Great Expectations
In case you were wondering, this post isn’t a review of one of Charles Dickens’ most famous novels. It’s actually about the Great Expectations we put on ourselves and others. Expectations are our own subjective view about how we or someone else should behave. They are incredibly biased and often differ between two people. Particularly, […]
Your Why
In another post, I looked at The Power of Purpose and why it is important for everyone to have a purpose. Often referred to as a personal mission statement, it can provide direction when determining your goals, fuel your passions and help you make decisions. At the end of the post, I asked “What’s your […]
Be Kind
In a previous post, I explored the wellbeing framework PERMA. One of the elements of this model suggests that if you focus on increasing your experiences of positive emotions, your levels of happiness will go up. One way you can do this is to practise kindness – doing something to someone that will benefit them. […]
Busy Is Not A Badge Of Honour
There is a dirty four letter word in the English vocabulary that makes me cringe every time I hear it. Busy. It’s defined as “having a great deal to do”, yet for some reason, a lot of people use busy as an appropriate response to the question “how are you?” Even though, it in no […]
Book Review: How Would Love Respond?
Kurek Ashley has had a pretty remarkable life. Whilst working as a stuntman in a Hollywood block-buster film, he witnessed the death of his five friends in a helicopter crash. Unsure of why he survived, Kurek spiralled into depression and addiction, and became homeless. After a series of transformative events, Kurek had a breakthrough and […]
From Mindlessness to Mindfulness
Do you ever feel like you are going through life on auto-pilot? That your days are blurred and you’re not sure when or how you even completed certain tasks? We all have minds that are constantly racing, full of mindless thoughts often dwelling on the past or stressing about the future, that distract us from […]
The Other Side of Psychology
Traditionally, Psychology was meant to achieve three things; 1. cure mental illness, 2. improve ‘normal’ lives and 3. identify and nurture high talent. Unfortunately, following World War 2, the focus of Psychology has been on the first, and fixing lives that needed help. This is obviously critically important for those suffering mental illness, yet the […]
Money and Happiness – It’s Complicated
What is your view on money being able to buy happiness? Are you for or against this argument? Like me, you may have fallen in the trap of believing that material possessions, the dream home, marriage, children, a well-paid job or just a little bit more ‘play money’ will contribute to our levels of happiness. […]
The Circle of Influence v. The Circle of Concern
The Circle of Influence and The Circle of Concern (The Circles) were first introduced to me by Stephen Covey in his hugely popular book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People (based on Julian Rotter’s work) is a concept I regularly come back to, as it is an easy to remember guide for where I […]
The Yin and Yang of Happiness
Happiness is a complex topic. And what makes it even more so is when some researchers claim that there are in fact two types of happiness – hedonic and eudaimonic. Hedonic happiness refers to the single minded pursuit of in-the-moment pleasure. Hedonism aims for a presence of positive emotions and a higher sense of life […]