Moments that matter

02 Sep

Posted at 05:58h in Certificate in Applied Positive Psychology, Glimpse into Me, gratitude, Meaning, Moments that matter by

I am so in awe. Awe ô/ noun 1. 
a feeling of reverential respect We just completed the first cohort of CAPP in Philadelphia. Wow, what an amazing bunch of extra-ordinary hu/man be~ings. Really. Wow. I always knew they were special. In fact, when we started the class in March, an intuitive told me that many of us traveled together in former lives. For some of you, this sounds funny. For us, though, it resonates. Just imagine the good travel buddies (I hope) you have in this life (you know, the ones you have that make “vacation” easy breezy and funnnn) and multiply that...

07 Jan

Posted at 22:35h in Glimpse into Me, Moments that matter, Positive Psychology, Uncategorized by

Look what I just found - (somewhat randomly) - an email I wrote to Martin Seligman in 2007, right after I read the article in The New York Times (featuring Todd B. Kashdan) that first exposed me to Positive Psychology. I knew right then and there that Sunday afternoon standing in my apartment in Montclair, NJ that pos psych would be a big part of my life's journey and work. I wrote this email to Marty Seligman just days later. The synchronicities continue -- that article from the NYT was published 8 years ago TODAY. And I am now affiliated with Todd and others at theCenter...

28 Aug

Posted at 10:36h in Learning Lab, Moments that matter, Social-Emotional Leadership, SOMO Leadership, Uncategorized by

[caption id="attachment_1386" align="alignright" width="150"] A rainbow over Cleveland; photo taken in 2012[/caption] Three years ago, I moved here from New York, NY here on an intuition: there was no formal invitation, no job waiting for me and my NYC friends thought I was crazy. I thought I was coming here to start a positive (r)evolution, but I quickly realized something had already begun, which drew me to this place. I have been honored to join and build with you. And now I’m leaving but I promise — it’s not you it’s me. No, seriously: you guys rock. Our relationship has always been complicated,...

22 Apr

Posted at 11:29h in Learning Lab, Meaning, Moments that matter, Positive Psychology, spirituality by

I will share with you an essay my brother, Todd (1971-1991) wrote as one of his personal statements for admittance to college in 1989. Todd was always attuned to environmental causes and even founded and named the club which still exists in our high school alma mater today, SOPE (Save Our Planet Earth). I love how he begins the essay with the Stevenson quote on love and ends with a call-to-action for SOcial-eMOtional leaders to "give a little more care" to the environment, our responsibility. He says, "These things can be measured only in terms of the satisfaction of living." Without...

10 Oct

Posted at 07:27h in Character Strength, Glimpse into Me, Meaning, Moments that matter, neuroscience, Relationships, Social-Emotional Leadership, SOMO Leadership, Uncategorized by

The field of positive psychology lost a great friend and contributor today: Dr. Chris Peterson (1950-2012). [caption id="attachment_934" align="alignleft" width="321"] RIP CP.And thank you.[/caption] You may know Dr. Peterson as the guy who researched the VIA: the character strengths inventory we use often in SOMO Leadership Labs. (We're also using his book in SOMO 300!) He put a lot of work into this tool, combing the world's many moral texts for a ubiquitous classification of strengths and virtues. I know him as Chris, one of my professors in grad school. What an amazing teacher: humorous, zestful (in his own way) and wise -...

29 Aug

Posted at 20:43h in Glimpse into Me, Moments that matter, Social-Emotional Leadership, SOMO Leadership by

by Işık Taçoğlu on Thursday, March 15, 2012 at 5:59am ·  Between June 28-29,2011,  I was at the "Engaging Leadership with Positive Psychology" Workshop which was a joint event by The Mason Institute for Leadership Excellence of George Mason University, Navitas Education and  IMETAC Education (My Company). This is the first time the concept of positive psychology was  introduced to the Turkish Management in terms of leadership and I must admit that  it was an honour to be a part of this.  In this seminar, Louis Alloro (one of our beloved facilitators then,now a great friend and a colleague), told us about a fridge...

26 Jul

Posted at 12:17h in Glimpse into Me, Mindfulness, Moments that matter, Relationships, well-being by

[caption id="attachment_888" align="alignright" width="300"] My family - Mom and Dad look too young to be married for 50 years, right?[/caption] Here I go -- off an a two-week Italian adventure with my family to celebrate mom and dad's 50th wedding anniversary.  I am so grateful to my parents for this trip (it was a good year for basement waterproofing,  my parents' business for  30 years) -- and with all of us, no less. Twin sis Chris and her new fiancé and older sis Lisa, her husband and their three kids (20, 17, 15). Two weeks may be an awful long time to spend...

10 May

Posted at 22:09h in Coaching, Glimpse into Me, Moments that matter, Positive Intervention, Positive Psychology by

Saturday was the 21st anniversary of my brother Todd’s untimely death. I wrote about it here a year ago and according to the analytics, it was the most read of all my blog posts. Todd was definitely with me on Saturday. I was staying at my sister’s in the west Village. Went out in the morning for breakfast, which included the ordering of a sweet treat. I saw a piece of coconut cake at Amy’s Bread that caught my eye and I ordered it. But when I got back to Christine’s and opened up the bag, pleasantly to my surprise, they...

28 Feb

Posted at 17:20h in Glimpse into Me, Moments that matter, Positive Psychology, Schools, Social-Emotional Leadership, SOMO Leadership by

“Why do kids shoot guns?” was a question I posed on Facebook yesterday morning after learning of a school shooting in Chardon, Ohio – about 30 miles from where I am now in Cleveland. Here are some of my friends responses and my responses to their responses from a positive psychology lens: 1. “Power.” I’m reading The Narcissism Epidemic right now: Living in the Age of Entitlement. This response is quite plausible when you look around and see how many people live with a mindset that positions themselves over others. This is not just in schools on Main Street, but in big...

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