Taking Action

Participants are not likely to want to listen to a workshop again. But when it is a game, participants want to play it again. It means we have another opportunity to help them internalize the idea of a growth mindset.

As an organizational development consultant and a leadership coach, I learned a lot from Brafford’s book about how professional organizations can directly apply the research of positive psychology to create better places to work for all employees. These businesses can do well financially by doing well at increasing well-being for their people.

As we grow wiser, we begin to understand that we are the only ones truly responsible for our own happiness. So today, on the 2018 International Day of Happiness, here are three simple actions to elevate your well-being.

Employing tools from aviation can allow people to take charge of their lives and pilot successful futures. Embracing your life with eyes wide open allows you to design your own life story, full of appreciation, gratitude, and awe.

What does it mean for people to matter?

Here’s the good news. When we practice self-compassion on a regular basis, we literally mold our brains for the better, thanks to the power of experience-dependent neuroplasticity. This changes our gene expression towards greater compassion, so that we not only build our relationships, we’re literally evolving our collective brain towards a higher consciousness.

Mindfulness X was developed in the Netherlands by Hugo Alberts, psychologist, researcher, and entrepreneur. The program combines the practice and psychology of mindfulness for trainers looking to apply a science-based mindfulness approach to their client bases.

We can begin by stepping away from the self-improvement craze and understanding our place in the larger flow of life. What are we here to achieve? What needs can we address (aside from our own) and how can we make a real difference to other lives? Meaning is relational by its very nature. It grows out of bursting our self-reflective bubbles and belonging to something larger than ourselves.

Mindfulness, hypnosis, and flow all involve states of deep attention, but each has a key differentiator.

Today I want to highlight two compelling concepts from Happy Together that can help you cultivate stronger and happier relationships.

Kegan’s 5th order of consciousness involves being able to hold onto multiple perspectives at the same time, bound together by common questions, not letting ourselves be not thrown apart in the search for common answers. Given the challenges we face in the world, the timing couldn’t be more right.

Welcome back to part 2 of the active learning studies done by my students this fall.

It seems that every year around Thanksgiving, people like to quote Dr. Robert Emmons’ work on gratitude. It becomes de rigeur to count your blessings and enumerate what you are grateful for. But I’d like to propose something a little different this year.

We are so excited to have the esteemed author Louisa Jewell as our guest for the first ever PPND webinar. Join us for a three part program: A brief interview, followed by a highpoint from her brand new book, and live questions from the audience.

There are so many creative people out there finding ways to apply positive psychology in so many different settings, from childhood to old age, from home to school to work to retirement. So how do you stand on the shoulders of these giants in our field? Hint: short window before the price of the Positive Psychology Toolkit© goes up.

What do you get when you mix together a compelling idea, numerous engaging stories, a clear structure, and a firm research grounding? You get a book that is made to stick and useful from the moment you read it. This is a book I’ll keep close by to help me plan for moments that matter. I’ve thought of at least 3 opportunities to use the ideas this week.

In her abundant, practical, and well-researched book about confidence, Louisa Jewell weaves together the science of positive psychology, self-efficacy, self-determination theory, and neuropsychology in an engaging and accessible manner.

The University of Pennsylvania, in collaboration with the online education platform Coursera, has launched a specialization certificate program called Foundations of Positive Psychology. The five-course series provides participants with the key theories and research in the field of Positive Psychology, as well as opportunities for application.

Character Strengths Interventions is a gold mine for practitioners. Its tips, 24 handouts, and 70 interventions are valuable nuggets. Figuring out how to quickly finding those nuggets will make this book even more useful. I hope this review helps you efficiently strike gold in this valuable book.

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.