What is the ‘good life’ and how can human beings achieve it?  Scholars since Aristotle have been trying to answer that question.  Melchert tells us Aristotle believed virtue to be more than simple emotion.  Happiness results from virtuous actions (2002).  William James postulated that happiness results from the cultivating of proper habits through conscious attention and effort.  Furthermore, attention and effort are “two names for the same psychic fact”  (1892, p. 137).  Csikszentmihalyi focuses on the mechanics of consciousness and controlling the conscious mind in pursuit of happiness (1990).  Lastly, Pawelski integrates the philosophy of William James and current positive psychology research to explore how humans flourish and generate well-being (2003).  Based on these authors, I will argue that a positive intervention is a direct result of conscious control of attention. Aristotle argued that happiness is not possible without excellence… …

Do You Have Executive Presence? When you walk into a room at work are people naturally drawn to you? When you sit at a meeting table do others ask to hear your thoughts? When there’s a decision to be made do people seek our your ideas? If you’re wavering in your responses chances are you’re missing what researchers have found is an essential component to getting ahead at work … executive presence. Reported to account, on average, for 25 percent of what it takes to get promoted, understanding how to project confidence, stay poised under pressure and be authentic are clearly skills worth having. But if you’re not quite there yet, what can you do to cultivate a more positive presence at work? What Is Executive Presence? “Studies have found that in the first seven seconds of meeting you people make 11 judgements about you,” explains Shannon… …

A Study in the Signature Strengths of the Iconic Movie Wizard of Oz   “There’s no place like home, is there?” “Where’s Toto?” “I guess to get home you just click your heels three times, right?” “Well, you’re not in Kansas any MORE, are you?!”   If you have the (mis)fortune of being from Kansas this is what awaits you when you tell a new acquaintance your home state.  Frankly, it’s annoying.  It makes me resent The Wizard of Oz (LeRoy & Fleming, 1939).   And if someone doesn’t make an Oz reference in our first meeting, I instantly award them ‘friend’ status just for their self-regulation.  Not that people from Waco, TX or Roswell, NM have it that much easier.  But everyone knows and loves Dorothy and Toto.  Somehow, this Technicolor movie has become synonymous with the State of Kansas… …

At Positive Business DC, we know that we have a lot of readers that are looking for work…so we want to pass along information as we receive it. Here is one lead for you coaches out there. Cheers! The Positive Business DC Team Coaching Opportunities at BetterUp BetterUp is looking for top-notch coaches who are eager to translate their experience into part-time coaching for rising leaders. Some benefits: Impact. Rewarding client work with emerging leaders eager to make the most of their work and lives. Flexibility. Work a part time flexible schedule from your own home or office (coaching is done through video chat). Opportunity to earn $70+ / hr (depending on qualifications). No overhead. We bring you clients, automate scheduling, case management and billing. Energizing community. Paid training and ongoing support a from expert staff on the latest positive psychology… …

             We spend more than a third of our lives and nearly half of our waking lives at work.  While jobs take up the bulk of our lives, people approach work in distinctly different ways.  In order to understand different perspectives that workers have on their jobs, Bellah and colleagues (1985; see also Schwartz, 1986, 1994 as cited in Wrzesniewki, Rozin and Bennet, 2003) divide work in the United States into three orientations:  a job, a career and a calling.  Does having a calling at work as opposed to a job or career lead to higher productivity?  Is it possible to transform a career into a calling?  My paper will support the theory that having a calling is a means to the good life, it can lead to higher productivity, and increasing flow is one… …

Emilia Lahti, who is gaining international attention for her efforts against abuse invites you to be part of Sisu Not Silence. What is Sisu, you ask? Sisu is a Finnish word that cannot be translated easily into the English language, loosely translated to mean stoic determination, grit, bravery, guts, resilience, perseverance and hardiness, expressing the historic self-identified Finnish national character. Sisu is about taking action against the odds and displaying courage and resoluteness in the face of adversity. Deciding on a course of action and then sticking to that decision against repeated failures is Sisu. It is similar to equanimity, with the addition of a grim quality of stress management. The pertaining adjective is sisukas, “having the quality of Sisu“. “Having guts” is a fairly literal translation, as the word derives from sisus, which means something inner or interior. One closely related concept to Sisu is grit; which shares some of its denoting elements with Sisu, save for “stress management” and passion for a long-term goal. Sisu may have an element… …

If you have heard Dr. Martin Seligman speak recently, you may have been shocked to hear that he’s completely overturned his classic thinking about learned helplessness. Marty and Steve Maier have co-authored an article titled “Learned helplessness at fifty: Insights from neuroscience” published in Psychological Review. Excerpts are below, as borrowed from the Ken Pope listserv:   The July issue of *Psychological Review* includes an article: “Learned Helplessness at Fifty: Insights From Neuroscience.” PLEASE NOTE: As usual, we’ll include both the author’s email address (for requesting electronic reprints) and a link to the complete article at the end below. The authors are Steven F. Maier, Martin E. P. Seligman. Here’s an excerpt: “Although there is a long history of research investigating the controllability dimension in humans, studies using methods that allow the measurement of neural activity are quite recent and few in number. A… …