Home All
Category:

All

AllHealthMedicinePathway 3 "Meaning"Positive Feelings

Positive Medicine

by Kathi Norman
written by Kathi Norman

Tadpole in hand

By the time I turned ten years old, I had taken up residence on my concrete driveway with my microscope and dissecting kit dicing out many a lifeless frog’s anatomy. Sometimes it was a tadpole or a toad who received the post-mortem autopsy. The internet was not available, so I used my family’s Collier’s Encyclopedia to identify various structures and to understand what organs, vessels, and tissue underlie skin. One day a neighbor boy was skinning a squirrel. I asked him to dissect out the brain, not knowing that there was a hard bone called the skull that stood in the way of my anatomy lesson. He obliged, and in his attempt to show the neighborhood anatomist a squirrel brain, he ended up cutting his own thumb so badly it required stitches. I took advantage of his open wound to study the muscles of the thumb and shiny white tendinous sheaths.

The need to understand the human condition guided me into the practice of medicine as a physician assistant. Quickly though I realized that patients needed more than medicine. They needed hope, forgiveness, meaning, purpose, and above all, a hefty improvement in optimism. At the same time, I witnessed an incongruity in provider happiness. It was obvious that some physicians were much happier than others. But what was the difference and how could someone so accomplished not be perfectly happy? This article will take us through a brief history of medicine and how positive health emerged from positive psychology eventually leading to the concept of positive medicine. The story provides insight to why medicine has been resistant to embracing positive psychology.

Respiratory Therapist in the ICU

Forging Ahead

By 25 years old, I was caring for patients in intensive care units (ICU) weaving myself through IV lines, feeding tubes, cardiac wires, and the ventilator tubing of very sick people. Medicine is my calling. In a single shift, I could go into and out of flow (moments of intense focus and great concentration) many times. But it has always been clear that medicine needed more. As I honed my medical skills, my thoughts returned often to how to improve the general well-being of patients. I witnessed the profuse occurrence of unhappy medical providers worsening.

Those that practice medicine are known to be dismissive of new ideas and concepts not well researched. Many times, they are dismissive even with well researched new ideas and concepts. I knew that what I would bring to the medical table would need to be evidence-based and scientific. Even so, moving medicine to focus on the provider’s benefit has been much harder than I expected.

History of Medicine

There is no easy answer for how or when medicine originated. It is suspected that early Homo Sapiens were able to reason logically, suggesting that they must have experimented with nature in order to see how it could benefit them. For example, prehistoric man might have used berries, herbs, or roots, testing by trial and error to see if they were advantageous.

Hippocrates, known to most as The Father of Medicine, was born in Kos, Greece in 406 BC. Hippocrates prescribed modifications in lifestyle such as diet and exercise to treat diseases such as diabetes. His approach resembles what is now called lifestyle medicine. However, medicine had been around for over two thousand years before his birth.

Statuette of Imhotep in Louvre

In Ancient Egypt, medicine existed dating back to the days of Imhotep, the Vizier of Djoser during the 27th century B.C. Sir William Osler, known as the Father of Modern Medicine, noted that Imhotep was the true Father of Medicine. The ancient Egyptians were known to explore more natural causes of disease shirking prior concepts of magic in medical practice. Imhotep is credited with describing over 200 diseases and their treatment.

William Osler, a Canadian born internist, is known for revolutionizing medical education by taking it out of the classroom to the patient’s bedside. Osler took every chance he could during his early years in medicine to do an autopsy. His research was conducted chiefly in the postmortem room. Based on a coin toss, Osler chose to occupy the chair of clinical medicine at the University of Pennsylvania from 1884 to 1888, then went on to be instrumental in the creation of Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.

Many events and discoveries affected the history and progress of medicine. In 1910, The Flexner Report, a book length report about the need for revamping and centralizing medical institutions, resulted in the establishment of the biomedical model as the gold standard for medical training. Schools would enact higher admission and graduation standards and adhere strictly to mainstream science in teaching and research.

Kathi Norman, Founder of Positive Medicine

What is Positive Medicine?

At one time, physicians and others frequently and comfortably referred to the art of medicine. Positive Medicine is the science of positive psychology in relation to the practice of medicine artfully used. The goal is optimal health, both of patients and physicians including both physical vitality and psychological well-being.

Positive psychology studies and builds what makes life most worth living.

Positive health followed positive psychology. In 2007, Martin Seligman was asked by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the leading American medical research funder, to explore factors that influence health. Admiring the work done by Seligman on mental health through positive psychology, the funder asked him to address the question, “What is physical health?” Positive health was born. Positive health uses robust research to identify health assets by finding factors that predict health and illness beyond conventional risk factors. Positive health is in line with the World Health Organization description of health as “a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.”

Many researchers were brought together to begin empirically studying

  • Biological health assets, such as appropriate cholesterol levels, high heart rate variability, and cardiorespiratory fitness
  • Subjective health assets, such as positive emotions, life satisfaction, hope, optimism, and a clear sense of meaning and purpose
  • Functional health assets, such as warm relationships with friends and family, a strong marriage, meaningful work, activities in a social community and the ability to fulfill work, family and social roles

Positive Medicine arising from the confluence of Positive Health, Positive Psychology, and the Practice of Medicine


Positive psychology came to my attention long before I started my MAPP degree in 2016 and has not left my side since then. Positive psychology is evidence-based. As I knew it would, positive psychology has had a slow start infiltrating medicine mostly because of it is hard to gain the buy-in of the medical providers. In the last year though, there has been an explosion in sprouting wellness programs in medical institutions. Medical education is paying attention, and preventative medicine is finally taking off.

In 1944, Dr. Burwell, the Dean at Harvard Medical School said in an address to students, “Half of what we are going to teach you is wrong, and half of it is right. Our problem is that we don’t know which half is which.” Medicine is both an art and a science. The art of medicine is the skill of listening and adapting evidence-based medicine to individuals. The communal and cultural influences that distort the ethos of medical practice are complex. It is time for medicine and positive psychology to marry, which I believe will help us circle back to the art as well as the science of healing.

Positive medicine is an approach to wellness in which medical professionals use the science of positive psychology in medical practice for both themselves and their patients. Studies have revealed that not only are physical, mental, and social well-being important components for total health, but they are tightly interrelated. The evidence also shows that a happy, engaged, and fulfilling psychological and social life is not just a consequence of good health. It leads people to live a healthy and long life. Medical providers, patients and their families need positive medicine.
 

 

References
Cameron, I. A., & Pimlott, N. (2015). Art of medicine. Canadian Family Physician Medecin de Famille Canadien, 61(9), 739–740.

Park, N., Peterson, C., Szvarca, D., Vander Molen, R. J., Kim, E. S., & Collon, K. (2014). Positive psychology and physical health: Research and applications. American journal of lifestyle medicine, 10(3), 200–206. doi:10.1177/1559827614550277

Stahnisch, F. W., & Verhoef, M. (2012). The Flexner report of 1910 and its impact on complementary and alternative medicine and psychiatry in North America in the 20th century. Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine. eCAM, Article ID 647896. doi:10.1155/2012/647896

Image credits
Tadpole in hand courtesy of usfs_pnwrs from Flickr via Compfight with Creative commons licensecc
Respiratory Therapist in the ICU By Rcp.basheer – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0 — in Wikimedia
Statuette of Imhotep in the Louvre from Wikimedia

0 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
AllCreativityNaturePositive Emotion

Creativity and the Natural Outdoors

by Cordele Glass
written by Cordele Glass

How exactly can the natural outdoors affect your creative process?

Creative people are often thought of as people who stay inside for long stretches of time, sitting in the dark staring at a computer screen or working in a dim workshop for hours at a time. While much of the creative process can be done indoors, there is mounting evidence that going outside in natural places may offer a real boost to the creative process rather than serve as merely a vacation or distraction. Shibata and Suziki found that even adding a single plant to your indoor working space can boost creative task performance.

Here are a few things to consider if most of your creating is done indoors.

Forest foot path

The Natural World Provides a Large Variety of Interesting Things to Consider

Natural environments offer a massive diversity of experiences within a dizzying array of ecosystems, niches, climates, and weather. Psychologists have found that being open to experiencing new things is directly associated with one’s level of creative thinking and output. Batey and colleagues even go so far as to call the “Openness to Experience” personality trait the “Creative Personality” domain.

Although the causal direction between openness and creativity is still being investigated, the diversity in experiences is abundant enough to inspire anyone. From the exhilaration of cliff jumping or tree climbing to the serenity of hammocking and relaxing by a fire to the rigor of a long trek to the assurance of a gentle breeze and a sip of fresh water, the number of distinct natural experiences are virtually limitless.

This natural diversity is more than merely an exercise in aesthetic appreciation. Mother Nature is also one of our most prodigious and effective problem solvers. There is now an entire field under the domain of Biomimicry which takes the elegant solutions found in natural biological problem solving and applies them to our most pressing modern problems. Things like velcro, bullet trains, and wind turbines have all been made using some of nature’s own ingenuity, and we are nowhere near plumbing the depth of her innovations.

Change of focus

The Outdoors Can Improve Attention and Boost Positive Emotions

Scientists have found that mental fatigue and concentration can be improved by time spent in or looking at nature. Attention is like a muscle that can become fatigued if sustained on one specific thing for too long. Using what is known as Attention Restoration Theory, scientists have begun to find that exposure to natural environments can help the brain recover and replenish its ability to direct attention. This means time in nature can give us more attention available for persistently sticking to our problem solving and seeing our ideas through.

The outdoors has also been shown to help boost positive emotions like awe, wonder, contentment, connection, and just sheer fun.

Not only are these enjoyable and inspirational but they also have cognitive benefits that are directly associated with creativity. Barbara Fredrickson’s Broaden and Build Theory demonstrates that positive emotions work to broaden our attention and increase the amount of content we can maintain in our mind’s eye. A wider scope of attention can be a huge benefit when striving for more interesting ideas or when trying to maintain a wide perspective on a complex project. The Broaden and Build Theory also suggests that positive emotions help to build social resources by binding people together and making us more approachable and nice to be around. This can lead to more collaboration, more abundant resources for projects, and more cross-pollination of ideas.

Nature always creating

Nature Itself is Literally a Creative Process

The reason I personally find the natural outdoors to be a beacon of creative support has been the realization that there are absolutely no “shoulds” or established cultural conventions in the wild. Sure, there are indeed laws and social norms that are present in places like national parks and forests, but these become much more remote and distant when compared with urban living. The trees, rocks, streams, and wildlife are in constant flux, perpetually iterating and unfolding in ways that solve complex problems and support life. Nature itself is literally a creative process. With fewer constraints on thinking, fewer social norms, and fewer pressures to conform, we can more easily recognize ourselves as merely a part of a larger whole. Our individual creativity becomes a facet of something much more vast.

This final point really aligns with some of my favorite aspects of flow, a psychological state in which our skills and challenges are matched, the world fades away, and we feel a deep sense of enjoyment. Firstly, the term flow already implies that our individual selves are being swept along within the ocean of the universe around us. Secondly, a huge aspect of deep flow is a shift in perception of control. Control, both internal and external, becomes largely irrelevant as our actions and awareness merge to produce a seamless and effortless unfolding of events. Our sense of self literally leaves when we’re in a deep flow state (known as hypo-egoism) and we genuinely become the larger system at hand. Losing one’s sense of self and literally becoming this larger system is a phenomenon that has happened to humans for hundreds of years in virtually all cultures. It is currently studied by both Transpersonal Psychologists and Ecopsychologists.

Whether you’re bringing your expressive medium to the side of a creek, having a collaborative meeting while on a mountain hike, or simply taking some time by yourself to sit and breath in the forest, the natural outdoors can be a huge benefit to the creative person, process, and lifestyle.
 

 

References

Shibata, S., & Suzuki, N. (2004). Effects of an indoor plant on creative task performance and mood. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 45(5), 373-381.

Batey, M., Chamorro-Premuzic, T., & Furnham, A. (2010). Individual differences in ideational behavior: Can the big five and psychometric intelligence predict creativity scores?. Creativity Research Journal, 22(1), 90-97. Abstract.

Benyus, J. M. (1997). Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature. Harper Perennial.

Ohly, H., White, M. P., Wheeler, B. W., Bethel, A., Ukoumunne, O. C., Nikolaou, V., & Garside, R. (2016). Attention Restoration Theory: A systematic review of the attention restoration potential of exposure to natural environments. Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health, Part B, 19(7), 305-343.

Wolsko, C., & Lindberg, K. (2013). Experiencing connection with nature: The matrix of psychological well-being, mindfulness, and outdoor recreation. Ecopsychology, 5(2), 80-91.

Fredrickson, B. L. (2001). The role of positive emotions in positive psychology: The broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions. American Psychologist, 56(3), 218.

Csikszentmihalyi, M. (2014). Toward a psychology of optimal experience. In Flow and the Foundations of Positive Psychology: The Collected Works of Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (pp. 209-226). Springer, Dordrecht.

8 Brown, K. W., & Leary, M. R. (Eds.). (2016). The Oxford Handbook of Hypo-egoic Phenomena (Oxford Library of Psychology). Oxford University Press.

Photo Credit

Forest Foot Bridge Photo by Егор Камелев on Unsplash
Head Stand Photo by Nathan McBride on Unsplash
Starry Night Photo by Casey Horner on Unsplash

0 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
AllBook AnnouncementBook ReviewDecision-MakingOverall view of Pos Psych

Decision Making and Adolescent World Views: The Daily Better Interview Part 2

by Kathryn Britton
written by Kathryn Britton

Henry Edwards

In 2019, Henry Edwards published The Daily Better: 365 Reasons for Optimism. I interviewed him on December 12 about why he wrote the book. In the first part of the interview, I learned that he personally changed his world view to be more open and hopeful and that he hopes his book will help others do the same. Today we dig a little deeper. We talk about better ways of making decisions than being driven by fear. We also discuss the impact he has had on the world views of his high school students and explore his plans for a future book targeted for them and their age peers.

