Monthly Archives: November 2015

Stand Up for Happiness at Work: It’s Time to Move!

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(Originally published on Delivering Happiness) We often think of happiness as a state of mind, but our physical bodies have a large impact on our well-being that goes beyond our physical health. Our bodies can either help or hinder our performance and well-being, on the job or at home, in more ways than are readily obvious. Our well-being is tied to our bodies in more ways than one. Our physical fitness can affect our moods, our energy levels, and our mental performance. Consider the following: Research has shown that just 15 minutes of exercise a day can help increase energy levels. According to the American Council on Exercise, if a sedentary individual begins an exercise program it will enhance the blood flow carrying oxygen and nutrients to muscle tissue improving their ability to produce more energy [the chemical adenosine triphosphate]. Physical… …

How Learning your ABCs at Work Can Decrease Stress

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One of my all-time favorite bumper stickers asserts, “Don’t believe everything you think.” The first time I saw it, fifteen years ago, it took me a second to even make sense of it. Since that time, I have increasingly used that quote to remind myself that just because I have had a thought, it doesn’t necessarily make it true. This seems to apply especially when I find myself angry. We play a role in our own stress and angst, sometimes causing it where none really needs to exist. We bring our histories, good and bad, to our daily interactions and this affects our perceptions. Albert Ellis (1962), the father of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), identified that much of the stress experienced in life comes not from the stressful events in our lives, but from our interpretation of the event. This makes sense – if the activating event were causal, then everyone’s responses would be… …

Christopher Peterson Fellowship Fund Drive – to honor James Pawelski (a special blog for MAPPsters)

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What would it be like to have more MAPP students attend from India?  How many people’s well-being could they affect in a country with the second largest population in the world (1.271 billion)?  Or how about Africa?  With 1.111 billion people in 2013, projections show 40% of the world’s population will be in Africa by the end of the 21st century.  Coming from India or Africa, it’s a major challenge to attend MAPP.  We can help make it possible with the Christopher Peterson Memorial Fellowship Fund. At the Summit, we announced a challenge: to raise $10,000 by the end of the year to honor James Pawelski’s commitment to the MAPP program in the year of its 10th anniversary.  As Marty said, “With PERMA, there are 5 pillars of positive psychology, but there is only pillar of MAPP, and that’s James.”… …

Why the Office “Good Guy” Enjoys his Work More than You

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The office good guy… you know him… he’s John, the administrative assistant who is always ready to enthusiastically serve on a new voluntary committee at work. She’s Nancy, a customer service representative who is not only genuinely happy to help customers solve problems, but will cover a co-workers’ shift almost anytime she is asked. They are unusual and everyone sees it.  They clearly care about the company and the people within. These “good guys” are good organizational citizens.  They are the people who do things beyond the formal duties of their role – like lending a helping hand to a co-worker, being an evangelist for their company, or organizing a team lunch. They are strong team players, keep the spirits of others high, maintain goodwill around them, and are actively involved in company activities… you get the idea.  And, as… …

The Marshmallow Test

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Beginning in the late 1960s and early 1970s, Walter Mischel pioneered work illuminating the ability to delay gratification and to exert self-control in the face of strong situational pressures and emotionally “hot” temptations. His studies with preschoolers in the late 1960s, often referred to as “the marshmallow experiment“, examined the processes and mental mechanisms that enable a young child to forego immediate gratification and to wait instead for a larger desired but delayed reward. Continuing research with these original participants has examined how preschool delay of gratification ability links to development over the life course, and may predict a variety of important outcomes (e.g., SAT scores, social and cognitive competence, educational attainment, and drug use), and can have significant protective effects against a variety of potential vulnerabilities.[4] This work also opened a route to research on temporal discounting in decision-making, and most importantly… …