positive emotion

This is a piece I wrote for the faculty of a school I've been working with to instill positive education principles and practices. The message is for anyone who wants to have a mindful season. Here we are at the precipice of summer, a great time to bloom and flourish. Just look outside! I encourage you to do what Dr. Barb Fredrickson, a leading researcher from University of North Carolina says about “prioritizing positivity”—a strategy for incorporating daily doses of intentional wellbeing-building into your life, just as you would eat daily portions of fruits and vegetables. Positive emotions serve as nutrients, too,...

You ever find yourself responding to most emails with, “I’m sorry it’s taken me so long to get back to you . . . blah, blah, blah . . . I’m busy but good”? Well, I’ve been doing a lot less of that since adopting Ryder, my now 5 month old cockapoo (that’s cocker spaniel + poodle) who is so delicious to love I can hardly stand it. Who has time to be “busy” when the opportunity to be fully present and engaged presents itself in this little one? I described falling in love with Ryder on a recent blog,...

[caption id="attachment_681" align="alignright" width="224" caption="Saw this in the room @ the most amazing learning labs to date (Cleveland, Nov. 16)"][/caption] Had the most amazing week. Feel definitely back into the big V - where my energy field is up, uP, UP - and things are happening in my life. Amazing conversations. Energetic learning labs in Cleveland and New York. Alignment with my purpose and my work. Coached my first couple. Deposited money in my account (literally & figuratively). A drive along route 80 with a new friend-Maya Angelouesque (a poet + a humanitarian) -- and with no speeding tickets! Pure positive energy (well,...

Who needs meds to be happier when we have SPRING at our fingertips? Take a look and a listen, folks: savor the buds & the birds: in case you haven't noticed they're baaack!. A momentary pause when you hear the tweet-tweet or pass a bud in bloom can add serious deposits into your psychological bank account. The concept in positive psychology is savoring (cheesy, I know), but give it a try. Serious, serious benefits because it helps us be present minded -- you know, in the moment -- there, always where we need to be when we're there. Based on the work...

I am not happy all the time. Just wanted to set that straight. Seems like my reputation is mythed, as the all-too- common belief is that I am super positive all the time. Ba'sha as my friend Judy would say. Not possible! It's not about being all positive all the time. It's about being flexible about how you think. It's about choosing thoughts in line with your higher self - which is in line with what you want -- not what you need or should -- but what you really, really want. I realize I can come across like a "Rah - Rah" cheerleader...

...on the 11th. Love it. 1. Frame what’s come before, including 2010 + the first ten days of 2011, positively. We choose how we think. Choose to think about yourself and your past with positive lenses. It’ll help move you forward. 2. Get clear about what you want going forward. Look here for some ideas about how to do that. Be careful to know the difference between what you need and what you want. Set your intentions and commit. 3. Express some future gratitude around what you want, as if it’s already here. 4. Develop a capacity for spirituality: for seeing something(s) bigger than yourself. It’s way important for a life...

I’ve been working with the Governor’s Committee on Scholastic Achievement to give talks around New York to high school and college students - giving them nuggets of positive psychology that could help change the course of their lives. The best part of these programs is that they not only involve the young adults, many of whom come from tough neighborhoods, but also include their adult mentors at high power organizations like JP Morgan Chase and the Boston Consulting Group. There’s something about the diversity of these groups that is just magical - and there’s something about the power of positive psychology...

I’ve wanting to order a new Penn sweatshirt for quite sometime. The one (and only) that I own is getting a little ratty, like it may have been washed one too many times. The tassels are worn and even that little, plastic guard has come off. It’s time. But although I’ve been thinking about getting a new Penn sweatshirt for quite sometime, I haven’t done it, even with a strong intuition that it will bring me joy on some level. Every time I grab for the old sweatshirt I remember, “Oh yea, I want to look online at the Penn store...

I'm getting ready to spend Easter with my family today. Deep breaths. While I'm excited to see them, I'm a bit apprehensive. It was two years ago that I launched my life's work really - the creation of Social-Emotional Leadership - the idea that groups change when people within those groups stand up and say, "Hey guys, we can do better."  Two years ago, I started  my "research" into being a Social-Emotional Leader with my own family, on Easter. It was simple: I organized a Nintendo Wii tennis tournament, which took the place of the normal and excessive eating and...

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