Kathryn: Many people seem to be making decisions based on fear. What do you think would be a better basis for decision-making?

Kindergartners exercising in Malaysia

Henry: A lot of decision making starts with problems. What needs to be solved. A better approach is to start by looking at what is already working and how to extend it. One thing that is not happening enough in American education is looking at good examples around the world. Canada, Australia, Estonia, Italy with early childhood education. Japan for elementary education. There are a lot of great best practices out there, but I think we just aren’t looking far enough.

Peter Drucker said that an organization should have an alignment of strengths that makes weaknesses irrelevant. I work in this great school but we spend so much time talking about the problems without necessarily reviewing the many things that are working well. I spend a lot of time building relationships with students because research shows that makes a difference. I think people want to be seen. If students know that I know them and they feel like I’m on their sides, they’ll come to class on time. They’ll do the work. Of course, I’m also at a school that’s very much project-based, where the students have a lot of say. I pay attention to spreading my attention to all of them.

I think organizations and people just generally focus too much on the negative. But most of us are really looking for opportunities. You and I are both writers. I don’t get writer’s block any more because I think, “I’m just gonna put it out there. I’m gonna do my best. I may get negative feedback, but because I have a different perspective, other people might benefit from what I have to say.” I certainly like it when people ask me to read their stuff. Having an abundant connective way of everyday commerce in the world is the way we should make our decisions, not out of fear.

Kathryn: What does science teach us about the benefits of being optimistic?

Henry: We are plastic. We can learn stuff. If we change how we think about something, we can change our futures. There’s so much good out there. Yes, there are problems. But let’s focus on the solutions that are possible. For example, we have models for climate change. Look at the Montreal protocol and its effect on the ozone hole. Pollution has become so much better in many countries than it was 30-40 years ago.

There’s a lot of evidence that having an optimistic outlook has a lot of good outcomes. We tend to have better health, greater success and achievement, experience less stress, have more positive emotions, and live longer. These are pretty robust findings. The question I’m interested in is, “If we change our world view, does that also affect our well-being?” I’m not sure it has been answered yet. We have pretty strong correlational evidence. But has it been proved that if you change this, you will change that?

Kathryn: In your teaching, do you find that you have an impact on the world views, whether optimistic or pessimistic, of your students?

Save the Planet!

Henry: Yes. Let me give you an example. There’s a girl in the school. Let’s call her Jill. Jill is very anxious. I found her in a depressed state one day. She said to me, “I think we are screwed with global warming.” I told her that the two big environmental problems when I was growing up were acid rain and the ozone hole. Nations got together and made them better. I think it changed her world view. She’s a scientist, and she is asking, “Are things really worse?” I’m seeing students question the bad news more.

Kathryn: How has writing this book changed you personally?

Henry: At first, I was afraid of being the optimist on stage, because I thought people would shoot me down, no matter what argument I could give them. But I’ve gotten so much positive feedback. On Sunday, I was at a house with 20 people. They were so moved by the idea that there’s so much good in the world and so many things going right. They had no idea. People have been shocked. One of my coworkers bought the book because she needs the daily basting in stories of progress. We actually do have the efficacy to solve these big problems.

Kathryn: What holds people back from a practice of daily gratitude?

Henry: I think habit. Assuming the worst is easy, but there’s a hangover. When I got sober 26 years ago, I didn’t have a gratitude habit. It was hard to build. People get habituated to the good in the world. We’re habituated now to the fact that few people smoke. But I remember moving through clouds of smoke when I was younger. When we get use to the good, we forget to be grateful for it.

Kathryn: How does your book help people address that?

Mosquito netting, a preventative measure

Henry: It provides a daily reminder of the good. June 18th is about a pioneer in the treatment of malaria. People used to get malaria here in the US, but it and most major mosquito-borne diseases have been controlled. June 19 is about the Gideon decision which gives legal representation to people who can’t pay for it. June 21 is about the GI Bill, certainly a big thing that people forget. The reason we have such high college attainment rates in the US is that the GI Bill got average people into college. Then June 22 is about the Cuyahoga River. We’ve gone from Burn on Big River to the Clean Water Act of 1972 to the Cuyahoga being named the “River of the Year” by the American River Association to celebrate its phenomenal cleanup. Story after story about human progress.

Kathryn: What’s next for you?

Henry: My mission is to co-create a better world by accentuating human goodness and human progress. I think about my own troubles as a kid. My parents did their best, but I was alone a lot, depressed, and didn’t really follow my dreams. I really want to help in a way that I wanted to be helped as a kid. So first I want help people see the good because I was not seeing it as a kid.

Gen Z

I love Gen Z. These kids are interesting, honest, direct, funny, and they know a lot about what they want. I think I speak to them in a way that is respectful, with camaraderie and rapport. So, I want to write a book for teenagers about positive psychology because I don’t think there is such a book yet. I used Dan Lerner’s book last year for my high school class. It’s great, but it’s for college. I want to focus on mindfulness, because I think that’s such an important skill and lifestyle choice. I think a lot of the attentional problems that students have can be aided just with meditation.

I ask myself, “How do I change the world?” It is guided by my own wounds growing up, which were not really being seen and not really being helped. I want to write for high school kids in the age range 14 to 18. I want to write on mindfulness, emotional intelligence, and positive emotions. The top-level idea will be purpose as a way for them to use positive psychology to be happier. Relationships particularly with peer groups are important too. I should have a section on picking friends well, because the people you spend time with can make such a difference.

Kathryn: How would you like to sum up?

Henry: My feeling is just there’s so much goodness that we’re not seeing, not savoring. The things I talk about are real. No iron lungs any more. Look at a picture of my father’s MIT class compared to my MAPP class: his class was all men, almost entirely white while my class had lots of women, people from all over the world. We need to latch on to changes like this more.
 

 
References

Edwards, H. (2019). The Daily Better: 365 Reasons for Optimism. Authors Place Press.

Lerner, D. (2017). U Thrive: How to Succeed in College (and Life). Little, Brown, Spark.

Rossling, H. (2018). Factfulness: Ten Reasons We’re Wrong About the World–and Why Things Are Better Than You Think. Flatiron Books.

Image Credits

Kindergarten children in Malaysia exercising Photo by Uwe Aranas
Save the Planet! by Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash
Mosquito Netting by Tjeerd Wiersma from Amsterdam, The Netherlands – Flickr
High school students Photo by Eliott Reyna on Unsplash

0 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
AllBook AnnouncementBook ReviewChangeGlobal PoliciesHealthNatureOptimism

Looking in the Right End of the Telescope: The Daily Better Interview Part 1

by Kathryn Britton
written by Kathryn Britton

Henry Edwards

In 2019, Henry Edwards published The Daily Better: 365 Reasons for Optimism. I interviewed him on December 12 about why he wrote the book. I learned that he personally changed his world view to be more open and hopeful and that he hopes his book will help others do the same.

https://positivepsychologynews.com/ppnd_wp/wp-admin/post.php?post=40047&action=edit

Kathryn: Give us the 30 second elevator pitch for your book.

Henry: Sure. It’s a book of days, one page for every day of the year. Every day has a story about humanity at our best. The day starts with a quotation and then a story about something humans did well that is associated with that date. The page closes with the Thought for the Day, a generalization about the event of the day. The day might be associated with eradicating polio or women getting the vote in most places in the world or the decline of absolute poverty or extension of rights to animals. There’s a lot of variety, but the book provides a daily reminder that big things like freedom, economic growth, education, and human rights are trending in the right direction. That may not be what people read in the newspapers, which report on stuff that bleeds or explodes. The point of my book is to be a counteractive corrective dose of positivity for every day of the year.

Kathryn: That makes me think of Hans Rosling’s book Factfulness, about how little people seem to know about global trends for the better. I like that idea, that your book is an alternative news diet. What prompted you to write it?

Henry: People are surprised when I tell them I used to be a depressed pessimist and an alcoholic. I got sober in 1993. and one of the things that my sponsor insisted was that I develop an attitude of gratitude.

Telescope

I asked, “Well great, but grateful for what?”

To which he replied, “You have a college education, you’re healthy, you have access to healthcare, and now you are sober.”

It was as if I had been looking in the big end of the telescope, and the world I saw was tiny. My sponsor said, “Henry, turn the telescope around!” Whoa! That’s the way the world really is.

I needed to change my world view. That made me see how negative my news diet had become. My book is a way to give people a counteractive dose to their media diets. There is a story for every day of the year about something good happening, something big. On December 11, the story is about the founding of UNICEF, which has saved millions of lives. Contrast that in scale to stories in the news about 2 or 3 people dying in an explosion.

For another example, my daughter has opportunities that my mother did not. My wife is in the National Symphony here in Washington DC. A couple of generations ago, the only job a woman could get in a big orchestra was the harpist.

There are so many stories that we forget or take for granted. Literally, the fabric of our lives has so much goodness in it, and what we’re getting served as news is terrible fare.

Kathryn: This seems like a good book to start right now, as 2020 starts.

Yes, though really you don’t have to start on January 1. You can start anywhere and dose yourself with good news as you go through the year. Some people read it through like a book. Some people read one day at a time.

Kathryn: What kept you inspired while you worked on your book?

Elvis Presley, 1958

Elvis Presley, 1958

Henry: It was easy because I got to look for all these great stories. What happened on this day in history? Who was involved? Who was affected? Let me give you another example. In 1956, about 20 to 30% of Americans were getting their polio shots. On October 28, Elvis Presley got his polio vaccination on the Ed Sullivan show. Vaccination rates went up to 80% within 6 months. That public health intervention helped eradicate polio. That’s not what people usually associate with Elvis Presley.

I finished my first draft before my deadline. It was a joy to write.

Kathryn: What’s the most surprising thing you encountered while working on your book?

Henry: I was surprised that there’s something good on every day, though sometimes it was a bit of a stretch to find it.

Mae West

Mae West

Here’s another surprise. There has been great progress on human sexuality. February 10 celebrates Alex Comfort’s Joy of Sex, and March 22 1972 celebrates the US Supreme Court ruling that single people could not be denied contraceptives. I teach high school. There are so many kids exploring their sexual identities, transgender, gay, straight. The comfort with which kids talk about sexual identities today is amazing and funny. Just a century ago, Mae West got jailed for playing a lead role in the Broadway play, Sex. We’ve made considerable progress away from a history of terrible persecution against LGBT people. People can be themselves in so many different ways now. I guess I’m surprised both by how far and fast we’ve come and by how far we have yet to go.

Kathryn: With global warming and environmental destruction, people feel that we are in dark times. What do you think?

Henry: Yes and no. Global warming is a massive problem, but I think we’ll fix it faster than we think we can. My main reason is what I know about how we changed the behaviors that contributed to the ozone hole. In the 80s, the two big environmental problems were acid rain and the ozone hole. The ozone hole was addressed by the Montreal protocols, which were actually signed into US law by a Republican President, Ronald Reagan, someone we don’t usually think of as an environmental president. When coal plants in Ohio and Michigan sent up nitrous and sulfur dioxide that caused acid rain that killed trees in Vermont or New York, we started to regulate it. We required scrubbers in power plants. Even fracking helped. I hope we can end fracking eventually, but it made coal much less economical. Most of the mercury in the fish we eat comes from coal. Natural gas produces a lot less carbon dioxide. We were able to make international agreements to solve global atmosphere problems. Based on our track record, I’m hopeful, but with measured optimism.

Ozone levels stabilized in the 1990s following the Montreal Protocol, and have started to recover. They are projected to reach pre-1980 levels before 2075.

Kathryn: How does the media shape our world view?

Henry: The media tends to play to our negativity bias, that is, our tendency to think more about the bad, see the bad more easily, and see the bad in more fine grain. The media also tends to use a narrow frame focusing on particular episodes. With the availability heuristic, whatever we see, that’s what we think the world is. So, we see murder, car crashes, problems, problems, problems in the news. Our minds make the connection: The news represents the world, the news is full of problems, so the world must be full of problems.

The best news sources like the Christian Science Monitor, National Public Radio, Positive News out of the UK, and a website by David Burns called Feeling Good, take a thematic frame, a much bigger frame that puts the episode in a bigger context. People die in hospitals of antibiotic-resistant infections. That’s episodic. It leaves us anxious about the dangers of antibiotic resistance and feeling powerless. In a thematic frame, we also hear about work on new antibiotics and how humans might be able to use CRISPR technology to alter some of micro-organisms so that they essentially kill each other. We can do other things that are preventative, such as using antibiotics less in livestock, to try to reduce the incidence of antibiotic resistance. I think looking at the big picture is both more accurate and more hopeful.

Kathryn: Tell me how your book supports that thematic view.

Surgeon General Luther Terry

Henry: I opened the book to January 11, which takes a historical view on smoking. On January 11, 1964, the US Surgeon General laid out the perils of tobacco to health. Back in 1966, the year I was born, 45% of Americans smoked. Today, 15% smoke. That is 15% too many, but that is also a 66% decrease, an amazing drop.

In episodic news reporting, we see vaping as a big problem. But with a thematic view, we can take a bigger look at tobacco. If we went from 45% to 15%, there’s a decent chance we’ll go to zero eventually. Part of the thematic frame includes looking at public health as a government service. Public health saves millions of lives. In an era of many people being anti-government, it’s good to remember the good that government has achieved.

Invitation

Come back tomorrow for more from Henry Edwards about decision making and how he sees his mission to help the shape the world views of high school students, both the ones he teaches and many more with the future book that he is planning to write.

