop, assess, rethink, and restrategize? You need to talk and think it through with people who really listen?

Career visions sometimes go “astray”

Finding a livelihood that fills your passion can be a roundabout path that takes time to unfold.

And if you’ve ever been in a visioning workshop, you might know how hard it can be to steer your thoughts where you think they’re supposed to go. They go where they need to go. Then maybe later to where you want them to go.

Your customers, clients, and associates want to know the "real" you. They want to know if they can trust you.

They want to know if your book will truly help them with their needs, or if your product will help them succeed, or if your service will answer their questions, or if your consulting will provide guidance.

People want to know how you entertain, educate, or inform them. They want to know if you provide quality, and they look to your public persona to "suss out" if you're trustworthy or not.

Here are ten ways to adopt a "resource provider" perspective when working with your existing customers.