Goals

Getting Grit is like getting a coach between book covers. It is a clear, application-oriented book full of reflection questions, activities, and exercises for people who want to build authentic grit that will make a difference not just for themselves, but also for the communities around them.

Early in my career I had learned that if you want your product or service to be successful, all you have to do is (ask and) listen and act on what you hear, or don’t hear. We asked. You all spoke. We acted on your suggestions, bringing you Positive Psychology Toolkit 2.0. We also added a community forum so that all of our toolkit users could request new tools and interact with each other.

Like any business leader, I wanted to be informed of what my employees were up to, so I requested that all of us write status reports. But status reports can become boring and sometimes feel pointless. What does science tell us about making them both a joy to write and a joy to read?

We can leverage the power of routines by personalizing them to meet our needs and to match our goals. Using a design thinking mindset, three elements to consider when crafting a routine are habits, practices, and rituals.

For several years, we’ve ended one year or started the next year by inviting our authors to make a suggestion to people looking forward to the year ahead. This is part 2 of this year’s suggestions, just in time for the new year.

For several years, we’ve ended one year or started the next year by inviting our authors to make a suggestion to people looking forward to the year ahead. This year’s suggestions come in two parts. Come back on New Year’s Eve for the second installment.

As I ponder the ways I’ve managed my own procrastination, I keep remembering something I observed in college: I have a procrastination hierarchy, and I can manipulate it to make myself get moving on a particular task.

When managers focus on the core strengths of employees and give them the freedom to pursue these strengths and push the limits, employees are more successful in their work and feel valued and effective. Such employees tend to feel that they belong in their companies and therefore tend to stay longer. Positive minded managers can have a powerful impact on their teams.

The science of setting and reaching goals tells us that the best goals go beyond SMART. I’m using the acronym SMARTEST goals to add more of what science says helps us reach our goals.

As a mother, I knew what was best for him, I told myself. I could not trust his teenage judgment. But something deeper prompted me to question my reasoning. Did I fear knowing his goals in case they were different from mine? Was I running away from the possibility that his ideals of success would not measure up to societal standards? Would I be able to face it if they didn’t? I slowly began to see myself hiding behind the guise of motherhood.

Here are some tips from psychological research for achieving workplace happiness and productivity: deal effectively with bad bosses, prefer intentions over fantasies, and value workplace friendships.

Twenty-one authors offer suggestions for living a full and meaningful 2015.

The period between Christmas and New Year is for many a pot of unstructured time that can lapse into a wasteland of mindless eating and slumping in front of the TV. The days are short and energy levels are low. But this time is perfect for reflecting on the year that’s gone and planning the year ahead. Take a life audit of 2014 as a basis to plan for 2015.

Context is everything and those of us who seek to reenergize clients facing big changes need to follow the endlessly repeated advice from the Kenny Rogers song, “… know when to hold ‘em, know when to fold ‘em.” Eliminate some of the gamble and read Megan McArdle’s book on failing well, along with yesterday’s book on quitting.

In Mastering the Art of Quitting, Peg Streep and Alan Bernstein unpack systematically and skillfully what it means to quit from public myth to personal consequence. Nobody wants to be known as a quitter, yet we live in an unpredictable world where the capacity to move on with agility and minimal regret can be a huge advantage. 

Tim Kasser made the point that materialism and well-being tend to be related to each other like two riders on a seesaw. When one goes up, the other goes down. This has implications for both individuals and society.

Don’t sit there too long waiting for happiness to appear, or wondering whether now is the right time to do something. Why not take a different approach? Why not act now and reflect afterwards on whether it worked? If it wasn’t quite right, you can change it, and in the meantime you will have learned something about yourself. This way, you can act your way into a new way of being happy.

I worked as a Yale-trained actor and producer in New York City and then as a leadership development consultant and coach, so I have spent almost 20 years thinking about ways we can augment our ability to command a room. The idea that you either have presence or you don’t is a big myth. Borrowing from actors, there are tangible techniques that you can use to control your anxiety and increase your influence whether you are giving a formal presentation or running a meeting. This article includes an invitation to a webinar tomorrow.

For years, the thought of joining Twitter filled me with dread. I was convinced it would upset the balance of life. My privacy would go out the window, and, worse still, I’d probably be judged, abused or ridiculed for saying the wrong thing.

I was wrong.

It turns out that Twitter is so much more than I realized. I had a pleasant surprise in store. It fuels, nay turbocharges, one of my greatest passions: learning.

Since the holiday season is upon us, you can bet that New Year’s Resolutions aren’t far off. Yet only 8% of us consistently achieve our goals for the New Year. That’s not very encouraging, but it’s also no surprise, considering that most of us will just pick a resolution and hope to achieve it without much planning. But to reverse-paraphrase Einstein, if we go about it differently this year, we can get different results. Here are 4 ideas for effectively working toward health goals.