 

 
References

Edwards, H. (2019). The Daily Better: 365 Reasons for Optimism Authors Place Press.

Edwards, H. (2019-2020). Henry’s Better Blog.

Gyldensted, C. (2013). Hurricane Sandy, Utoya, homelessness: Constructive news out of loss. Positive Psychology News.

Rossling, H. (2018). Factfulness: Ten Reasons We’re Wrong About the World–and Why Things Are Better Than You Think. Flatiron Books.

Image Credits:
Telescope Photo by Rik van der Kroon on Unsplash
Elvis Presley, 1958, from Wikimedia Commons
Mae West from Wikimedia
Luther Terry from Center For Disease Control

0 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
AllBusinessPositive Organizational ScholarshipStrengths

Lack of Fun at Work Kills Motivation

by Nico Rose
written by Nico Rose

When was the last time you really had a lot fun at work? If you can´t quite remember, you AND your employer might be in big trouble.

Joy at work

“What kills your joy at work?” I asked some 900 people, most of them middle managers of German companies, for a survey in August 2019. I wanted to better understand which factors out of a list of 30 known stressors at work bother workers to a greater extent. Moreover, I calculated which of these unwanted working conditions are connected to relevant Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), such as unwillingness to recommend one´s employer to other people or the current prevalence of turnover intentions.

Not Enough Resources and Career Opportunities

Across the entire sample, participants complained first and foremost about a lack of resources (budget, staff) in light of their current tasks and responsibilities. This is quite understandable keeping in mind most of the participants work in challenging business-minded environments. For-profit organizations are supposed to run their business to the highest degree of efficiency. Notwithstanding, senior managers should bear in mind excessive austerity can harm an organization´s culture in the long run, sparking feelings of resentment between coworkers or entire departments.

Next, participants complain about a lack of attractive career opportunities within their organizations. Keeping in mind the sample, this makes a lot of sense: A considerable fraction of the sample is in their mid-thirties. Accordingly, they are still in their career-building phase. The perceived lack of opportunities could be an accurate evaluation of their current situation. Most large German companies aren’t growing strongly at this point in time, a circumstance that is known to slow down career progression for aspiring leaders. Yet, my personal experience as a senior human resources leader also tells me this finding might be explained by these aspiring leaders lacking accurate information. Especially in large, diversified corporations, in the absence of a unified career information system such as an internal job board, many theoretically available career options might stay hidden from potential internal applicants.

A Well-known Pain Point: Leadership Quality

I found that stressors ranked three to five can be attributed to the behavior of respondents´ direct supervisors. Many participants report that they lack trust in their organizations´ top management. Yet, most members of an organization are not directly exposed to top management on a regular basis. Therefore, top managers´ image is first and foremost constructed via exposure to internal media, and maybe even more via word of mouth. The image of top managers in the minds of most staff members is by and large shaped by what mid-level supervisors think and say about them.

Leader looking over a shoulder

Leadership

Next we find two old acquaintances, factors well-known for decades, but obviously hard to ameliorate: A sizable part of the sample complains about a lack of relevant feedback. Somewhat of a surprise was that respondents miss constructive criticism providing opportunities for learning even more than praise and recognition. This holds especially true for the female participants in my sample. People need their strokes (using a wording from transactional analysis), but they also want to be challenged, and they want to grow their knowledge and their competence.

Not until the sixth spot did I find some concerns about money. Some people are regularly bothered by a (perceived) lack of an adequate salary, and even less so, some are worried about their prospects for salary development.

It´s Annoying, But Is It Relevant?

The fact that a stressor is perceived to occur frequently does not necessarily imply that it is also severe in its qualitative consequences. It is perfectly possible for a source of stress to occur on a regular basis and precisely because of its normality, most workers psychologically devalue its significance because they have accepted it as a given or because they have learned to cope over time. By way of example, over the course of several years, most managers in large organizations learn to create decent results even with scarce resources. In my former job as VP at Bertelsmann, we called this “working with magic money.” Managers often found ways to get things done without relying on formal budgets.

On the other hand, there might be stressors that do not occur on a regular basis, but when they do, they have severe consequences for an employee´s motivation, engagement, and subsequent behavior. To shed more light on these assumed connections, I assessed the importance of the 30 stressors as measured in my study for several critical outcomes by means of linear regression analysis, in particular participants willingness to recommend their jobs, their supervisors, and their employer as a whole to a good friend or relative. An additional outcome was respondents´ current turnover intentions.

Life Is (Not) a Walk in the Park

At this point, a stressor became salient that made an unimpressive rank number 18 in absolute terms: fun, or, more precisely: a lack of fun, A regression analysis suggests that a perceived lack of fun is the second-most important driver of turnover intentions, after number 1, lack of career opportunities. Moreover, the fun factor is the:

  • most important driver of participants´ willingness to recommend their job
  • second-most important driver of participants´ willingness to recommend their employer
  • third-most important driver of participants´ willingness to recommend their supervisor

To sum up: When people do not perceive their jobs to deliver fun on regular basis, they are probably going to jump ship soon. Now, it´s clear that a job can´t be fun all the time. It´s called work, after all. But my data suggests that top managers and human resources professionals should not take this seemingly light factor too lightly.

What Drives Fun at Work?

Given that having fun at work is such a serious matter – an interesting follow-up question is: What are the drivers of perceived fun at work? In order to clarify this, I ran another linear regression; this time, using (lack of) fun as the target variable. These are the three most important drivers of fun at work:

Passion Led Us Here

  • strength orientation
  • meaning in work
  • working atmosphere among colleagues

The last-mentioned point is self-explanatory: When someone is regularly irritated by their coworkers or simply isn’t able to connect, fun will go overboard. Interestingly enough, an in-depth analysis shows that this factor is also attributed to the leadership quality of participants´ supervisors. Looking at the second factor, there´s an intriguing finding: The perception of (a lack of) meaning and (a lack of) fun at work seem to be deeply intertwined. Experiences that are meaningful also carry a lot of fun, and vice-versa. This is interesting because these two dimensions (called hedonic and eudaimonic well-being in the research literature) are often depicted as being separate entities, whereas, in fact, they are probably connected on a deeper level.

Yet, in my analysis, the most important driver of workplace fun is an environment that caters to peoples´ strengths. When employees get to work on tasks that play to their strengths for the greater part of the day, they will also get more fun out of their jobs. Managers who aim to create a working environment that enhances followers´ experience of fun (and hence, meaning), need to really, really get to know their people. They have to understand what makes them tick in order to help them to develop their authentic (and fun-loving) working selves.

 

 
References
Bailey, C., & Madden, A. (2016). What makes work meaningful or meaningless. MIT Sloan Management Review.

Lips-Wiersma, M., & Wright, S. (2012). Measuring the meaning of meaningful work: Development and validation of the comprehensive meaningful work scale (CMWS). Group & Organization Management, 37(5), 655-685. DOI: 10.1177/1059601112461578

Steger, M. F. (2017). Creating meaning and purpose at work. (2017). In L. G. Oades, M. F. Steger, A. Delle Fave, & J. Passmore (Eds.), The Wiley Blackwell Handbook of the Psychology of Positivity and Strengths-Based Approaches at Work (pp. 60-81). Malden, MA: Wiley Blackwell.

Strack, R., Booker, M., Kovács-Ondrejkovic, O., Antebi, P., & Welch, D. (2018). Decoding global talent 2018. Featured Insights.

Image Credits
Joy at work Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash
Leadership Photo by Mimi Thian on Unsplash
Passion Led us here Photo by Ian Schneider on Unsplash

0 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Fireman with hose
AllHabitsHealthMedicine

Stress: Your Mindset Makes a Difference

by Marie-Josée Shaar
written by Marie-Josée Shaar

Today is National First Responders Day, and to celebrate the occasion, I’d like to help you figure out how to handle stress like a true hero.

Fireman with hose

First Responder in Action

First Responders face stress daily, and so over time, have learned to view stress as enhancing their capabilities. Most of us, on the other hand, are conditioned to view stress as debilitating. Who’s right? Is stress enhancing or debilitating? Actually, both perceptions can be equally valid, but our attitude towards these intense feelings affects how we navigate stressful events.

Our culture normalizes stress, viewing it as a minor side effect of leading a productive life. But our bodies disagree. Those who are stressed tend to run too high on cortisol, a hormone known to make us feel impatient and irritable. So we look for “treats” to mitigate the negative vibes, and sure enough, given that cortisol also causes high-sugar, high-fat, high-salt food cravings, we can’t resist that bag of chips or that extra sweet coffee in the mid-afternoon. To complete that ugly picture, cortisol is also known to cause insomnia, so we don’t get quite enough sleep, which keeps our cortisol levels high so that we repeat the whole cycle all over again the next day. With poorer sleep, food, and mood behaviors, our cardiovascular and overall health and productivity suffer.

All these negative consequences of stress seem to favor the view that stress is debilitating. But what if we could alter our cortisol response to stress? Turns out, that’s a real possibility.

In a first research experiment, Crum, Salovey and Achor at Yale University discovered that people can perceive stress as either enhancing or as debilitating. They then found in a follow-up study that this perception can be altered based on the information that people receive. Participants were sent three short videos that provided credible information emphasizing either a “stress is enhancing” or “stress is debilitating” mindset. Results showed that participants’ beliefs about stress were altered based on the information they had viewed. In the third and final study of that series, Crum and team found that a stress-is-enhancing mindset is related to more adaptive cortisol responses when under high stress.

These three studies suggest that our stress mindset is malleable and that adopting a stress-is-enhancing mindset can help us handle the pressures that come our way.

I’ve created my own one-minute clip to help you, your peers, clients and loved ones interpret stress more positively, just as first responders do.

View on Youtube

Now of course, a caveat: having a positive response to stress is in no way a license to impose further pressure on ourselves and others. It is solely a tool to help us face the music a bit more gracefully. 😉

 

 
References:

Crum, A.J., Salovey, P. & Achor, S. (2013). Rethinking stress: The role of mindsets in determining the stress response. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 104 (4), 716–733.

McGonigal, K. (2016). The Upside of Stress: Why Stress Is Good for You, and How to Get Good at It. New York: Penguin Random House.

Shaar, M.-J. (2014). Health habits work better together: Evidence from the Trans-theoretical Model. Positive Psychology News.

Shaar, M.-J. & Britton, K. (2011). Smarts and Stamina: The Busy Person’s Guide to Optimal Health and Performance. Philadelphia, PA: Positive Psychology Press.

Worline, M. & Dutton, J. (2017). Awakening Compassion at Work: The Quiet Power That Elevates People and Organizations. San Francisco: Berrett Kohler Publishers.

Picture credit:
Fireman operating hose Photo by Greg Leaman on Unsplash

2 comments
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
AllBusinessHealthPositive Organizational Scholarship

Protect Yourself and Friends From the New LSD: Loneliness, Stress, Depression

by Marie-Josée Shaar
written by Marie-Josée Shaar

I was shocked when I read that US workplaces may be responsible for 120,000 excess deaths per year, making the workplace the 5th leading cause of death in the country. Can you believe it?

Loneliness, Stress, and Depression: What the Problem Looks Like

Statistics show the impact of loneliness, stress, and depression (which I lovingly refer to as LSD because together they are as severe as the drug) in American workplaces. More than 80% of workers admit feeling stressed, 40% admit feeling lonely, and another 9.5% report depression. These stats are all the more concerning given that they are what people willingly admit to, and sometimes it’s just easier to pretend you don’t care than to admit it’s killing you. We also know that these conditions tend to be recurring, meaning that if you’ve been there once, your risk of finding yourself in that situation a second time increases. These numbers are likely to swell, since younger generations are more stressed than their elders.

To make things worse, LSD impacts not only the mental and emotional health of its victims, but also their physical health. I’ve seen numerous doctors cite that loneliness is as damaging to our health as smoking 15 cigarettes per day. Unmanaged stress increases the risk of heart disease by 40%, of heart attack by 25% and of stroke by 50%. Work stress specifically is responsible for 10% of strokes. People with depression are four times as likely to have a heart attack than those who don’t have a history of the illness. The World Health Organization deems depression to be the leading cause of disability around the world.

That’s why many public health authorities now call LSD one of the most urgent social crises of our time.

If we could add up all the losses each year in the US alone due to LSD and invest it into something more productive, we could give roughly $28,000 to each veteran, each homeless person, each new cancer patient, and each single parent in the country. Wouldn’t that be awesome?

In honor of World Heart Day

For World Heart Day, Share the News

As we approach World Heart Day (September 29th), I want to encourage you to share the news above, as a way to build greater awareness. We can’t fix a problem before admitting that we have one. To help you do so, I just launched a 90-second video summarizing some of the most concerning stress-related statistics within the context of a regular guy doing a regular job, having a not-so-regular day where his stress gets the better of him. The video appears at the bottom of this article. Please watch and share it.

Now what do we do about it?

OK, enough about the problem. Now let’s move on to solutions. Wellness and HR professionals of all kinds, concerned peers and positive psychology enthusiasts have a duty to do our part in addressing the issue. Sure, a lot of the stress our peers feel is due to factors far beyond our control, but rather than stopping ourselves by contemplating what we can’t do, I’d like to invite us to take charge of what we can do.

Hundreds of studies tell us things that would help. Here are some suggestions almost anyone can apply very easily, even on a budget. I often describe those in my keynotes and workshops, and participants have found them to be really helpful. I hope you do, too!

  • Interactions at Work

    Reality Check

    Draw a table on which the X-axis represents your closest work peers, and the Y-axis represents positivity-inducing behaviors. For example, you could ask about their reality, offer gratitude, offer support, promote career development. As the week progresses, give yourself one checkmark each time you perform one of these behaviors with one individual. At the end of each week, take note of which behaviors you’ve performed most consistently, and which ones you may have forgotten. Notice also which individuals have received more positivity, and ask yourself if those who weren’t frequent beneficiaries need more attention or support.

