Positive Psychology Tag

04 Nov

Posted at 16:30h in Cognitive-behavioral, Glimpse into Me, Opportunity/Threat by

Crisis! A cell phone conundrum: incoming text messages seem to be “broken.” Very few replies to my messages. “No one loves me,” becomes my belief system. I  default into threat mode and my confirmation bias goes into full force. It takes very little for the world to prove what we believe. Have you heard the Pygmalion effect research? Teachers were told: these kids are the top performers to a group that was randomly assigned (mixed ability). That group out-performed the control by nearly 3 times, who were also randomly assigned. I believe that what we expect we experience. I expect that people love...

03 Nov

Posted at 22:18h in Glimpse into Me, Opportunity/Threat, Relationships by

“There’s no one I can be more myself around than you, Louis.” Heard this twice this week – from two dear friends in separate moments – and am feeling so joyful to think that this is true. I’m honored, really, to be that in someone’s life. I’m working on letting that kind of love in, too, because really I believe transparency leads to transformation and truth, moments of growth and learning. Interestingly, though, the invitation to truly be seen and vulnerable sometimes sends me into complete threat mode, where my fight or flight response takes over. Typically, I find myself fleeing. That...

01 Nov

Posted at 11:47h in Action Research, Cognitive-behavioral, Glimpse into Me, Mindfulness, neuroscience, well-being by

[caption id="attachment_629" align="alignleft" width="276" caption="Who the hell knows?"][/caption] The story of my life. Yours too, I may presume. But not. So step off. It’s mine. Kidding. Step on. We're all fuck ups. Really, I believe this. Cause what happened to our childhood innocence and love – for ourselves, for others? Yes, I’m a fuck-up. And I’m pretty straight, sort of speak. What I mean is, I’m becoming more and more aware of my own insanity and what I’m realizing is that boy, I’ve been conditioned in a funny way. Wow. And I can’t judge it. I can’t hate it. Cause when I do,...

14 Oct

Posted at 15:35h in Action Research, Opportunity/Threat, Positive Psychology, Thoughts-Action, Workshop by

Last Tuesday evening I gave a talk at NYU Langone Medical Center for Faces: a nonprofit center to improve lives of people affected by seizures and epilepsy. The program last week, Caring for the Caretaker, attracted 200 people, many of whom were parents of children with epilepsy, and some were patients themselves. What happened though was quite unlike anything I’ve experienced before as a facilitator: resistance writ large across a crowd of folks up against real stinkin’ conditions. “Who will pay the medical bills?” “Will he ever be able to ever live alone?” “I never know if my son’s next seizure will...

29 Sep

Posted at 21:01h in Action Research, Thoughts-Action by

Reminds me of what I've been experiencing + writing about this month: Evolution/growth/success is not linear (if you do this, then you get that). It's spiral. Requires a full range of emotions, including the ones that don't feel so good. Gotta go through it to get through it. Takes multo amounts of allowing, loving, and being present, without judgment, of oneself. Of others. It's all part of the same cycle and with conscious awareness and emotional intelligence, we can feel that judgment not resonating with our higher selves. It's fear surfacing as a protection mechanism. But really now: how's that workin' for...

10 Sep

Posted at 09:17h in Positive Psychology, Workshop by

and the amazing Emiliya Zhivotovskaya . . . in NYC this fall . . . three Sunday afternoons (Oct 23, Nov 20, and Dec 4) . . . in an experiential learning lab at the NYC Open Center . . . which will leave you feeling energized, engaged, and alive! From the Open Center Catalog: The dynamic new field of positive psychology uses rigorous research to understand happiness and well-being and is expanding rapidly worldwide. In this lab, participants can enter this psychological revolution—a scientific movement helping people flourish, become happier, and be more alive. The program provides tools to measure our baseline happiness, well-being,...

14 Aug

Posted at 09:28h in Cognitive-behavioral, gratitude, Mindfulness, Opportunity/Threat, Uncategorized by

I'm feeling a whole slew of "threat" response surfacing lately -- fear, anxiety, scarcity. Even with all of this knowledge of positive psychology (that thoughts lead to feelings), I still find myself caught in this whirlwind of frustration. What are the beliefs underscoring (or overwhelming!) my feeling this way? Spending a week as a seminar participants in Jack Canfield's Breakthrough to Success program has been way eye-opening for me. I know I am not showing up to play full out. I feel myself on the fringes and I don't like it here. Why is it happening? There are many variables: I didn't necessarily...

13 Jul

Posted at 20:31h in Positive Intervention, Positive Psychology, Social-Emotional Leadership, SOMO Leadership, Uncategorized, well-being by

I drove 400 miles to Cleveland, Ohio yesterday to continue a newer chapter of my life called "My Dreams are Coming True." I swear, people--this stuff works! It's happening in my life and it's because I'm learning to think differently. Trust me, please. I'm not just talkin' smack. But let me tell you, the past few weeks have been filled with mixed emotions. Lots of anxiety was coming up for me in New York. (I'm learning too that my fear shows up in strange, strange ways . . . almost hard to notice in real time, which is why hindsight is a beautiful thing.)...

04 Jul

Posted at 15:48h in Flourishing, neuroscience, Positive Intervention, SOMO Leadership, Uncategorized by

[caption id="attachment_535" align="alignright" width="157" caption="Shot on my run one morning along the Bosphorus River."][/caption] I'm just returning from Turkey, where I spent just five days in Instanbul, an amazing place on so many levels--rich with history, faith (of all kinds), and beauty beyond imagination. I was invited to facilitate a SOMO Learning Lab for 30 pioneering change-agents (coaches, HR directors, business & media leaders, university professors) in a 2-day experience we called Engaging Leadership With Positive Psychology. The program was stamped by George Mason University's Institute for Leadership Excellence and its Director, Fran Nurthen and I co-facilitated. We used my SOMO Leadership Model as the...

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