Habits

We need to know when it makes sense to streamline things with simple procedures and systems, and when it makes sense to allow humans to express their creativity, perhaps risking failure, perhaps inspiring innovation. Practical wisdom pushes people to be responsible for their decisions and to learn from them. We might expose ourselves to more risks along the way, but we become a wiser society by doing so.

For this last in our holiday season series, we asked our authors and friends the following question: “What research-based advice do you have for the new year? Tips to keep in mind? Or tips that you learned from research that you yourself apply? Here’s what we heard back.

Now we will try something different: a TEDx talk by one of our authors about a brain-computer interface that can be used to exercise the part of the brain that is involved in self-control.

The Psychology of Spas and Wellbeing by Jeremy McCarthy offers a clearly stated, scientific investigation of the mind-body connection and the psychology of relaxation, beauty, touch, and holistic wellness.

The APA’s research suggests that less than half of adults who recognize a needed change in lifestyle are able to maintain the change. The #1 barrier to change cited in the survey was a lack of willpower. This is good news, since scientists such as Roy Baumeister have shown that willpower can be developed with exercise. Here is an exercise to build the motivation that underlies willpower.

It’s only now with sophisticated brain imaging that we are starting to see the neurological impacts of habits, giving us new clues into how to change them. While the elixir still eludes us, Charles Duhigg has brought us a few steps forward in his book The Power of Habit, discussing not only the habits of individuals but also the habits of organizations and societies.

In various models of well-being, positive emotions seem to have less gravitas than other factors. One reason may be that they are often equated with hedonic pleasure. So it was with great curiosity that I stumbled across a philosophical approach to pleasure that suggests that there is more to the hedonic life than initially meets the eye.

In the days leading up to Christmas Day, some people like to use an Advent Calendar to count down the days, some with a small gift each day such as a chocolate. In 2011, Kurt Shuster turned this idea around to create the online Acts of Kindness Advent Calendar. Find out why and what he learned in this interview by Amanda Horne.

My passion is connecting sleep, food, mood, and exercise. I love to discuss how these four groups of habits are connected and how improvements in one can make it easier to make improvements in the others. Since making any habit change can sound daunting, today I’d like to share ways to improve your health and simultaneously save energy.

“Happier people live longer” is old news for us positive psychology fans. That happier people tend to be healthier is also something we’re now well aware of. While it’s already helpful to identify that happiness can support good health habits, I’d like to provide more explanation on why that is – and how to manage that process intentionally.

During a recent course, an executive turned to us to say, “All this stuff is great and I want to change my behavior, but how do I make sure it sticks long term?” This is an important question for positive psychology practitioners. Reading an article by Brendan Koerner, I realized there is much that Alcoholics Anonymous can teach us about long-term change even in the face of addiction.

Delegates from more than 50 countries joined forces at the inaugural Exercise is Medicine™ World Congress with two goals: Unite with others across borders to build a healthier world and globalize Exercise is Medicine™ as a positive movement. The goal is to make exercise the most widely prescribed drug in the world!