  • Do I Know You?

    Draw a table on which the X-axis represents your closest work peers and the Y-axis represents things we typically know about our close friends. For example, are they married, do they have children, spouse name, children’s names and ages, pet name and kind, siblings’ names and ages, parents’ names and whether they are still alive, birthday, anniversary, favorite holiday, do they go to church, do they have a favorite charity/cause? Try to fill in as many boxes on the grid as possible each week. This activity serves to create more meaningful conversations and interactions with our peers.

  • Click to see larger text.

    Contribution Attestation (team activity)

    Provide each member of your team with one card for each other member of the team. Thus, for a team of 10 people, each team member gets 9 cards. Each card is marked with the name of another team member. Ask each participant to complete the following two statements on each card: “What I most appreciate/value about you/your contribution to our team is…” and “Here’s what I know you can do to help our team become extraordinary:” Distribute each card to the appropriate team member, and ask them to write a paragraph summarizing what they learned, and how they plan to maintain self-accountability to deliver their best contribution on a consistent basis. (Adapted from Kim Cameron’s book, Practicing Positive Leadership.)

  • Active Constructive Responding

    When someone shares difficult news with us, we often give that person our undivided attention, empathy, and support. But when they share good news, we tend to brush them off with a simple “awesome, good for you, so glad to hear it!” Yet, research shows that how we respond to good news is an even better predictor of the long-term health of our relationship than how we respond to bad news. Of all the possible response styles, active constructive responding is clearly the best relationship builder.

Sometimes, when you are worried about a friend, a husband, a wife, a brother or a co-worker, it’s easier to send them a link to a video than to tell them what’s on your mind. If you know someone who’s working too hard and carrying a high level of stress, consider asking them to watch the 90-second video above as a helpful and kind warning. LSD can strike anyone, even you.


(View on Youtube or on Facebook.)
 

 

References:

Cameron, K. (2013). Practicing Positive Leadership: Tools and Techniques That Create Extraordinary Results. Oakland, CA: Berrett-Koehler Publishers.

Gable, S., Gonzaga, G. C., & Strachman, A. (2006). Will You Be There for Me When Things Go Right? Supportive Responsesto Positive Event Disclosures. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 91(5), 904-917.

Murthy, V. (2017). Work and the loneliness epidemic: Reducing isolation at work is good for business. Harvard Business Review.

Pfeffer, J. (2018). Dying for a Paycheck: How Modern Management Harms Employee Health and Company Performance―and What We Can Do About It. New York: Harper Business.

One Mind Initiative at Work (2018). The Cost of Depression in the Workplace – Part 1: The Research. Thrive Global.

Saad, L. (2017). Eight in ten Americans afflicted by stress. Gallup.

Schwabel, D. (2017). Vivek Murthy: How to solve the work loneliness epidemic: An interview. Forbes Online.

Worline, M. & Dutton, J. (2017). Awakening Compassion at Work: The Quiet Power That Elevates People and Organizations. Oakland, CA: Berrett-Koehler Publishers.



Picture Credits
Heart Photo by Alexandru Acea on Unsplash
Interactions at work photo by Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash

0 comment
1 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
AllBusinessOverall view of Pos Psych

How to Grow Your Positive Psychology Business

by Margaret Greenberg and Senia Maymin
written by Margaret Greenberg and Senia Maymin

If you are a Positive Psychology News reader, then you likely not only have an interest in positive psychology, but you might also be growing a business that has to do with positive psychology.

Here we talk about how we have started working with large organizations in bringing positive psychology to them through coaching, workshops, and other content. We’d love to hear what methods you have tried to expand the reach of positive psychology.

Here are seven pieces of advice we have accumulated over the last thirteen years since graduating from the inaugural Masters of Applied Positive Psychology program at the University of Pennsylvania. We spoke in great depth about this advice recently during our Quarterly Learning Community for the graduates of our PROFIT FROM THE POSITIVE Certificate Program.

  1. Think big, but start small. Coaching engagements are a good way to introduce organizations to positive psychology concepts, frameworks, and tools. Whether it is using exercises like the Hope Letter, the Gratitude Letter, or identification of strengths, coaching individual leaders is an effective way to acquire new corporate clients.
     

    2. For seedling businesses

  2. Take a consultative approach. Help a potential client identify a pain point or solve a problem. Now that may not sound very much like positive psychology, but it is the way many business leaders think. Most see their role as solving problems, not necessarily envisioning something positive. Help them solve a pressing problem such as preparing employees for a large-scale change by introducing them to resilience and growth mindset training. Ask questions such as “What would happen over the next six months if you did nothing to address this issue?”
     
  3. Partner, don’t compete. We’ve had great success partnering with the internal Human Resources department to introduce the Shift Positive 360 process designed by Pete Berridge and Jen Ostrich. We have also helped HR departments redesign their performance review processes. This requires cultivating a robust network by being an active member of relevant virtual groups (think LinkedIn Groups) and associations (think SHRM or ICF).
     
  4. Pilot a program. Although positive psychology is a rapidly growing field, many businesses are still unfamiliar with it, and unfamiliarity breeds skepticism. If the leader is not ready to commit fully, suggest a pilot of a small team before introducing your work to the whole organization. People love pilots!
     
  5. Be persistent. It takes, on average, twelve to fifteen touchpoints before a client buys anything, including your services. Send emails with articles or fun ideas that are relevant to their business. Think content marketing. You can be a thought leader in this space. Pick-up the phone. Yes, don’t be afraid to actually talk to a client or leave a message. If you have exchanged mobile numbers, a text message can be effective, too.
     
  6. Work with an intact team. You may want to start at the top and cascade your work throughout a large organization, but starting with the sales or R&D team or a specific Employee Resource Group such as female professionals can be a highly effective way to get your foot in the door.
     
  7. Do a freebie. Introduce your content to the Learning & Development or Human Resources department or a professional organization such as the local chapter of the International Coach Federation. You will expand your network and expand their appetite to hire you.

What have you found to be an effective way to get your foot in the door at businesses large and small? Please let us know in the comments below.

NOTE: Our next article will address how to get a client to say “Yes.”

There are a few virtual seats left in the Fall 2019 PROFIT FROM THE POSITIVE Certificate Program in which we train coaches, managers, and HR professionals to deliver the 31 tools described in the Profit from the Positive book. LiveHappy rates this course among the top 12 positive psychology courses you can take online.

Readers of PPND receive 20% off registration. Use promo code PPND2019 on the Registration Page. REGISTRATION CLOSES AT MIDNIGHT ET ON WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 2.

 

 
References

Greenberg, M. & Maymin, S. (2013). Profit from the positive: Proven leadership strategies to boost productivity and transform your business.. McGraw-Hill.

Picture credit:
Seedling Photo by Stanislav Kondratiev on Unsplash

0 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
All

Be a Project Motivator

by Adrienne Keane
written by Adrienne Keane

“As any good carpenter will tell you, the best tools do not build the house.”

Project work is done by people, and influencing without authority presents one of the biggest challenges project managers and team leaders face. In her book, Be a Project Motivator: Unlock the Secrets of Strengths-Based Project Management, Ruth Pearce shares practical, scientifically-bounded approaches to revealing the greatest potential of the project manager, project team, and stakeholders.

Looking up at strength

Pearce masterfully illustrates her building blocks of strengths-based project management through the journey of Maggie, a project manager who has been assigned to lead a troubled project team that has been working together for some time.

The story illustrates how Maggie introduces and uses character strengths to get to know the team, build team trust and psychological safety, and co-create a vision with the team. Using techniques such as the VIA strengths assessment, strengths-spotting, and team profiling, Maggie weaves the language of appreciation and character strengths into day-to-day practices and problem solving of the team. Team members use the strengths language to help each other grow. Over time, these new ways of working lead to better communication, higher engagement, and greater job satisfaction.

I’ve sometimes struggled with how to introduce and apply character strengths in a corporate setting. This book makes the case for why this is important and provides a practical approach illustrated with real-life stories. Pearce shows how to overcome objections and engage the team, first in understanding strengths in themselves, then seeing strengths in others, then in building strengths together. In addition to the happy path, she addresses where strengths can go wrong through underuse and overuse.

Story AND Reference Guide

Ruth Pearce, PMP

The book is structured in a way that makes it useful as a reference guide. Ruth provides strategies and questions for reflection at the beginning of each chapter to help make the concepts stick. The book culminates with a customizable day-by-day implementation plan that ties everything together to put your strengths-based project management learnings into practice.

As an agile coach, I will use this book as a go-to reference for working with my teams. I found so many practical strategies and useful techniques, as well as questions for self-reflection to build my own self-confidence and effectiveness as a coach. I highly recommend this book to project managers, agile practitioners, team leaders, business leaders, and anyone that wants to learn how to pull greatness from themselves and their teams. Maggie’s story is full of real-life situations with practical interventions to help resolve issues and grow the team. Each chapter provides strategies and questions for reflection that help make the concepts stick. Her sample implementation plan provides a roadmap of hope to help readers, “Be hopeful, be strong, be brave, be curious, and motivate!”

 

 
References

Pearce, R. (2018). Be a Project Motivator: Unlock the Secrets of Strengths-Based Project Management. San Francisco: Berrett Kohler.

Image Credits
Redwoods Photo by Mick Haupt on Unsplash

0 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
AllAppreciative InquiryBook ReviewParenting & SchoolsTaking Action

Thriving Women, Thriving World

by Lisa Sansom
written by Lisa Sansom
Lisa and others in the Amazon

Complete with Rubber boots

A while ago, I had the great honor to go and teach positive psychology in the Amazon jungle for a beneficial charity that does great work in the region. This organization partners with local communities to help them gain access to water, education, health, and other important elements for individual and community well-being.

Each day, I conducted a morning workshop, and then for the rest of the day, we journeyed into the local communities and learned more about the villages, the people who live there, and the work being done.

In one small community, the women had, with support, created a women’s artisan group. We learned how to scrape the green off long jungle leaves to reveal the fibers that the women could dry and weave into bracelets. We learned about the different seeds that the women used for ornamentation. We learned that, although it took us a long time to wrap our minds around how to braid and tie the bracelets, a skilled woman artisan could make a beautiful basic bracelet in about 5 minutes. We also learned that the money that these women earn goes back to their families for education, food, and clean water. Our jungle guide, a man, told us that their research has clearly demonstrated that when you educate and empower women, the money comes back to the community, creating stronger and healthier families and communities. The power of women multiplies for the good and benefit of all.

 

A Love Letter to All Women

It was in this context that I read an advanced electronic copy of Thriving Women, Thriving World: An invitation to Dialogue, Healing, and Inspired Actions co-authored by a wonderful group of women, including Diana Whitney who is a leading thinker and practitioner in the Appreciative Inquiry space. Many of the authors have credentials in the positive psychology and/or Appreciative Inquiry fields, and this becomes important and illustrative throughout the book.

What really stays with me is that this book – and “book” seems like such an impoverished word for this treasure – is really a love letter to all women everywhere. It is uplifting, inspiring, empowering, and energizing. It speaks of hope and possibility and the creation of a wonderful future for everyone through the recognition and appreciation of women.

What’s Inside?

At a basic level, the book is divided into chapters that tackle subjects such as educating for social change and creating thriving relationships. There are sections dedicated to women’s bodies, financial literacy, and how women – and men – can support women. This is truly a wide-ranging diverse scope, and incredibly ambitious for a book of this nature.

Book Celebration in South Africa, home of two of the authors, Tanya Cruz Teller and Marlene Ogawa

What makes it work is that each chapter contains micro-learnings that lead to insight on the topic. For example, one topic dives into forgiveness, describing what it means, and then prompting the reader with appreciative questions about forgiveness: think about a situation in which you forgave a small violation, and why that was important to you. The reader is then prompted to consider other situations, larger violations, even nearly unforgivable ones, and contemplate the role that forgiveness has played in their lives and thriving.

Through exercises such as this, personal narratives scattered throughout the book, practices, and poetic reflections, readers are implicitly invited to share their humanity with all women, and by extension, all humans on the planet.

Authors from USA, Canada, Mexico, and South Africa

How to Use the Book

Every word, you can tell, has been chosen carefully and deliberately. But since 200+ pages of this can feel overwhelming, the authors have also included eight ways in which this book can be used. For example, you may wish to use this on your own: take one page per day and spend time reflecting and writing in a journal. You may wish to engage with a partner or one person close to you selecting questions to ask each other to reach a deeper understanding. You may spread these positive ripples further through group discussions or workplace culture interventions. No doubt creative and resourceful readers will come up with their own ways to engage with these valuable materials.

What Stood Out for Me

At the end of my encounter with this book, however, what really stood out for me is that the world cannot thrive and humanity cannot flourish without the positive contributions of women, who form just over half of the human population. When women are involved, communities, families, and workplaces are better and stronger. The world in dire situations now, with environmental, cultural, emotional, physical, and financial needs all crying out for human support and repair. We ignore the power of women at our own peril.

I believe this quote from the book illustrates this in a sincerely compelling way:

“To my sister women: we are being called to gather in circle. To join in a circle of community and bold collaboration. To raise up our voices to the world – for together we are stronger.” (p. 155)

Let’s all go forth and flourish.
 

 
References

Whitney, D., Cocciolone, J., Miller, C. A., Moon, H., Britton, K. H., De La Barra, A. L., Koh, A., Teller, T. C., & Ogawa, M. (2019). Thriving Women Thriving World: An invitation to Dialogue, Healing, and Inspired Actions. Chagrin Falls, OH: Taos Institute.

