Tag Archives: Positive Psychology

February 6, 2019 · 3:47 am

What’s my life purpose?

This is such a lovely post, I wanted to share it with you

Thriving Under Pressure

Who am I? Why was I born?

C646382C-A029-4610-8E72-8DF0E3632582 So many people in this world are struggling with what to do with their lives.

An existential struggle that did not exist 100 years ago when jobs were more clearly defined.

Thank Which is why it is essential to explore life purpose in many different ways.

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PURPOSE 🆚 JOB

We must not confuse life purpose with occupation.

My occupation = Psychology Professor.

My life purpose is to lift people up and help them feel better.

Something I can do on weekends, at work, with friends, in my community, and well into my retirement years.

Our occupation transpires 9-5. Our life purpose unfolds 24/7.

Life Purpose Discussions – Everywhere!

The topic of finding one’s life purpose was an active discussion on social media (see screen shot below) and in psychology class (link to video) this week.

Social Media: What’s my gift?
This is…

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January 19, 2019 · 5:28 am

6 Ways To Start ‘Living Big’ (And How It Can Change Your Life For The Better)

*The great American mythologist Joseph Campbell described the importance of “Following your bliss.” Your dreams will take you on a life-changing and ever-evolving journey that will grow and thrive as you do. And as you live big, they will change and become even better, new dreams replacing and building on the dreams you’ve already achieved.*

Our Better Health

Are you doing everything you can to achieve your dreams?

“Living Big” is a mindset of living with abundance. Now the abundance is not what you own, or have, it is what you share. There are as many wonderful ways to Living Big as there are water drops in an ocean, needles on an evergreen tree, grains of sand on a beach.Living Big is learning to generously share yourself, your stories, and enjoy the exciting connections that develop. It’s putting yourself out into the world and embracing the things that once scared you. It can change your life and increase your happiness and even your self-assuredness. There are people who are too afraid to put themselves out there, but this is the key to Living Big and making it work for you, so it’s important to learn how to do it!

But what exactly does this concept mean, and how…

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July 29, 2018 · 4:30 am

The Importance Of Self Acceptance – Stop Resisting And Find The Peace

There are some really excellent ideas here. I have written about various aspects of positivity a number of times. Check out my Page – Positive Psychology – What’s it all about? for more.

Tony

Our Better Health

You’re taking a 12-question biology test. You get 10 questions right and 2 questions wrong. You decide, “I’m stupid.” You tell a joke that your friends don’t quite get. You decide, “I always play the fool.” Your boyfriend breaks up with you. You decide, “I’m unlovable.”

When we lack self acceptance we bully ourselves into a rigid pursuit of perfectionism. We mercilessly judge, critique and flog ourselves into an impossible quest that dooms us to failure, guarantees unhappiness, and even induces physical and mental health problems. According to Richard Holden’s book, “Happiness Now!”, “Happiness and self acceptance go hand in hand.”

HERE ARE SOME SUGGESTIONS FOR FINDING SELF ACCEPTANCE:

LAUD YOUR STRENGTHS
Many people scrutinize perceived weakness and are dismissive of their strengths. The more we think about these shortcomings, the more ingrained they become, until they cast a long shadow over our merits. You can focus on your virtues…

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November 11, 2017 · 5:18 am

Your happiness depends on it.

There are such simple, wonderful concepts here. Including the 3 to 1 positivity ratio in your life can make it so much better.

Tony

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June 25, 2017 · 5:47 am

The Best Health Advice Ever

I couldn’t have said it better myself. This is a wonderful little compilation of guidelines for a healthy life.

Tony

Our Better Health

The Best Health Advice Ever

Keeping your mind and body in tip-top shape is essential for living your best life. It’s difficult to attain success when you’re dragging yourself through the day, feeling stressed out, anxious, and generally unwell. That’s why you need to make yourself a priority. Focusing on your wellness is not selfish, it’s necessary for you to be able to give your best self to others. The Cheat Sheet spoke with six leading health experts about the best health advice they’ve ever received.

1. Let go of unforgiveness

Learn to forgive! At the heart of many chronic diseases is stress. At the heart of much stress is a lack of forgiveness. Not being able to let go of the past produces a lot of stress in our lives. This stress increases the incidence of hypertension, heart disease, cancer, and more.

My advice for men: Don’t be embarrassed…

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May 25, 2017 · 4:18 am

Is Happiness a Choice?

This is a wonderful explanation of happiness and our own experience of it. I subscribe to Positive Psychology.

Check out my Page – Positive Psychology – What’s it all about? for more details.

Tony

Thriving Under Pressure

The Happiness Question

Have you ever wondered why some people remain upbeat and positive despite the chaos that surrounds them while others are utterly miserable even in good times? What explains the difference between these two groups of individuals?

Are happy people just lucky people born happy? And unhappy people born miserable? Or is happiness a choice we make day by day, moment to moment?

The answer to this question is mixed. On one hand, 50% of happiness is predetermined by biology (e.g., inborn temperament) while the remaining 50% is influenced by life circumstances and intentional activities.

happinessformula2

The Happiness Formula

As stated above, research indicates that approximately 50% of happiness is genetic (e.g., temperament), 10% is life circumstances (e.g., income), and 40% is intentional activities (e.g., daily exercise, meditation, forgiveness).

