Fields

“The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree,” gets most heads nodding like a metronome. Except, of course, when the apple does in fact fall far. This stunning documentary takes you behind the scenes with several incredible families where individual children are outliers, entirely distinctive from all the other kinsfolk. Right now the film is opening in theaters across the United States and I encourage you to observe positive profiles in resilience, hope, and the enduring power of love amongst five amazing families.

Building your professional network can seem like a daunting task. Here’s a way to break it down into two much simpler steps that help you keep track of connections and strengthen relationships.

Back in March, Dr. Attila Oláh invited people to attend the 9th European Conference on Positive Psychology in Budapest. The conference happened in late June. Here is a report on conference happenings.

This summer, there were two major events focused on positive education. On August 8, there will be a panel to explore what people learned by participating. You are invited to register.

Continuing the report on the IPEN conference started on July 13, I invite you to learn about Angela Duckworth’s Character Lab Playbooks, about research on the behavior changes associated with meditation, and more.

The International Positive Education Network, known to friends as IPEN, held its second annual festival in Ft. Worth Texas from June 25 to June 28. The conference was jointly sponsored by the David L. Cooperrider Center for Appreciative Inquiry, so you won’t be surprised that the conference title was .

Tal Ben-Shahar mesmerized a standing-room-only audience eager to learn about the science and practical steps necessary to experience greater well-being. I return to cover the remaining two parts of his talk, as well as interesting topics that arose in the Q&A session with Julie Rice.

Tal Ben-Shahar is deeply humble, but he mesmerized a standing-room-only audience eager to learn about the science and practical steps necessary to experience greater well-being. Then Julie Rice interviewed Tal in a riveting discussion on happiness. I shall cover 3 of his 5 major points in this article and return on Thursday with the rest.

As much as we need to feel that we belong and that others want us, it is even more critical to know that we matter, that we have something to offer, and that our contribution is seen and appreciated. Here are some actions that can facilitate a culture of mattering.

Part 1 ended with a question about whether human beings are capable of holistic growth throughout their adult years. In Part 2, I contend that the passing of youth does not leave us confined to learning only very specific grownup skills for which a capacity is already in place. We can go beyond skill training to growth. Kegan and Lahey give us existence proofs, three very different corporate cultures where continuous personal growth is the norm. They call these existence proofs deliberately developmental organizations (DDOs).

What if a company created a culture in which everyone could overcome internal barriers to change and use errors and vulnerabilities as prime opportunities for personal and company growth? What does growth even mean in adulthood?

Is there a connection between mothers working outside the home and adolescent depression? What emerged when I studied this question surprised me. It appeared that children of mothers with rewarding careers are actually doing quite well. However children with mothers who are depressed, working or not, are at a much greater risk for adolescent depression. In my quest to help working mothers find well-being, I have found numerous simple mechanisms that working mothers can use to improve their daily experience, thereby reducing the risk of depression in themselves and their children..

ANNOUNCEMENT:  On June 20, we will have a Positive Psychology News webinar featuring James and Suzie Pawelski, authors of  Happy Together: Using the Science of Positive Psychology to Build Love That Lasts.

We interviewed Alex Goldfayn on our most recent PPND Webinar on May 23, 2018. We discussed how to utilize the idea of positive psychology in sales from Alex’s most recent book, Selling Boldly: Applying the New Science of Positive Psychology to Dramatically Increase Your Confidence, Happiness, and Sales.  Here is the webinar in case you missed it or want to see it again!

The practice of forgiveness has been found to improve health outcomes because it reduces physiological responses to stress. Forgiveness can serve as a powerful, self-administered salve. If one does not forgive, it is like handing the transgressor the skeleton key to the door of one’s life. Forgiveness might not prevent the pain of the past, but it can reduce suffering in the future.

ANNOUNCEMENT: On May 24, we will have a Positive Psychology News webinar featuring Alex Goldfayn, author of Selling Boldly: Applying the New Science of Positive Psychology to Dramatically Increase Your Confidence, Happiness, and Sales.

Do you keep up with the news? If you’re like me, you find that your well-being takes a nosedive after a dose of the news. Nonetheless, I don’t think we should avoid it. A strong democracy requires us to be informed citizens. That’s what led me to study the question: What can we do to keep informed without a major cost to our well-being?

We interviewed Pete Berridge and Jen Ostrich on our most recent PPND Webinar. They discussed how to create lasting change in organizations using their technique “The Shift Positive 360 Approach”. Here is the full webinar in case you missed it!

HERO organizations are financially healthy and stable. Because the psychosocial capital exists, they are better equipped to deal with the volatile economic times that are our everyday reality.