The 92 questions in this book are written in the style of The Encyclopedia of Positive Questions:

Whitney, D., Trosten-Bloom, A., Cooperrider, D., & Kaplin, B. S. (2013). Encyclopedia of Positive Questions, 2nd Ed.. Crown Custom Publishing.

Image Credits:
First picture used with permission from Lisa Sansom.
Group of celebrating people in South Africa used with permission from Tanya Cruz Teller.

3 comments
1 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
AllBook ReviewHabitsStrengthsTaking Action

Building Character with a 30-Day Practice (Book Review)

by Rosalinda Ballesteros Valdes
written by Rosalinda Ballesteros Valdes

Jane Strunk Anderson’s book, 30 Days of Character Strengths: A Guided Practice to Ignite Your Best lays out a month-long series of practices to help people intentionally develop their own character strengths. It can also be used by coaches or team leaders to help people work together to develop habits around character strengths.

Positive Psychology highlights the importance of focusing on strengths. Lea Waters, professor at the University of Melbourne, defines strengths as what you do well and enjoy doing that benefits others. Anderson explains that character strengths are core capacities for thinking, feeling, and behaving in ways that can bring benefit to self and others.

Jane Strunk Anderson

Who is the author?

Jane Anderson has studied character strengths with the Wholebeing Institute and the VIA Institute on Character, and she has taught them in the Wholebeing Institute and to her clients. She is now running a 6-week program called Rise and Thrive in 2019. In her biography on the Strength Based Living site, she states:

“Sometimes it’s necessary to improve weaknesses and what’s wrong, but I find that as a society we’re good at focusing on the negative and less practiced at pursuing the positive. I hope to change that.”

She herself has worked her way through more than forty 30-day practices, by herself and with friends, so this format comes very naturally to her.

What is in the book?

Anderson invites you, the reader, to start by creating a personal strengths profile using the VIA Strengths Survey that is freely available online. With this profile in hand, Anderson´s book leads you through the following four-week practice:

  • Week 1: understanding your own strengths
  • Week 2: building relationships based on your strengths and spotting the strengths of others
  • Week 3: building competence in the use of your character strengths so that you don’t overuse, underuse, or misuse them
  • Week 4: perfecting your own development

Every activity or exercise is organized with a question and reflection format that allows you to evolve consciously your understanding of your own strengths and shows you ways to truly ignite your personal development. One of the wonderful things about this book is that each week closes with a summary of the week activities, and the last three days of the 30-day period are used to look towards creating your own future practice.

What did I particularly enjoy?

Be strong

The book is written from an easygoing and warm perspective. It has a good balance of explaining why the activities work to make you a better version of yourself with a very practical and simple daily exercise format. I especially liked having a 30-day format. When trying to create a habit, repetition is key. Although the book includes 30 different exercises, they are related and build on each other. That makes the book habit forming, especially if you go through it more than once. The book also leads to a beneficial change of mindset by shifting the focus from deficit improvement to boosting strengths.

Anderson proposes a progression in terms of the depth of the activities. The simpler ones are in the first week. More complex and reflective exercises are presented as the month advances. This is one of the specific things that I value about thinking about character strengths for a month: there is a start, a progression, and an end to the improvement plan.

Anderson’s book, besides helping you to understand your unique character strengths profile, also invites you to look at others through the lens of their unique strengths profiles. I could personally relate to one of the exercises where as a reader I was invited to look at conflict as a collision of strengths. If each of people in the conflict are using their strengths to determine their particular views of the situation, what would happen if I changed to use a different strength?

With a group of friends

How did I use the book?

One thing that I did with a group of friends is that we all started with the activities at the same time. Then we had brief discussions on each of the exercises and shared our experiences. After finishing the 30 days, we realized that the book also allowed each of us to customize strengths practices to our own personalities.

By now I hope you are interested on the practice of knowing and also developing a strengths-based focus using the VIA Character Strengths classification. If so a copy of this book for yourself can be the perfect tool to begin and keep going. You might also want to subscribe to her Strength Based Living newsletter to get ongoing reminders to practice.
 

 
References

Anderson, J. S. (2018). 30 Days of Character Strengths: A Guided Practice to Ignite Your Best. Strength Based Living LLC.

Anderson, J. S. (2019). 3 key questions that shift you into strengths when you’re stressed. Strength Based Living blog.

Anderson, J. S. (ongoing). Strength Based Living web site. Subscribe to be informed when a new round of the Rise and Thrive class is scheduled.

Niemiec, R. M. & McGrath, R. E. (2019). The Power of Character Strengths. VIA Institute on Character.

Waters, L. (2017). The Strength Switch: How The New Science of Strength-Based Parenting Can Help Your Child and Your Teen to Flourish. New York: Avery.

Image credits
Picture of Jane Strunk Anderson from her web site, Strength Based Living
Be strong Photo by Miguel Bruna on Unsplash
Group of friends Photo by Brooke Cagle on Unsplash

0 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
AllBook ReviewHome and FamilyRelationshipsTaking Action

Not a Partnership (Book Review)

by Lisa Sansom
written by Lisa Sansom

Walking together

Right from the title page, Not A Partnership¸ is provocative, thoughtful, inspired and, perhaps unintentionally, funny. This book by Tod Jacobs and Yosef (Peter) Lynn is about marriage and relationships. The authors are both married to the women to whom they dedicated the book. They dive into some areas of relationships where other authors may fear to tread, they take on some fundamental beliefs about what marriage is perceived to be, and they unabashedly look under all the rocks and unearth some true gems. Even if you don’t agree with them (and I had a few intense gut reactions myself), you will certainly come away thinking about things in a new way that you will not be able to unsee.

 

First though, a bit of background on the authors. Both Tod and Yosef currently live in Jerusalem with their respective families. Tod is Director of the David Robinson Institute for Jewish Heritage in Jerusalem. He formerly worked on Wall Street and has been nominated for a Pulitzer Prize for investigative journalism. Peter Yosef lectures at Touro College in Jerusalem and is the Founder and Director of the Greatness Within Seminars, which takes the Jewish (and logical and positive psychology) approach of focusing on where you are going right in life. Both authors bring tremendous background and insight to this book.

The book then, is also very logical and based in practical and mystical Jewish wisdom with modern theory, research and techniques. It opens with Tod’s anecdote of how the book came to be, and the instigating question that if marriage is not a partnership, then what is it? That’s what this book explores through topics such as biology, emotion, soul, and the foundation of marriage: giving.

Tod Jacobs

Now, to be sure, I do not have a grounding in Jewish religion or philosophy, so I learned a lot reading this book on many different levels. As the authors write, “While some of the source material is ‘spiritual,’ the insights contained therein are by no means confined to religious adherents. Indeed, the power of the ideas lies in their universality and self-evident depth and truth. Whatever your background and beliefs may be, we believe that the ideas speak for themselves and have proven themselves unequivocally powerful and compelling across the centuries.”

The authors take us back to basics, defining what exactly marriage is, its roots starting from Adam and Eve, and why marriage is “the place for life’s ultimate goals to be fulfilled” (emphasis theirs). Further into the basics, the authors do a dive into male and female biology, and note that we are “separate but equal.” They write about the man’s contribution to baby-making: “How incredibly ‘male’ is his contribution — massive amounts of energy and potential, but no staying power and no reality!” which really made me laugh out loud. I’m not sure if the authors meant it to be that funny, but it’s not the only place where their humor and humanity comes through.

At some points, I admit I struggled with the apparent traditional roles and stereotypes: the man fighting urges to be unfaithful, the woman who is potentially emotionally smothering; the man who approaches marriage with a “childlike spirit,” and the woman who is “the adult in the relationship.” But I’m willing to push past that for the real heart of the book, which is “The road to marital happiness and perfection begins when I give.”

Gift of Bread

The authors make the claim that we have marriage all backwards. We don’t love someone when they give to us. Instead we love someone when we give to them. Why, for example, do parents love their children more than children love their parents? It’s because parents give more to their children than the other way around. People love their dogs because they take care of them. It’s the same with gardening, and many other relationships, hobbies, and activities. When we give more of ourselves, we love and enjoy that relationship or activity more. Therefore, the way to a successful marriage is to give more of yourself to the other person and to the relationship. This, according to the authors, is not a new insight. It is rooted in ancient Talmudic wisdom that still holds true today.

Interestingly, this also appears to hold up in positive psychology research. As the authors note, “Research by social psychologist Liz Dunn and her colleagues, published in the journal Science, shows that people’s sense of happiness is greater when they spend relatively more money on others than on themselves,” and “Americans who describe themselves as “very happy” volunteer an average of 5.8 hours per month.” They cite several other findings substantiating the premise that giving leads to happiness and improved relationships with other people.

Peter Yosef Lynn

Of course, there is much more to a happy marriage than simply giving, and the authors take us through the worlds of self-love, selfishness, what real giving is, and how this all relates to marriage and some ancient thinking. They also address why love doesn’t last, and they bust some prevalent myths of marriage.

Ultimately, there are three underlying principles that they say must form the core of giving in marriage:

  1. Make your spouse the center of your concern in life.
  2. Focus on building the other.
  3. Marital happiness lies in intimacy – total connectivity.

Giving freshness

With this in mind, the authors posit four pillars:

  1. Keeping it fresh
  2. Gratitude: feeling it and showing it
  3. Respect in all its forms
  4. Responsibility: it all depends on me!

I won’t go into all the details. It’s a good idea to pick up the book and read through so you can highlight and make your own notes and reflect on your own marriage and other relationships. But here’s what I will share. Once I got to the end of the book, I did have to pause and reflect on my own marriage and my own relationships. While I won’t go into details here, I’ll just say that, if this book sets the standard, I have a lot of room to grow!

The work of Dr Adam Grant, notably in his book Give and Take, however did echo in my mind as I was reading Not A Partnership. In his research, Adam Grant discovered that people he labeled Givers can become exhausted and unfulfilled and perhaps burn out when they give and give and give without boundaries, especially to people he called Takers. I don’t believe that Jacobs and Lynn would ever advocate staying in any sort of relationships where one partner is abusive or all-consuming without ever giving, but it does seem that they also advocate giving without keeping track and without expectation of reciprocity. At some point, that may be a recipe for disaster, and not all relationships are worth staying in. That said, if both partners are Givers and make each other the central concern of their lives and work together on their relationship, then I can see how marriage can be reconstrued as “not a partnership.”

Having a discussion

There was much in this book that caused me to be more reflective and introspective. When you’re in a life-long relationship with someone else, that’s probably a good practice. Since it takes two to tango, couples may want to buy two copies of this book, one for each to read, make notes in, and reflect on. Then they might want to do a few date book club nights to share their ideas and move forward together.
 

 
References

Jacobs, T. & Lynn, P. (2019). Not A Partnership: Why We Keep Getting Marriage Wrong & How We Can Get It Right. Not a Partnership LLC.

Dunn, E. W., Aknin, L. B., & Norton, M. I. (2008). Spending money on others promotes happiness. Science, 319(5870), 1687-1688. DOI: 10.1126/science.1150952. Abstract.

Dunn, E. & Norton, M. (2013). Happy Money: The Science of Smarter Spending. Simon Shuster.

Grant, Adam. (2013). Give and Take: A Revolutionary Approach to Success. Viking Press.

Picture Credits

Couple walking Photo by Shea Rouda on Unsplash
Gift of bread Photo by Element5 Digital on Unsplash
Giving strawberries Photo by Artur Rutkowski on Unsplash
Couple in a coffeeshop Photo by Christin Hume on Unsplash

0 comment
2 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
AllMovieMovie Review and Event ReviewStrengths

The Positive Psychology Movie Awards for 2018

by Ryan Niemiec
written by Ryan Niemiec

Now in its 10th year, I’m happy to offer you the best of the best positive psychology movies from the past year. I comb through popular, independent, and obscure films to select important films across some of the most important positive psychology themes.

You can use these movies to educate your students, catalyze strength in your clients, or for your own personal cinematic elevation. Cinematic elevation is a phrase I coined in 2008 to refer to one of the motivational pathways by which movies can make us better people and create a stronger society. In alignment with the emotion of elevation, which has very clear science on its benefits for altruism, here is the typical pathway for cinematic elevation:

You observe a movie character displaying virtue, strength, or goodness that is uplifting.

↓

You feel physiologic sensations such as a warming in your chest and a tingling in your extremities.

↓

You feel motivated to do good. You take actions that is altruistic and strengths-based.

So, don’t delay! Watch some of these movies and boost the well-being of yourself and others!

General Awards

 

Mary Poppins Returns: Award for Best Positive Psychology Film
If you listen to songs by actor and musical genius Lin-Manuel Miranda in this film or attend to the pockets of wisdom and central storylines, you’ll be hard-pressed not to discover a wide range of positive and uplifting messages. Core themes of the film, which are sometimes silly yet always meaningful, include the importance of having an optimistic mindset, trusting in children, looking for the light to guide you, taking a different view of problems by going upside-down, reminding yourself that everything is possible including the impossible, no better time to take action than the present, and the view of death as gone but not forgotten and nothing is gone forever.

 

Green Book: Award for Positive Relationships
Exemplary true story about Don Shirley, an African American virtuoso pianist, who connects with his “driver,” a working class Italian-American who takes him across the Deep South to deliver various concerts at a time period where racist, discriminatory, and violent behavior is dominant. As they travel, they indirectly teach and learn from one another. They grow as men and work together to challenges the bigotry and narrow-mindedness that surrounds them.

 

Roma: Award for Meaning
Despite the ineptitude and failures of the men around them, the women find a variety of ways to step up, support one another, and discover strength at times of trauma and routine in this slice of life, Mexican film. The film has won 184 awards, including Oscars for best director, cinematography, and foreign film. This film shows that meaning is found in moments – moments of care for others, moments of connection, moments of acceptance, and moments of courage.

