How does happiness “work?” Here are three quick stories from my own life that have given me a hint about how happiness might create good things in life.

A leader who wants to incorporate the findings of positive psychology into his or her enterprise must “fly high cover” for that process to give it time to happen. Last week, when I taught …

Martial Virtues by Charles Hackney, PhD, is an obvious gift for anyone who practices the martial arts.  Anyone in a high-conflict profession can relate to it – lawyers, for example.  For all of us, however, the …

Detecting Icebergs
Recently, I was teaching “Detecting Icebergs”, one of the resilience skills described in The Resilience Factor.  The participants had practiced the skills themselves, and we were talking about how to teach them.  I mentioned …

When I speak to lawyers at continuing legal education (CLE) events, I often mention that we do not accredit topics such as resilience, optimism, energy, strengths, etc., because we want lawyers to feel better. Mandatory …

Chris Peterson has written that the study of positive institutions is “the acknowledged weak link of positive psychology.” Law is certainly a key institution that could use some reshaping based on positive psychology research …

Cruised any politics related web sites recently? Seen any angry, sarcastic, personal attacks wrapped in "humor"? I suspect that for many participants, there are very real consequences. What to do? I have two suggestions, one from my political experience and one from that great political philosopher, Walt Disney.

We tend to think of resilience as an individual quality — I or you, he or she. However if you are surrounded by happy, hopeful, optimistic, resilient individuals, you are also likely to manifest those qualities. In Joker One by Donovan Campbell, a Marine lieutenant led a platoon of 40 men in Ramadi, the site of some of the heaviest sustained fighting in Iraq.

The “Positive Psychology Pyramid” is an approach to organizing positive psychology research to help those seeking “better” to move forward. What’s your metaphor or organizing image? (For those who like an organic theme, see the end of the post.)

We are in the worst financial downturn since the Great Depression, but it may offer real opportunities for gains in well-being for both lawyers and teachers. First, let’s consider the effect of money on happiness. Then let’s think about how this downturn can be an opportunity to reconsider the priority of goals for financial gain.