Though we may have little control over genetics and/or life circumstances — we do have personal agency when it comes…

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May 18, 2017 · 6:10 am

The Surprising Secret to Healthy Aging

Really good information in this.

To read more on lining your head up straight, check out my Page – Positive psychology – What’s it all about?

Tony

Our Better Health

You probably know that exercise and diet are important when it comes to aging well. But there is something else you control that can help you along: a positive attitude.

Research shows more and more that your approach to life may be just as important in making your “golden years” your best years.

Aging: It’s in Your Mind

Growing older brings with it some natural changes (think those creaky knees). But folks who see good years ahead and who don’t accept stereotypes about aging — such as you’re less useful — may actually live longer.

And there’s science to back that up.

One study found that thinking positively about getting older can extend lifespan by 7.5 years. And that’s after accounting for things such as gender, wealth, and overall health. Some 660 women and men in Ohio joined this study, and they were monitored for more than 20 years.

If…

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January 24, 2017 · 12:08 am

5 ways to hold optimism — and reap health benefits – Harvard

As regular readers know, I feel very strongly about positive psychology. I stumbled across it some years ago and it certainly moved my life to a higher plane. You can read more about it at the end of this post. In the meantime, I wanted to share this nice write up from Harvard Health Publications.

A growing body of research indicates that optimism — a sense everything will be OK — is linked to a reduced risk of developing mental or physical health issues as well as to an increased chance of a longer life.

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One of the largest such studies was led by researchers Dr. Kaitlin Hagan and Dr. Eric Kim at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Their team analyzed data from 70,000 women in the Nurses’ Health Study, and found that women who were optimistic had a significantly reduced risk of dying from several major causes of death over an eight-year period, compared with women who were less optimistic. The most optimistic women had a 16% lower risk of dying from cancer; 38% lower risk of dying from heart disease; 39% lower risk of dying from stroke; 38% lower risk of dying from respiratory disease; and 52% lower risk of dying from infection.

Yes, you can acquire optimism.

Even if you consider yourself a pessimist, there’s hope.Dr. Hagan notes that a few simple changes can help people improve your outlook on life. Previous studies have shown that optimism can be instilled by something as simple as having people think about the best possible outcomes in various areas of their lives,” she says. The following may help you see the world through rosier glasses: Continue reading →

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December 9, 2016 · 9:49 am

Optimism may reduce risk of dying prematurely – Harvard

Having an optimistic outlook on life—a general expectation that good things will happen—may help people live longer, according to a new study from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

Based on prospective health data from the Nurses Study in 2004, it found that women who were optimistic had a significantly reduced risk of dying from several major causes of death—including cancer, heart disease, stroke, respiratory disease, and infection—over an eight-year period, compared with women who were less optimistic.

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The study appeared online December 7, 2016 in the American Journal of Epidemiology. Continue reading →

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August 12, 2016 · 9:33 am

This One Shift Will Change The Way You See Yourself (& Others!)

Here is another round of fine information on personal growth with a positive mindset.

To read more on positive psychology check out:

Positive Psychology- What’s it all about?

How to harness Positive Psychology for you – Harvard

Practice positive psychology to improve your health

How you can benefit from a positive view on your life – WSJ

Tony

Our Better Health

The Challenge: We often assume our abilities and behaviors cannot (or are too hard to) be changed.

The Science: You are, indeed, capable of change! It’s all about the way we look at it!

The Solution: Cultivating a growth mindset can create positive change and new opportunities in your life!

We are often taught from a young age and through a variety of influences that ability is fixed. Either we’re smart or we’re not. We’re athletic or we’re not. We’re artistic or we’re not. And certainly, we all differ to some extent in the types of things that seem to come more naturally to us.

Sometimes we’re standing in our own way

The problem is, this way of thinking can become a self-fulfilling prophecy. For example, if a young child does poorly on a math test and thinks “I failed this test because I’m not good at math,” she is…

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July 31, 2016 · 6:14 am

5 Ways Hope Improves Your Success

Wonderful, positive information here.

If you find yourself interested in reading more about positive pyschology:

What is positive psychology?

Positive psychology: What’s it all about?

Breaking down 8 barriers to positive thinking – Infographic

How you can benefit from a positive view on life – WSJ

How to harness positive psychology for you – Harvard

Positive, happy people suffer less pain

Tony

Our Better Health

The Challenge: We all want to find inner peace and perform at our best -how can we do it?
The Science: Hope is a little-known secret to getting ahead and improving well-being!
The Solution: Implementing a hopeful mindset in life gives you 5 serious advantages!

Psychologists have proposed lots of different vehicles to success over the years. Grit, conscientiousness, self-efficacy, optimism, passion, inspiration, etc. They are all important. One vehicle, however, is particularly undervalued and underappreciated in psychology and society. That’s hope.

Hope often gets a bad rap. For some, it conjures up images of a blissfully naïve chump pushing up against a wall with a big smile. That’s a shame. Cutting-edge science shows that hope, at least as defined by psychologists, matters a lot.