 

BlacKkKlansman: Award for Achievement
Spike Lee film that depicts the true story of the first Black police officer in the Colorado Springs police force. He and a White officer collaborate on an impressive achievement – infiltrate and dismantle a major, local KKK group with national ties to politician David Duke. Rather than forcing messages, the film holds a mirror up to the viewer to reflect on the issues.

 

A Quiet Place: Award for Mindfulness
In this post-apocalyptic film, a family of 5 tries to survive blind creatures that attack only by sound. Because the rule of thumb to survive is – stay silent, stay alive – the film is an interesting teacher of mindfulness. Most of the characters’ behaviors are done quietly and deliberately such as tiptoeing, carefully reaching over glass bottles on a table, using sign language, walking in bare feet, quiet game-play, and mindful listening. The two character strengths at the core of the operational definition of mindfulness – self-regulation and curiosity – are also central in the characters’ attentive listening and controlled emotions and behaviors.

 

Won’t You Be My Neighbor? Award for Happiness
This film is a documentary about Fred Rogers, the host of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, which ran for 31 seasons (912 episodes), infusing joy, curiosity, and love in the hearts of countless children. Not only is the pleasurable type of happiness of smiles and laughter apparent but also the meaningful joy and openness that comes from inclusion of people with disabilities and races different from one’s own, and how to have meaningful conversations with children on topics of pet loss, divorce, and violence. As a positive role model, Mister Rogers famously said, “What is essential in life is invisible to the eye.”

A Vigilante: Signature Strengths Use
A young domestic violence survivor discovers resilience through her signature strengths of bravery, perseverance, creativity, and fairness. She lives with great suffering, confronts it, and tries to help others who are in similar circumstances. She is simultaneously deeply vulnerable and incredibly powerful in her strengths.

 

The Children Act: Award for Morality
An important film that offers a variety of moral dilemmas. One dilemma surrounds a judge (Emma Thompson) who must decide a court case surrounding a Jehovah Witness family that refuses to allow their sick son to undergo a blood transfusion due to religious beliefs. This decision leads to further dilemmas in regard to the interaction between the judge and adolescent. In addition, moral dilemmas about planned infidelity in a struggling marriage are addressed by the judge and her husband.

 

Operation Finale: Award for Teamwork
The true story of the capture of Adolf Eichmann, the only Holocaust mastermind criminal to escape alive and avoid the Nuremberg trials post-WW2. The film depicts the incredible capture of Eichmann by a team of secret agents who secretly kidnap him, keep him secure (and alive), and secretly fly him to Israel to stand trial. The teamwork and planning amidst great risk and pressure is central to the film.

Bird Box: Award for Resilience
Acclaimed Danish filmmaker, Susanne Bier, and starring actress, Sandra Bullock, team up in one of the most unique and artistic apocalyptic films you will see. The survival of a woman and two children in this dangerous world requires substantial bravery, perseverance, and creativity, driven by leadership, teamwork, and love.

 

The Burial of Kojo: Award for Positive Storytelling
African film (from Ghana) about a family that experiences a horrible loss yet the daughter finds a way, through oral storytelling tradition, positive reminiscence, the pursuit of the sacred, and positive reappraisal to keep the “magic” and memories of her loved one alive.

 

Searching: Award for Parenting
The entirety of this first-of-a-kind film is shown through the lens of social media platforms (from Facebook to chatting to Instagram to the cameras on the characters’ computers). The film’s messages reflect the dangers as well as benefits of these platforms. This film gets the award for parenting, not because of the parent’s drive for their child’s well-being, because of the important messages to parents to be savvy in social media, learn new technologies, and never quit on the journey of “trying to know” your child.

 

Welcome to Marwen: Award for Coping
Steve Carell portrays a man who uses extraordinary creativity along with slivers of curiosity to cope with debilitating PTSD following a brutal act of violence. He creates a symbolic world to cope with his intrusive thoughts, painful memories (and memory gaps), and to move forward on a path of healing and letting go. The film does not fall into the common cinematic traps of “love can conquer all mental illness” or superficial panaceas involving getting your mind right or fixed.

 

Bad Times at the El Royale: Award for Redemption
In this well-paced, story-driven film that is sometimes violent and always engaging, each character is on a path of redemption. Some make choices that are for the good to help others, while others do not. In life and in death, each character has a redemptive moment.
 
 

 

Can You Ever Forgive Me? Misuse of Strengths
Melissa McCarthy portrays a lonely, struggling writer with a limited capacity to connect with others but a high capacity for consuming whiskey. She misuses strengths (as opposed to overusing or underusing strengths) of creativity and social intelligence to lie and steal; this is because she uses strengths for negative or malevolent purposes, in this case, for the purpose of manipulating others to steal their money.

The Virtue Awards

 

Prodigy: Award for Wisdom
A brilliant, institutionalized young girl is such a danger to others that the evaluating team has decided she must be euthanized. Her last hope is a psychologist who tries to truly “see” her and her suffering. Despite tremendous adversity and gamesmanship by the prodigy, the psychologist has to deploy great wisdom to save her. He is driven by curiosity in their interactions, creative planning, and upholding of the wider perspective.

 

Solo: A Star Wars Story: Award for Courage
Each of the central characters must bring forth substantial bravery, perseverance, zest, and honesty and struggle to maintain these courage strengths on their journey.

 

Pope Francis: A Man of His Word: Award for Humanity
Documentary by legendary German director Wim Wenders which highlights the humanity, virtues, and strengths-based messages of Pope Francis. The film is about pursuing the best of the human condition and highlights peace activism, poverty as the central spiritual teaching, the art of listening, zero tolerance for pedophilia, offering compassionate silence to people after a tragedy, and the adage that the more powerful a leader is the more humility is required. In the snippets of his speeches, a viewer can spot the majority of the 24 character strengths, especially humanity, temperance, and transcendence strengths. The viewer can see that these strengths can be the antidote to what the pope refers to as the spiritual “deafness” of most people, including religious leaders.

 

Ready Player One: Award for Justice
Central messages in this Steven Spielberg film are the strengths/themes of teamwork, fairness/unfairness, and leadership/bad leadership. The film is set in a futuristic society where most people live in a virtual reality called the oasis designed by a trillionaire who has died and left his fortune to whomever can figure out three hidden clues.

 

Crazy Rich Asians: Award for Temperance
Characters display strong levels of humility, self-regulation, and prudence and are contrasted with characters who show a blatant underuse of these strengths.

 

Alpha: Award for Transcendence
The transcendence strengths of appreciation of beauty and hope catalyze resilience in Keda, a coming-of-age boy in tribal Europe 20,000 years ago. After Keda is left for dead in a remote and wild terrain, his hope and appreciation of beauty strength comes full force as he preserves and nurtures an injured wolf. They form a bond that manifests patience and perseverance to help them survive.

Honorable Mention

Editor’s Note: This is the tenth year that Ryan has provided positive psychology movie awards. Check the reference list below for links to his previous movie award articles as well as his book on positive psychology at the movies.

We provide Amazon or IMDB links for most movies. We know there are many ways to gain access to these movies, but the reviews may be helpful even so.

 

 
References:

Niemiec, R. M. (2017, June release). Character Strengths Interventions: A Field Guide for Practitioners. Hogrefe Publishers.

Niemiec, R. M. (2007). What is a positive psychology film? [Review of The pursuit of happyness]. PsycCRITIQUES, 52(38). DOI:10.1037/a0008960. Available for download from ResearchGate.

Niemiec, R. M., & Wedding, D. (2013). Positive Psychology at the Movies: Using Films to Build Character Strengths and Well-Being Gottingen, Germany: Hogrefe.

Smithikrai, C. (2016). Effectiveness of teaching with movies to promote positive characteristics and behaviors. Procedia – Social and Behavioral Sciences, 217, 522-530.

Earlier Positive Psychology Movie Awards by Ryan Niemiec:

Image credit
Trophies Photo by Ariel Besagar on Unsplash

1 comment
1 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
AllAppreciative InquiryBook ReviewCommunication

Conversations Worth Having (Book Review)

by Lisa Sansom
written by Lisa Sansom

 

In his gracious and thoughtful introduction to this book, Appreciative Inquiry (AI) creator and founder Dr. David Cooperrider writes, “[t]his book is built on the authors’ relentless optimism.” This book is also built upon the deep expertise of the authors, Jackie Stavros and Cheri Torres, internationally recognized for their research and consulting. It also demonstrates the growing application and infiltration of Appreciative Inquiry into individuals, dyads, and small groups, moving well beyond its original scope of systemic organizational change. It has been truly wonderful to see the principles of Appreciative Inquiry grow into so many different domains, including, now, the area that is often referred to as “difficult conversations.”

Jackie Stavros, DM

In the world of Appreciative Inquiry, we recognize that our words create worlds, so it is fitting that Stavros and Torres have included “difficult conversations” in with  “conversations worth having.” To underscore this notion, the book’s preface begins with the observation that “Conversations lie at the heart of how we interact.” Ponder that for a moment. If conversations truly do lie at the heart of interpersonal interactions, then what becomes possible? What becomes important and meaningful? What conversations become worth having, rather than shying away from them?

Cheri Torres, Ph.D.

Conversations worth having are those that add value through appreciative questions and dialogue. They are meaningful and engaging. They increase the mutual pie of knowledge and understanding. They are strengths-based and productive. They are conversations that increase our energy, enhance our connections with others, improve collaboration and problem-solving, and make us feel valued, even loved.

Appropriately, this book is filled with stories and case studies, narratives of possibility, affirmation, and positive shifts. These stories not only illustrate and highlight the potential of Appreciative Inquiry in different situations, but they also provide inspiration for the new practitioner, the struggling individual, or the curious leader who might want more of the good stuff to move into a more positive future with others.

Conversation

Overall, this book brings illuminates two key practices that allow you to “consistently turn any conversation into a conversation worth having,” and five principles to guide your successful practice. Honestly, these are techniques and principles that anyone can follow, regardless of your experience or expertise with Positive Psychology or Appreciative Inquiry. For those who are deeply familiar with Appreciative Inquiry (beyond the basic 4-D model of holding a summit), there will be some great overlaps here that you will enjoy.

Close to Home

Reading through this book, refreshing my understanding of Appreciative Inquiry, and taking it into the world of dyadic interpersonal conversations made me reflect on an upcoming “difficult conversation” that I need to have with a family member, namely, my teenage son. There are several things that we need to “discuss,” and I won’t bore the reader by listing them here, but needless to say, they are important, and this is definitely a conversation worth having.

Conversation

This book reminds me that I need to have a positive frame to start with, and I need to reflect on the meaning I am bringing to this interaction. I need to hold my viewpoint lightly (which is oh so hard!) and I should choose my words carefully to allow for new meaning and understanding. I know from my own failures in the past, that this is where I often stumble. As the parent, with a definite idea of what my son should be doing (basically the opposite of what he is doing right now), I’ve bashed my head against this brick wall before.

Right now, one of the biggest obstacles I am facing is that I am expecting negative outcomes, especially as I have crashed and burned on similar conversations before. It is important that I change my mindset to one that is anticipatory and opportunity-focused. I have choices here, and even if my son doesn’t follow my lead, I can at least set the example and perhaps the next conversation will be a better one with eventual mutually positive outcomes. Wish me luck!

Here’s to many more conversations worth having!

References

Stravos, J. & Torres, C. (2018). Conversations Worth Having: Using Appreciative Inquiry to Fuel Productive and Meaningful Engagement. San Francisco: Berrett Kohler.

Photo credits

Conversation photo by Etienne Boulanger on Unsplash
Canyonlands conversation photo by Natalie Acheatel on Unsplash

0 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
All

Emotional Intelligence Masterclass (Sponsored)

by Seph Fontane Pennock and Hugo Alberts
written by Seph Fontane Pennock and Hugo Alberts

The Emotional Intelligence Masterclass© is a complete, 6-module emotional intelligence training template for helping professionals.

Notice: The early bird 40% savings expires in on Friday, April 5. Price statement is here.

Course Materials

All the materials you need to confidently apply emotional intelligence in a 2019-proof-way are at your disposal. This makes the Emotional Intelligence Masterclass a practitioner’s ultimate shortcut. The EQ training sessions are science-based, with all claims backed up by research and references.

These materials include

 

  • Live recordings of the Emotional Intelligence Masterclass
  • Practitioner handbook
  • Workbook including 17 exercises for your participants
  • Train-the-Trainer videos for each lesson (20 videos)
  • Community-section to interact with fellow practitioners
  • 20 PowerPoint presentations for teaching and workshops
  • Recommended books, articles, movies, videos and quotes
  • Lifetime updates, dedicated support

With your purchase, you will gain the rights to use all of these materials under your own brand.

Instructor

Dr. Hugo Alberts, presenting

The masterclass instructor is Dr. Hugo Alberts, who has been exploring the scientific side of positive psychology for the past 10 years. He has 20+ academic publications on this topic, including emotions. As a practitioner, positive psychology is at the heart of his work with a diverse range of clients.

His aim is to give people both the psychological perspective and the hands-on tools that have proven to increase mental well-being through the practice of positive psychology.

0 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
AllAweMindfulnessNatureNature

Nature and Spirit

by Cordele Glass
written by Cordele Glass

Positive psychology can bridge ecopsychology and transpersonal psychology.

Bridging nature

Development within natural ecosystems and a strong sense of identification with something larger and more expansive than the self have gained enough research and attention to lead to the fields of ecopsychology and transpersonal psychology respectively. Each of these fields is currently on the periphery of mainstream psychology, but each focuses on aspects of development that are crucial to well-being and a life of peace, contentment, and connection. This article helps to outline their overlap with each other and their relationship to positive psychology in the hopes of promoting further psychological research, application, and interest in the under-represented realms of nature and spirit. It concludes with several practices that people can use to benefit from the convergence of these three aspects of psychology.

