Positive Psychology

17 Sep

Posted at 10:01h in biases, customs, Inspiration, Life Coach, Mindfulness, neuroscience, Positive Psychology, Relationships, Schools, Social-Emotional Leadership, spirituality, Traditions, Uncategorized by

Today is the highest of the Jewish holy days: Yom Kippur (I love saying that with my gentile accent!). My Facebook status and Twit feed read: Am realizing we don't have to be Jewish to seek forgiveness today. Traditions are good, even when we borrow them. Atoning is about clearing psychological and emotional space, a task that I take quite seriously with myself and my clients. Who will you risk having a conversation with to ask for forgiveness? Don’t forget forgiving yourself! We are often our worst critics. Last week, the Jews celebrated Rosh Hashanah symbolizing the start of a new year...

01 Sep

Posted at 23:44h in Cognitive-behavioral, gratitude, Inspiration, Positive Psychology, savoring, Thoughts-Action by

“Boy, it went fast,” seems to be the sentiment of summer’s end. But is it really over? According to the calendar, we have 20 more days so my vote is strongly in favor of not seeing it as over, just soon to be in transition. So what should we do? Savor now! [Imagine Mr. Costanza’s Seinfeld voice inserted here.] [caption id="attachment_319" align="alignright" width="224" caption="A view from Block Island, RI"][/caption] I am having (notice present tense) an excellent summer. Spent most of August away from home on a beach tour that started (and will end this weekend) in the Hamptons, included a stay...

30 Jul

Posted at 07:13h in Movie Review, Positive Psychology, Thoughts-Action by

Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one. –Albert Einstein People are talking about Inception, a new film by Christopher Nolan (The Dark Knight, Memento) which Warner Brothers describes as a “contemporary sci-fi actioner set within the architecture of the mind.” I’ve been describing the film as a mind trip, and since seeing it days ago, I’ve wondered for myself the questions that film poses: What’s really real? What’s created as an illusion of my subconscious mind? Or, better yet, what’s co-created in our collective (un)consciousnesses? The film explores the phenomenon of ideas – where do they start? How are they influenced?...

12 Jul

Posted at 17:24h in Action Research, Coaching, family, forgiveness, gratitude, Hope, Inspiration, Mindfulness, Moments that matter, Positive Psychology, Relationships, savoring, Social-Emotional Leadership by

[caption id="attachment_303" align="alignleft" width="190" caption="circa 1980"][/caption] Picture it: 1978, Pascack Valley Hospital, Westwood, NJ - I was born an unexpected twin, breech, the youngest of four children. “Doctor you have another baby in there,” the nurse said as she was cleaning up after Christine was born. “WHAT?!??! my parents screamed.” I grew up in the suburbs of NYC (not far from the Housewives of NJ), overweight and pseudo-overachieving. I lost my brother Todd to suicide when I was 12. He was 19. Awful, tragic, sad. But I remember where I was standing that day of his death, at the edge of our driveway,...

23 Jun

Posted at 18:40h in Cognitive-behavioral, forgiveness, gratitude, Meaning, Mindfulness, Neurobiology, neuroscience, Positive Psychology, Schools, Thoughts-Action, Uncategorized by

[caption id="attachment_283" align="alignleft" width="225" caption="Rocco always has to sniff for just the right spot."][/caption] It’s all about animal instinct. My one-year old dog, Rocco, has been reminding me of this lately. When I hear him bark at a foreign noise in the stairwell – or when he has to pee atop another dog’s urine, as if to signify, “I am here, I am best.” It reminds me of bullies, those who piss on other people. Bullies are animals. Animals are not always bullies (Rocco is sweet, just like his dad). Bullies exist not just on the playgrounds, but in the workplace too....

03 Jun

Posted at 09:59h in Action Research, Cognitive-behavioral, gratitude, Inspiration, Life Coach, Positive Intervention, Positive Psychology, Publicity, strengths by

If you can just see as I see, feel as I feel, you'll know: I'm just as f-ed up as all y'all. Really. The voices in my head are loud lately. Really loud. Getting in the way. It amazes me how neurobiological this stuff is: engrained in our DNA. [caption id="attachment_276" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Me and Christine blowing out our candles."][/caption] Last week was my birthday. 32. Woo hoo! Traditionally, my twin sister Christine and I have a joint party with her friends and mine. We call it "Twins and the City." In one form or another, we've been doing...

12 May

Posted at 11:19h in Hope, Inspiration, Life Coach, passion, perserverance, positive emotion, Positive Psychology, Schools, Social-Emotional Leadership by

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...

18 Apr

Posted at 11:28h in family, Happiness coach, Life Coach, Life Coaching, positive emotion, Positive Psychology, Social-Emotional Leadership, Thoughts-Action, Vision by

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...

04 Apr

Posted at 10:31h in Coaching, Engagement, family, Happiness coach, Life Coach, Life Coaching, positive emotion, Positive Psychology, Social-Emotional Leadership by

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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