We thought we would focus this month on the concept of being open as a key to happiness at work. This may seem a bit random but here is where we are coming from: Caitlin just got back from four days in Los Angeles. As many of you know, Caitlin LOVES a business trip to LA more than almost anything else. She has her favorite hotel, her favorite restaurants and her favorite people. A bit of a Type A, Caitlin packs her schedule with as many appointments as she can. A typical day looks like this: breakfast meeting, mid-morning coffee catch up, lunch meeting, afternoon coffee, evening cocktails and finally dinner. By 11pm she’s full and exhausted but she loves it.

Let’s look back to a few years ago when Caitlin hated going on business trips. She felt uncomfortable in hotels, anxious about meeting newpeople and didn’t feel like she could ever be herself. Being a company girl, she went on the trips when it was required but her emotional state was closed to anything and anyone. This meant that even if someone offered her an idea that would double her business on a silver platter she most likely wouldn’t be able to accept it. This didn’t get her very far nor did she end up signing up a lot of out-of-town business during this time. It was only when she began to enjoy meeting new people and could be her authentic self that the trips became profitable.

In everyway business trips have become successful because Caitlin has learned to go into them wide open to meeting new people, hearing new ideas and most of all she is always up for thinking about work (and herself) in new ways.

Being open to the idea of people you meet in business becoming friends is also an extra bonus. Because who knows who you will meet on your travels? If you take the time to exchange a few real ideas and personal anecdotes with the people you are meeting with you might be surprised. Caitlin met with a woman in LA for business who turned out to love baking as much as she does. So now instead of talking about just work, they can talk about new cookbooks and great recipes, and she’s even promised to take Caitlin to a few markets and bakeries the next time she’s in town.

So the point? Be yourself even when you’re on the road and embrace every opportunity to meet new people.