Transpersonal Psychology

Transpersonal psychology is a western scientific attempt to explore the cross-cultural and cross-generational phenomenology of self transcendence, altered states of consciousness, and mystical experiences. It is not a set of beliefs, a dogma, or a religion. It is an attempt to bring a full range of human experience into the discourse of psychology.

Time lapsed photo of stars

Just like other subfields of psychology (cognitive, social, psychotherapy), the sense of separate self is seen as a product of one’s personal history and is characterized by a sense of autonomy and separation from surroundings. The transpersonal approach explores the psychological realm beyond these awareness constraints by researching and describing states in which the self transcends the narrow identifications of the body, one’s roles, and one’s personal history or social groups.

Self-transcendence refers to states of consciousness in which the sense of self is expanded beyond the ordinary boundaries, identifications, and self-images of the individual personality and reflects a fundamental harmonious unity with others and the world. This is a phenomenon that has occurred for thousands of people from every culture on the planet and throughout all recorded history.

Transpersonal psychology is concerned with the study of humanity’s highest conscious potential, a goal perfectly aligned with the field of positive psychology.

Ecopsychology

Ecopsychology operates under the notion that human experience, development, and well-being are inextricably linked with the natural environment. Human development takes place within the processes and systems of our natural ecosystems in a deeply bonded and reciprocal communion. The denial of this bond is a source of suffering both for the physical environment and for the human psyche. The realization of the connection between humans and nature is healing for both.

Girl in nature

Proponents of this field are bringing the contributions of ecological thinking, the values of the natural world, and responses to environmental destruction to psychotherapy and personal growth by fostering lifestyles that are both ecologically and psychologically healthy. Recognizing the systems in which humans are embedded is currently the cutting edge of theoretical approaches in positive and developmental psychology, but typically the emphasis is on social, cultural, or economic systems rather than ecological or natural systems.

Nature, Transcendence, and Flow

Ecopsychology is based on the recognition of a fundamental nonduality between humans and nature, and on the insight that the failure to experience and act from this nonduality creates suffering for both humans and the environment.

Nonduality is equally at the foundation of transpersonal psychology in the sense that the duality between self and world can be transcended through altered states of consciousness. Transpersonal psychologists and ecopsychologists (and even Buddhist psychologists and many other Eastern philosophies) argue that our ordinary experience of ourselves as separate autonomous beings is incomplete and inaccurate.

Admittedly, many of these claims and concepts run dangerously close to the domain of religion. According to Dr. Csikszentmihalyi, one of the founders of the field of positive psychology, “…there is a distinction between religiosity and spirituality. The latter is a non-denominational way of speaking about what religions sometimes do. So for instance, meditation, mindfulness, gratitude, respect and love of nature – all of these things are very much part of Positive Psychology.” All of these things are clearly vital aspects of ecopsychology and transpersonal psychology as well.

When Dr. Csikszentmihalyi started studying altered states of consciousness and optimal experiences in artists and musicians, the literature on ecstasy (from Greek ekstasis, literally ‘standing outside oneself’) resonated with his findings, specifically the feeling of losing oneself in something larger and the way one’s sense of time disappears. He suggests that peak altered states of ecstasy can be achieved through very long periods of training like in Hindu mystical practices, yogic techniques, or deep flow experiences. He says if you achieve the ecstatic experience, through meditation for example, you are actively connected to a larger experience.

“Nonduality encompasses those states of being and consciousness in which the sense of separate individuality and autonomy has been metabolized or dissolved into the flow of experience. Self-identity becomes integrated into a qualitatively higher (or deeper) perspective in which personal identity and the world are not separate. The world does not melt into non-differentiation, perception continues, and actions flow.” – Davis, J. (1998)

So far, the studies that have been done on flow and the brain are few, but they suggest that what is happening is transient hypo-frontality: the frontal part of the brain (executive functioning and conceptualization) is not interfering with the rest of the brain. This pattern is consistent with brain scans done on master meditators that enter deep transpersonal states of trance. In yet another convergence, ecopsychologists Kaplan and Kaplan contrast the concept of flow with the concept of compatibility, i.e., a fit between one’s needs and capacities and what the environment offers. Compatibility is a necessary part of any flourishing natural ecosystem, and it maps almost directly onto a central aspect of flow often conceptualized as a balance between challenge and skill. These are but a few examples of the overlapping and corroborative results found in the fields of transpersonal, eco, and positive psychology.

Applications of Positive, Eco, and Transpersonal Psychologies

There are a number of practices to elicit ecopsychological awareness and insights. They can also be used as part of a transpersonal or spiritual practice. They all lead to enhanced well-being, connection, and flourishing as espoused by the field of positive psychology.

    Clouds, trees, mountains

  • Awareness and mindfulness practices: Sensory awareness exercises which include awareness of the natural world are useful for both being aware of ecological systems themselves, and for revealing your connection to them. For example, spend an hour in a quiet green space and treat your awareness as if you are the eyes of nature perceiving itself. This has been shown to create a significant shift in how we relate to our environment. 
  • Place-bonding: Relate to a particular place over a period of time (e.g., a semester or a year). Preferably alone in nearby nature that is easily accessible from home. During this time get to know it in as many ways as possible. Listen for ways to take care of it, and let it listen to you. Enter the place in deep silence and observe your concepts, idealizations, and judgments about it. Most discover how their “use” of the place and the filtering of their perceptions of it are tied to a sense of their own separate selves and their projections, fears, and hopes. 
  • Environmental Action Projects: Work on a specific environmental project. For the purposes of this exercise, some kind of direct action, such as cleaning up a section of a stream or a vacant city lot or digging a hole to plant a tree, works better than a more abstract or intellectual project. In addition to improving the physical environment, attempt to reflect on your perspective and motivations. You may even use it as a mindfulness exercise or meditation-in-action. 
  • Wilderness Expedition: Spend several days deep in a wild natural area with a small group, possibly with a wilderness guide, with the goal of connecting to the natural environment at large. You can use the surroundings as a tool to interpret your current life situation for deeper understanding of yourself in a naturalistic and more ecologically aware state of mind.

I invite you to apply these practices with your clients or try them for yourself.
 

 
References

Bynum, E. (1997). A brief overview of Transpersonal Psychology. The Humanistic Psychologist, 20 (2 and 3), 301-306. Abstract.

Csikszentmihalyi, M. (2014) Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi on flow, ecstasy and the spirituality of Positive Psychology. Interview on Philosopy for Life Web site.

Davis, J. (1998). The transpersonal dimensions of ecopsychology: Nature, nonduality, and spiritual practice. The Humanistic Psychologist, 26(1-3), 69-100. Abstract.

Kaplan, R., & Kaplan, S. (1989). The Experience of Nature: A Psychological Perspective. New York: Cambridge University Press.

Image Credits
Waterfall Photo by Blake Richard Verdoorn on Unsplash
TIme lapsed photograph of stars by Christian Nielsen on Unsplash
Girl in forest photo by Andraz Lazic on Unsplash
Clouds over the mountains photo by Sasha • Stories on Unsplash

0 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
AllAweBook AnnouncementBook ReviewOverall view of Pos PsychTaking Action

Mud and Dreams (Book Review)

by Aren Cohen
written by Aren Cohen

Sean Doyle

For those of us in the Positive Psychology community who know John Sean Doyle, his new book is a welcome reminder of our friend’s wisdom and abiding curiosity in all the textures and nuances of being human. For those who don’t know Sean, there is no better introduction to his wisdom than this deeply meaningful and heartfelt offering of exploration and gratitude. Indeed, David Pollay’s description of Sean as “the poetic voice of Positive Psychology” makes good sense. Sean’s imaginative, astute prose draws a reader into revelations about the importance and abundance of common, shared experience. Details differ, but the lived experience of humanity is universal. Choosing to live an examined life is up to us, but Mud and Dreams: Essays on falling more deeply in love with life presents readers with well-crafted essays providing magnificently framed vistas to help us recognize the truths of how and why life is worth living, even in the face of adversity.

Mud and Dreams offers a generous and extended invitation to explore. As Doyle states, “We are our stories, no doubt. But we are so much more, too” (p. 27). As he shares his stories and subsequent reflections, Doyle’s insight shines forth from the page. As a reader, there is ample opportunity to bask in the warmth of Doyle’s words. They welcome us in with space to stretch out, look around, and investigate. In fact, each essay serves as a mini-meditation on some aspect of a life well-lived. Topics as wide ranging as the responsibilities of daily life, the contrasts between joy and pain, the bliss of love and the grief of trauma, the importance of resilience, and how to play with both the novel and the familiar, all deserve examination if we are to find meaning in the lives we live. Doyle leaves no stone unturned. He becomes our Virgil as we, like Dante, embark on a journey for meaning within the “divine comedy” of life.

Mud and Dreams escapes sounding like preaching precisely because Doyle requires readers to engage actively. Each chapter’s meditative offering can be revisited again and again. With each reading, new stories, new truths, new revelations arise, and that is one of Doyle’s key points.

Life is iterative

Life is iterative: the more we stay the same, the more we change. With each introspective journey, we learn new approaches to live in the world and to recognize love even in the face of constant imperfection. The Reader’s Guide at the end of the book is a testament to the author’s belief in hope and the goodness of the world. While some readers may enjoy distilling their own messages each time they read, those looking for a more formal approach to the large questions tackled by the essays will find that Doyle has given them a structured framework to connect personal experiences with big ideas.

Book of courage and heart

Mud and Dreams was written with courage and heart, and it asks its readers to respond in kind. It is book everyone, not just students of positive psychology, their friends, and family, should have in their library. It is a read to be savored completely and often. In this day and age, it is a welcome reminder that not only are we “hybrid creatures, both mud and dreams” (p. 72), but that our dual nature is something to celebrate and rejoice in, as it is our very gift of humanity that lets us fall deeply in love with life and all it has to offer.

 

References

Doyle, J. S. (2018). Mud and Dreams: Essays on falling more deeply in love with life.. Rainstick Publishers.

Doyle, J. S. (ongoing). Human moments blog.

Doyle, J. S. (2018). Happiness field manual: Practical things you can do today to make your life less stressful, more meaningful, & happier.

Maymin, S. & Doyle, J. S. (November, 2018). Interview about Mud and Dreams. Positive Psychology News.

 

 

Image Credits
John Sean Doyle, from his About page
Spiral Staircase Photo by Michael Jasmund on Unsplash
Book of courage and heart Photo by Hush Naidoo on Unsplash

1 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
AllBook ReviewParenting & Schools

The Primary and Secondary Behaviour Cookbooks (Book Review)

by Denise Quinlan
written by Denise Quinlan

Two students hard at work

In 2018, Dr. Sue Roffey published two cookbooks for managing behavior in schools: The Primary Behaviour Cookbook: Strategies at your Fingertips and The Secondary Behaviour Cookbook: Strategies at Your Fingertips.

Reading these two books, one has the clear sense of receiving advice from someone who has been there, understands the challenges facing teachers, and has useful, practical advice to offer. Teachers will pick up these books for the 1-2 page strategies to deal with specific issues they encounter, but they will stay for the long-term guidance on building effective classroom relationships and behavior management.

Dr Roffey provides strategies to deal with a wide range problem situations or behaviors grouped under the following topics:

  • Getting things done (e.g. when students are struggling to settle/start/finish/focus)
  • Dealing with disruption (from humming and fidgeting to over-the-top behavior)
  • Social interactions (from dominant behavior to lying, stealing, cheating, and blaming others)
  • Coping with conflict (in the Secondary level book only; from verbal and non-verbal rudeness and ignoring staff requests to bullying, intimidation, and violence)
  • Emotional distress (from outbursts of anger, aggression, or crying to anxiety and depression)
  • Behaviors of special concern (e.g. eating difficulties, sexualized behavior, self-harm, suicidality)

High school classroom

Although each topic is covered in only two pages, these are not quick fixes. For each specific situation, teachers are coached through a series of questions to develop their understanding and perspective of the situation, offered immediate suggestions to try in the classroom, and then provided with ideas for longer-term change. Here are some typical questions and strategies for each category:

  • Understanding the behavior, including context, awareness, ability level, triggers, physical issues, or home influences. For example, when does the behavior happen? How often? When doesn’t it happen? When did it start? Are there any patterns that could help you understand this behavior?
  • Strategies to implement today, including how to calm the teacher and maintain perspective on the behavior, requests for the student, phrasing to connect with students or lighten the situation, and options for one-on-one discussion after class.
  • Longer-term changes to consider, including options for the student to deal with the behavior, options for the teacher to connect with families of students involved, and strategies to modify the classroom climate.

Dr Roffey brings all of her considerable experience to these practical and powerful toolkits for classroom teachers. Her practical experience as a classroom teacher of students with special education needs, and subsequent work as an education psychologist and socio-emotional learning program developer and trainer enables her to produce resources that speak directly to the challenges faced by classroom teachers.

Classroom teacher

If these books contained only these recipes, they would already earn a place on a teacher’s desk, but they provide much more. They provide a concise guide to managing classroom behavior and developing a positive school climate. Extending the cooking metaphor, Dr Roffey provides a chapter on ‘the oven’ (the emotional climate of the classroom) and another on the essential ingredients every teacher needs, that is, proactive strategies that build positive teacher-student relationships. This includes advice on building positive student-teacher relationships, having high expectations and clear communication, fostering a sense of belonging, using strengths-based language, maintaining positivity in relationships and the classroom, looking after teacher well-being, and working with the full team involved in a student’s education, including their families and caregivers.

