A Smile A Day
Forget the apple. What we should be doing instead is forging a smile a day to keep the doctor away. Why? Research has found that people who smile often have increased wellbeing and experience a range of other benefits too. In one longitudinal study, researchers LeeAnne Harker and Dacher Keltner (2001) analysed the 1965 college […]
The Elephant and the Blind Men
How often do you come across someone who makes a statement based on their limited or isolated understanding of a topic and believes it to be the only truth? I see this a lot in the media and in my own circles, and I am happy to put up my hand and say I am […]
Your Health, Your Choice?
One of Positive Psychology’s hopes is for people to understand that they have the ability to take some control of their own wellbeing and health. This is what I am hoping this blog will encourage you to do too. One of my previous posts looked at Sonja Lyubomirsky’s Happiness Pie. Lyubomirsky states 40% of our […]
Is Bad Stronger Than Good?
I’d like you to think about the following two scenarios and choose the one that would have more impact on you? (a) Losing $1000 or (b) Winning $1000 Most of us would answer a) that losing $1000 would be more painful than the pleasure associated with winning the same amount. This is because bad is […]
Wishin’ and Hopin’
Happy New Year! We are well into 2019 so now is a good time to reflect on your goals and / or resolutions for this year. Have you already achieved what you set out? For those who have, have a think about what your motivation was like when you started. Were your goals supported by […]
Forget Resolutions
Stick to goals this New Year instead! Rather than committing to a resolution that starts from the 1st January and is forgotten about by February (well in my case anyway), my suggestion is to focus your efforts on your goals for the New Year. According to Forbes, only 8% of people actually achieve their New […]
A Tale of Two Mindsets
How do you think about your intelligence, ability and talents? Do you believe these qualities are fixed? Or that they can be cultivated throughout your life? Your mindset is your attitude and way of thinking, and includes the beliefs you have about yourself and your capabilities. According to researcher Carol Dweck, there are two types […]
Keep Walking
Who would have thought that Johnnie Walker was interested in studying the impact of joy on progress? Yet in their clip the famous Scotch distiller illustrates to us that there is more to success than just hard work – happiness plays a big role too. As part of their Joy Will Take You Further campaign, […]
Not Yet
I’d like you to think back to a time when you received feedback or a result that made you feel like you had failed. What impact did that experience have on you? Did it motivate you to power on to improve? Or were you more inclined to just give up? Carol Dweck is the Lewis […]
Play To Your Strengths
One of the biggest breakthroughs in psychology and leadership theories over the past decade has been in the area of strengths. Strengths can be defined as a “pre-existing capacity for a particular way of behaving, thinking or feeling that is authentic and energising to the user, and enables optimal functioning, development and performance” (Linley, 2008). […]