Here are 5 reasons hope gives you a serious advantage:

Hope Gives You Willpower

Why is hope important? Well, life is difficult. There are many…

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April 30, 2016 · 5:52 am

Choice Theory: 7 Relationship Habits

These sound like some good positive observations.

To read more on positive psychology check out:

Positive psychology – what’s it all about?

How to become a positive thinker

Tony

Our Better Health

Written on July 26, 2011 by Laura in Choice Theory and Reality Therapy

“Once the realization is accepted that even between the closest human beings infinite distances continue, a wonderful living side by side can grow, if they succeed in loving the distance between them which makes it possible for each to see the other whole against the sky.” – Rainer Maria Rilke

As long as we insist on controlling people around us, we will create completely unnecessary suffering in our lives. Dr. William Glasser, creator of choice theory and reality therapy, explains that people are in control of almost all of their behaviors. We are all driven by our genes to satisfy our “basic needs”: survival, love & belonging, power, freedom, and fun. While we all vary in the degree to which these needs are important, what we all have in common is the need for satisfying…

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March 29, 2016 · 12:02 am

Positive Psychology – What’s It All About?

Here is a wonderful little animation on Positive Psychology.

It’s only a couple of minutes long but could change your life. The unique element in positive psychology is that it isn’t about what is wrong with you, but what is right with you.

Want to read more posts on Positive Psychology?

How to Harness Positive Psychology – Harvard

What is Positive Psychology?

How You Can Benefit ro a Positive View on Your Life – WSJ

Breaking Down 8 Barriers to Positive Thinking – Infographic

Positive Happy People Suffer Less Pain

Tony

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February 21, 2016 · 6:27 am

The Happiness of Being Grateful!

I think the link between gratitude and our own happiness escapes us most of the time.

Here are some posts on the subject:

Harvard on Positive Psychology

Giving Thanks on Thanksgiving

Can I be Happy?

How Satisfied Are You With Your Life?

Anatomy of an Act of Kindness

Breaking Down 8 Barriers of Positive Thinking – Infographic

Tony

Do you want to be Happy?

Of Course you do. Everyone does.

What if I told you I know the answer for being happy, but you need to follow it religiously in order to really be happy. That’s not to say you will never have moments of sadness, it’s life.

I loved reading this article because it truly showed me the meaning of Gratitude. It showed me the meaning of happiness. Being happy, to me, is not only my happiness but the happiness of others too. That is, bringing happiness to people around me.

The trick to being happy is to be grateful for what you have because you are blessed. If you are reading my blog at the moment, you are more blessed than many people because you have the ability to have access to the Internet and a computer and definitely shelter. So, take a moment to be thankful…

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February 15, 2016 · 6:42 am

10 Surprisingly Simple Happiness Tips

Lots of good ideas here. I think happiness and good health go hand in hand.

Here are some posts I have written on the subject:

How Satisfied Are You With Your Life?

Anatomy of an Act of Kindness

How to Reduce Stress – Harvard

8 Barriers to Positive Thinking – Infographic

22 Things Happy People do Differently – Infographic

Tony

Our Better Health

Tell the truth, avoid narcissists, and stay focused on the future.

Dec 29, 2015 Linda Esposito LCSW

We all want to be happy. Our search leads us to seek advice from mental health professionals, clergy, best-selling authors, and Buddhist monks.

But despite the wealth of available information, two constants remain: One, there is no recipe for happiness. We’re all unique with different biology, childhoods, life experiences, and support systems. Two, happiness is a habit—and that’s good news, because you can choose to be happier.

To make your happiness journey more attainable, here are 10 common themes that researchers have found which lead to happiness.

“Sometimes, you just have to throw away the map. A map is a life someone else already lived. It’s more fun to make your own.” — Cora Carmack

1. Don’t expect happiness to come with a user’s manual.

Tipping Point author Malcolm Gladwell cites the food…

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December 28, 2015 · 8:18 am

8 Chores With Unexpected Scientific Health Benefits

I agree with the basic premise here that you will benefit from these chores. Not so sure how scientific it is, but keeping a positive attitude about them is unquestionably good for you – body and soul.

To read further on Positive Psychology:

Breaking down 8 Barriers to Positive Thinking

How to Harness Positive Psychology for You – Harvard

What is Positive Psychology?

Tony

Our Better Health

Why washing dishes, making your bed, dusting, and other common chores can lower stress, boost happiness, and protect against heart disease. You’ll never look at your To-Do list the same way again.

By Lauren Gelman

Wash dishes: Reduce anxiety

People who cleaned their plates mindfully (they focused on smelling the soap, feeling the water temperature, and touching the dishes) lowered their nervousness levels by 27 percent, found a recent study of 51 people out of Florida State University’s psychology department. People who didn’t take as thoughtful approach to their dish washing did not experience a similar calming benefit.

Dust with a lemon cleaner: Be happier

A citrusy scent is a potent mood booster, according to a 2014 Japanese study. When participants spent as little as ten minutes inhaling yuzu (a super-tart and citrusy Japanese fruit), they saw a significant decrease in their overall mood disturbance, a measure of tension, anxiety…

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