Dr Roffey believes it’s high time that teachers stop managing student behavior with a behaviorist model based on sanctions and rewards that has proven ineffective in practice. In its place, she recommends that teachers adopt a relationship-based approach to behavior management. As part of that approach she encourages teachers to be enthusiastic about their teaching, to stay calm and quiet in a crisis, and to have a laugh with their students. Humor in the classroom helps.
 

 
References

Roffey, S. (2018). The Primary Behaviour Cookbook: Strategies at your Fingertips. Routledge.

Roffey, S. (2018). The Secondary Behaviour Cookbook: Strategies at Your Fingertips. Routledge.

Image Credits
Two students in an elementary classroom photo by Santi Vedrí on Unsplash
High school classroom Photo by NeONBRAND on Unsplash
Classroom teacher courtesy of NCSSMphotos from Flickr via Compfight with Creative Commons license.

0 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
AllChangeTaking Action

Paradoxical Decisions: Apply Self-Humor, Improvisation, and Affirmation

by Alex Sternick
written by Alex Sternick

Why do people stay in their comfort zones and stick to old beliefs and behaviors, even when those patterns do not serve them anymore? Why do they continue trying to do their best in situations where pushing harder is like pressing on the accelerator with the car in neutral?

What if instead people recognized the value of self-acceptance and the value of surrendering to a current situation, then playing with the situation rather than fighting it, thus accepting reality as it is? Perhaps they are slowed down by common sense, which often comes from authorities or social norms, thus encapsulating the views of other people.

What if instead they made paradoxical decisions deliberately contradicting old belief systems, as suggested by Bruce Lipton? These decisions might enable people to transcend old attitudes and patterns of behavior. When people can make paradoxical decisions playfully, surrendering, and enjoying the uncertainty, they can make liberating decisions without any scruples.

A Personal Paradoxical Decision

Running on the beach – speaking Gibberish

I remember sitting in front of the computer focusing on office work. Facing the screen, I had an intolerable feeling, a total unwillingness to fulfill the “I need to…” thoughts that kept me there. Writing emails felt like pushing the gas in neutral. I realized that nothing positive could emerge from trying my best. Becoming conscious of this feeling through sensations in my body, I recruited courage to rise from the desk, step away from the screen, and leave the office. I drove to the beach to do something else.

Personally, I enjoy singing in Gibberish. This is a major part of Non-Linear Approaches/Non-therapeutic Psychotherapy that I started in 2004 and have been deepening ever since. (Concepts from this approach are italicized below.) I now teach masterclasses on non-linear approaches around the world. By non-linear, I mean not conventional, not defined by cultural or social norms, not restricted to any one absolute truth. Often this involves breaking up an old belief system. For example, where a conventional approach might be to try to fix the patient or administer an antidote, a non-linear approach might be to evoke the symptoms and help the client accept and play with them.

I parked on the beach and went jogging barefoot on the sand, chanting in Gibberish, and forgetting about the tasks that my judgmental self believed I needed to fulfill. Talking in Gibberish is a way to bypass the hyper self-criticism of the intellect and avoid being trapped in a never-ending mental loop.

I applied the concept of doing something else to escape preoccupation, which minimized my mental turmoil and brought me back to the present. As my mind calmed down, many insights related to future projects flowed through my mind. I felt a great joy that I could transcend the linear attitude driven by fear that I must sit and work in the office. Instead of pursuing these tasks by forcing myself to think them over excessively, I could let them proceed indirectly. Dr Viktor Frankl once advocated that we not aim at success, a linear perspective, but instead let it happen as a byproduct of being aligned with our unique meaning and purpose, a non-linear approach. Hence, self-dedication liberated me from the linear logic and associated fears coming from society, governments, or culture. I was able to take distance from the situation.

I felt contentment and happiness being on the beach, in the sun, not imprisoned in the office trying to produce something. I was not driven by the fear that shows up as “I need to pay my bills, so let’s create more work.”

Paradox: On or On switch

What are Paradoxical Decisions?

Paradoxical decisions are commitments that have nothing in common with the person’s usual outlook or ways of making decisions, although a paradoxical decision might be a deliberate contradiction of past ways of action. Paradoxical decisions set up a new private logic. Making paradoxical decisions requires a humorous attitude, not only on the cognitive surface, but much deeper in the sub-conscious mind, that comes from a conviction that the past logical ways of action have become useless. Humor lets us see that we are mentally stuck.

Paradoxical decisions may help people accept their situations as they are. They may engender a playful attitude toward any consequences and circumstances. They can result in future non-linear, playful actions. People taking paradoxical decisions tend to assume a self-humorous responsibility instead of taking life and the future too seriously.

Self-humor is the faculty to recognize and accept our turbulent minds as illusions. Self-humor can be also produced by explicitly exaggerating seriousness in front of self and others. Self-humor helps us step out of situations, opening up the ability to make paradoxical decisions. Sometimes people act paradoxically out of existential and unfathomable despair, understanding that nothing can be worse than now and nothing can be lost by taking a different direction.

Paradoxical decisions elicit self-empowerment, assertiveness, and lightness. Laughter dominates instead of the feeling of being condemned to apply logical interventions to solve problems.

Another Example of Paradoxical Decisions

Trekking in the Himalayas

Here’s another example. A 70-year-old lady at a kibbutz in Israel had a recurrence of breast cancer after believing she was cured. Medical authorities recommended conventional regimens including surgery, radiation, and chemo. She decided instead to administer a paradoxical intention as illustrated by Viktor Frankl in the words, “Today I am going to have a stroke.” She announced loudly, “I am going to grow many carcinogenic tumors in my body.” By doing that, she administered self-acceptance, embodying a great sense of self-humor, and accepting the cancer as a friend or gift, rather than an enemy.

Then she made several paradoxical decisions. Instead of a long conventional series of treatments, she decided to take a distance from the situation by going on vacation in the Nepali Himalayas where her daughter was already trekking. Accompanied by her supportive husband, she fled Israel for Nepal for several months. She also went on an organic, completely vegan diet without sugar-based foods. When she came back to Israel, she tried some alternative methods to boost her immune system, including bee venom therapy or Apitherapy. Her paradoxical decisions allowed her to take distance from a fear-based mindset. Surprisingly (or not) her tumors shrank.

Conclusion

Paradoxical decisions can be a possible resolution when people realize their past linear patterns of action do not work. They might playfully contradict themselves out of deep understanding that there is no need to take themselves and the world too seriously. While admitting weakness, disease, and imperfection, they can accept themselves fully, becoming friends to themselves. There is no need any more to fix themselves using mental effort. Instead they could use the paradoxical intention approach suggested by Victor Frankl. This approach elicits self-humor, which in my view, is a high form of humor and laughter. This reduces the need to see life and the external world as a jungle. People can easily change old patterns of action and step ahead into refreshing, sometimes rebellious, non-conventional behavior that comes from taking a distance from the problem, making paradoxical decisions, and playing along the way.
 

 
References

Bhaerman, S. (2015). Swami Beyondananda interview with Alex Sternick: The Sense behind the Nonsense.

Frankl, V. (1959). Man’s Search For Meaning. New York: Simon and Schuster.

Frankl, V. E. (1946/1975): Ärztliche Seelsorge. München, Kindler. English translation: The Doctor and the Soul: From Psychotherapy to Logotherapy, Revised and Expanded. The statement, “Today I am going to have a stroke,” is on p. 185 of the German version.

Johnstone, K. (2016). Don’t do your best: How to live an improvised life.

Lipton, B. (2006, 2016). The Biology of Belief 10th Anniversary Edition: Unleashing the Power of Consciousness, Matter & Miracles. Hays House.

Page, C. M.D. (2013). The Healing Power of the Sacred Woman: Health, Creativity, and Fertility for the Soul. Bear & Company. On page 76 includes the story of Shin Ichiro Terayama accepting the cancer as a friend.

Sternick, A. (2018). Art of Nonsense MasterClass: Fast Gibberish& Cathartic Release of Restrained Emotions.

Sternick, A. (2018). Acknowledge and exaggerate your seriousness towards self humor-Art of Nonsense Switzerland 01.18.

Sternick, A. (2013). Playing with nonsense. Positive Psychology News.

Picture Credits
Running on a beach Photo by Richard Masquelier on Unsplash
On or on switch courtesy of Mark Oliver Dittrich. Released into public domain on his behalf by Digital camera via Wikimedia.
Himalayas Photo by Ben Lowe on Unsplash

2 comments
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
AllGlobal PoliciesGratitudeOverall view of Pos Psych

Ed Diener Interview: Benefits, Policies, and Interventions

by Sherif Arafa
written by Sherif Arafa

Ed Diener, professor of psychology

This is the continuation of my interview with Dr. Ed Diener. The first part was published on January 8, 2019. Dr. Diener is a leading researcher on happiness, the correlates of well-being, and well-being measurement. In this part of the interview, he tells us about the benefits of happiness, including the impact on citizenship. He tells us about the wisdom of using well-being data in the formation of public policies. He concludes with information about positive interventions that have been rigorously tested in clinical trials.

Sherif Arafa Dr. Diener, what are you working on now? What are the newest developments in research on happiness?

Ed Diener Let me talk about three things: the benefits of happiness, policies that governments can take that contribute to well-being, and actions that people can take that raise well-being.

Benefits of happiness.

For decades we studied what makes people happy, and also created measures of happiness and tested the validity of these measures. More recently we have been asking whether happiness is a good thing. Could it be that happiness is self-indulgent and frivolous compared to work and family and religion?

We find the opposite: we find over and over that happy people are the ones who function more effectively and also help society more.

First, it is important not to confuse happiness with simply having fun, for example by going to parties, playing sports, and participating in leisure activities. The deep and long-lasting sources of happiness contribute to what we call sustainable happiness, which is lasting, not just momentary. What are the effects of sustainable happiness? Are they desirable, or do they lead people to be lazy, uncaring about world problems, and unaware of the important things in life?

Volunteer in the library

Looking at outcomes, we find that sustainable happiness leads to:

  • Better health and longevity: Happy people live longer and experience better health
  • Superior work performance, especially organizational citizenship
  • More supportive social relationships, for example, being less likely to get divorced
  • Better citizenship and more prosocial behaviors, for example, being more likely to help others, volunteer, or donate money to charity
  • Better mental health and resilience when confronted by stressful events, for example, being less likely to suffer from mental health problems such as depression, and more likely to bounce back after something bad happens

The benefits of sustainable happiness are broad and important. They cannot be ignored. TO REPEAT: happy people do not just feel better, but they function better in achieving the things we value. They help society. They help those around them to also lead high-quality lives. Happy people are not uncaring selfish people. They have the energy and desire to work on societal problems as much as or more than others.

Central Park in middle of Manhattan

Policies for well-being

More and more nations are starting to assess the well-being of citizens, for example by measuring life satisfaction and meaning in life. These measures can tell us who in a society is suffering versus flourishing and what factors are producing boosts versus detriments to happiness.

For example, in the United Kingdom, several billion extra pounds have now been allotted by the government to the treatment of mental illness. Why? Because mental illness was found to be a major, if not THE major, source of suffering in the UK. Furthermore, it was found that less was spent on treating mental illness than on other major diseases. So lots of suffering, but greatly underfunded. This led parliament to change funding priorities.

Central Park walk way

We know that some environmental factors such as air pollution can lower well-being, and other environmental factors such as parks and green space can raise it. Governments currently rely on various societal indicators such as income and unemployment, educational achievement, and health measures. We now know that indicators of psychosocial well-being can add valuable information that helps leaders make more astute policies and program decisions.

Interventions to raise well-being

Positive psychologists have development many interventions to improve people’s happiness. These treatments are aimed not just at removing feeling miserable, for example by removing depression, but also at taking average people higher in well-being.

We have put the best of these interventions together in a package we call ENHANCE. ENHANCE aims to teach people skills and ways of thinking that will make them happier.

One set of lessons in ENHANCE helps people think about their values, their strengths, and their goals, and make certain these are aligned. ENHANCE teaches people to be more positive in social interactions, for example, by expressing gratitude and praise more often. Yet other ENHANCE lessons help people deal with stress and negative feelings.

Positive Interactions

We have run tightly controlled studies on ENHANCE now. The course takes about 10 weeks to complete, with lessons practiced by people in their everyday lives. They read a lesson and then go out and practice what they have learned, so that a positive habit develops. We find that ENHANCE raises people’s life satisfaction and enjoyment of life.

We also find that ENHANCE may have some physical health effects, even though it is aimed at psychosocial well-being. For example, after ENHANCE, people appear to have fewer sick days and have lower blood pressure. They also function better cognitively in terms of thinking and attention. Thus, not only can the well-being interventions make people feel better, but they may also help them function more effectively.

 

 
References

Kushlev, K., Heintzelman, S, J., Lutes, L. D., Wirtz D., Oishi S., Diener E. (2017). ENHANCE: Design and rationale of a randomized controlled trial for promoting enduring happiness & well-being. Contemporary Clinical Trials, 52: 62-74. doi: 10.1016/j.cct.2016.11.003. Meet the ENHANCE team.

Diener, E. & Biswas-Diener, R. (2008). Happiness: Unlocking the Mysteries of Psychological Wealth. Wiley-Blackwell.

Diener, E., Lucas, R., Schimmack, U., & Helliwell, J. (2009). Well-Being for Public Policy (Positive Psychology). New York: Oxford University Press.

Photo Credits
Photo of Ed Diener used with permission.
Volunteer in library Photo by Adam Winger on Unsplash
Central Park Photo by Trent Szmolnik on Unsplash
Central Park Walkway Photo by Alua Magzumova on Unsplash
Positive Interactions Photo by Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash

0 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Newer Posts
Older Posts