Positive Psychology

04 May

Posted at 20:24h in Flourishing, Positive Psychology, well-being by

From Marty Seligman's new book Flourish. Marty is my mentor from the University of Pennsylvania, where I completed my graduate work in 2008. He is known as the father of positive psychology and is really an incredible visionary. "Happiness Is Not Enough When I started my work in Positive Psychology, my original view was closest to Aristotle’s—that everything we do is done in order to make us happy—but I actually detest the word happiness, which is so overused that it has become almost meaningless. It is an unworkable term for science, or for any practical goal such as education, therapy, public policy,...

24 Apr

Posted at 21:05h in Engagement, positive emotion, Positive Psychology, savoring, Uncategorized by

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...

16 Apr

Posted at 10:12h in Flourishing, Positive Psychology, Social-Emotional Leadership, Uncategorized by

Many of you know I'm working in Cleveland on a city-wide transformation project, a viral well-being initiative teaching people how to think differently and get more of what they want. We do this by inviting folks into SOMO Learning Labs, a place to come learn snippets of applied positive psychology, a "mind gym" if you will. But for many people, when I say I'm working in Cleveland, they groan and ask "why?" I hear the sentiment is the same there in Cleveland, that when someone moves there,  instead of "Welcome" other residents ask, "Why?" And this is exactly why I'm working on...

26 Mar

Posted at 14:42h in positive emotion, Positive Psychology, Social-Emotional Leadership, Triple bottom line by

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...

19 Mar

Posted at 21:19h in abundance, change-agent, Inspiration, Life Coach, Positive Psychology by

As one of my childhood friends said on Facebook tonight, Can't help but feel the gloriously luminous supermoon is all for me. Hello Mr. Moon! And why not? Why not think it's all for you? Not in an ego-filled way that taps your hubris, but in a loving way that rocks your self-efficacy: the belief that you can do whatever you want to do in the world. Cause when it's in line with your higher self, it's automatically a win-win. The triple bottom line, baby: people, planet, and profit. As we work on the SOMO Leadership movement in Cleveland, the thought pattern we...

01 Mar

Posted at 16:40h in Positive Psychology by

...after a long and intense, 2-year+ pregnancy. Wow, did I learn a lot about vision, strategy, editing, and timing in this process. Thank you to everyone who stuck with me through the labor . . . surely, I needed an epidural, or ten. Kevin Gillespie for his aesthetic heart. A friend, designer and illustrator who I trust with my brand (the serotonin you see as people) and my life (a tattoo saying "I choose love" now appears on my right calf). Julie Lazarus for her design aesthetic, her patience, and her love. An innovator, for sure, and a true blessing in my life. Charl Kroeger...

25 Feb

Posted at 16:27h in Action Research, change-agent, Cognitive-behavioral, family, Neurobiology, neuroscience, Positive Psychology, social contagion factor, Social-Emotional Leadership, Thoughts-Action by

My Facebook status update read: “Dreams coming true this week” and really, that’s just as I experienced it. I’m still savoring the best week of my life, which I spent in Cleveland, Ohio, starting on Valentine’s Day and ending six days later as I drove back home to New York last Saturday. A long drive on route 80, indeed, but with a big smile on my face and lots of oxytocin running through my body, it was A-Okay. Better than okay. Great! Dare I say, the best week of my life? I was there working on an intervention project called SOMO Leadership which...

11 Jan

Posted at 12:08h in Life Coach, positive emotion, Positive Psychology, Relationships, spirituality, Vision by

...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...

07 Jan

Posted at 12:07h in abundance, Coaching, Life Coaching, Positive Intervention, Positive Psychology, Vision by

Well, it’s 2011 – how’d that happen so fast? I have to remember that time is not linear, the way we’ve devised it to be (and thus our expectation of how we experience it). Our calendar is (somewhat) man-made and can really just have easily picked April as the indicator of a new year (Why do we even call it April?) Some people even think spring is a better indicator of “anew” given the equinox. In any case, it is 2011 – and with the energy that goes ‘round with resolutions at this time, now’s a great pause for all us. What...

20 Dec

Posted at 10:33h in abundance, Life Coach, Mindfulness, patterns, Positive Psychology by

Well I got what I wanted. (That’s always nice to say!): An incredible new living and working space, just off Union Square. It’s a beautiful prewar building and my apartment, on the third floor, is flooded with natural light from the south and the east. It’s a bit “complex,” as my friend Emiliya says, meaning it is NOT cookie cutter: there are hardwood floors, exposed bricks, and even a tin ceiling. I am happy here. I knew I would be as soon as I walked into the open house the Sunday prior to Thanksgiving. But when unfurled after that (until now)...

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