I attended a national conference for ‘Health and Well Being at Work’ earlier this year, and discovered an extraordinary spectrum of exhibitors stands, ranging from ergonomic seating, through dietary additives, occupational health recruitment to resilience training and noise protection devices. No wonder we are confused about what wellbeing really means.

Understanding what we mean by wellbeing is important though. The World Health Organisation defines good mental health as “A state of wellbeing in which every individual realises his or her own potential, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully and is able to make a contribution to her or his community.”

Common language for wellbeing

Wellbeing is an increasingly commonly used term, but there is a spectrum of meanings and even disparity in the spelling of the term (with or without a hyphen, one word or two). Philosophers have been arguing about the definition of wellbeing for centuries and economists have been debating it for decades, whilst psychologists and sociologists are relatively new to the debate. But if it’s a subjective concept and we all want to be well, does it really matter if we don’t all have the same understanding of the term? Well yes, it probably does. It seems that the language we use and our level of literacy around the concept may actually influence both our experience of, and our levels of wellbeing. This literacy effect plays out through both our self-understanding of our intrinsic experience and our social experience of the concept through education, community, and workplace interactions. The definition of wellbeing is also of course important from a scientific evidence-based perspective when assessing the efficacy of interventions intended to increase wellbeing. Differentiating wellbeing concepts is far from straight forward though. Oades and Mossman (2017) review a range of wellbeing terminologies in positive psychology literature and use six dimensions to consider in differentiating the concepts

1. Analysis at individual, group, organisation or society level?
2. Physical, mental, social domain?
3. Subjective or objective perspective?
4. Are positive attributes required?
5. Is wellbeing multifaceted/multidimensional?
6. How is it different from health?

Emotional literacy

Our level of literacy about our emotions influences our experience and our ability to control them through the mechanism Daniel Goleman termed, our Emotional Intelligence and the more granular our ability to distinguish and label emotions, the greater influence over them we have and the more successful life outcomes we are likely to have. Lisa Feldman Barrett (2017) proposes that emotions are not pre-programmed into our brains but are psychologically constructed based on our history, physiology, and environment. If our experience of wellbeing is constructed in a similar way, then our level of wellbeing literacy has the potential to influence our level of wellbeing.

Strengths literacy

A similar effect has also been reported in our ability to be able to recognise, distinguish and label our strengths. By being able to recognise and selectively apply the things are naturally good at, we feel better about ourselves and are more successful. This particularly counts in the workplace if it leads to higher engagement and productivity.

Mental health literacy

The terminology around mental health and mental illness is another area where there is a lack of clarity and where the two concepts are often addressed as synonymous. However, Corey Keyes makes a vital distinction between the two concepts suggesting that we can have good mental health even if we have a mental illness and vice versa, and not only that these concepts should be conceptualised on separate continua, but that they can be managed and addressed by different means.

Beyond Talking

Building wellbeing literacy is not just a case of defining terms or talking about it though. Literacy is developed through multiple communication channels including reading, writing, listening, speaking, viewing and creating, in multiple contexts. In order to increase the levels of wellbeing in our families, schools, organisations and societies we need to communicate about wellbeing through all these channels in a consistent, detailed and meaningful way, over and over. Through literacy we control how we use language, so wellbeing literacy is how we control the use of wellbeing language. Since the language we use influences how we think and act, it may impact our lives significantly.
So, the next time you ask someone how they are, listen carefully, give them the opportunity to express their response honestly and in detail, it might just improve their wellbeing, or even your own.

References:
Barrett, L. F. (2017). How Emotions are Made: The Secret Life of the Brain. London: Macmillan.
Goleman, D. (1996). Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ. London: Bloomsbury
Keyes, C. L. M. (2005b). Mental illness and/or mental health? Investigating axioms of the complete state model of health. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 73, 539 –548.
Oades, L., & Mossman, L. (2017). The Science of Wellbeing and Positive Psychology. In M. Slade, L. Oades, & A. Jarden (Eds.), Wellbeing, Recovery and Mental Health (pp. 7-23). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

About the author: Ali Birch has a 30+ year career history in technology and business change, IAPD certificate in coaching, an MBA and an MSc in Applied Positive Psychology.

‘We Are The Positive Psychology People’

The Positive Psychology People is co-founded and sponsored
by Lesley Lyle and Dan Collinson,
Directors of Positive Psychology Learning and authors of the
8-week online Happiness Course

The post We Need To Talk About Wellbeing… appeared first on The Positive Psychology People.

Fear of rejection and the shame associated with rejection (I think it’s the shame we’re more scared of, than the rejection itself) is such a stifling state of being. We’re so scared that someone will stop liking us or think badly of us, that we dare not make any bold moves. We shut down, we stop growing, we don’t step forward, we hold ourselves back, we stay small.

Why on Earth are we doing that?

Fear of rejection is critical to our survival

When we’re children, we need adults to look after us until we mature. If an adult rejects a child and that child is left alone, that child will not survive. Therefore, a child’s brain is primarily focussed on attachment and being accepted is a matter of life and death.

As adults and social creatures, we need to build and maintain healthy relationships for our wellbeing, survival and propagation of life. If we weren’t aware of what might cause people to reject us, we may dart around upsetting people and be left standing all alone.

Fear of rejection has its place in our wellbeing and survival as a species. It’s not something we should brand as ‘the enemy’. But, like many of our primitive survival instincts, they can go haywire in the modern, complex world in which we live.

Fear of rejection on overdrive

Personally, I know that my over-active fear of rejection is mostly caused experiencing a lot of it in my childhood. Most of our adult patterns are developed in our younger years.

I also think it’s a response to living in a highly pressurised society where we are scrutinised left right and centre. We can be rejected for what we do, we can be rejected for what we don’t do, we can be rejected for what we say, we can be rejected for what we don’t say, for what we own and what we don’t, for what we look like and what we don’t… around every corner is someone who can, and will, reject us. And that rejection hurts.

Most modern day rejections don’t impact our survival, so fearing them seems irrational. So what if someone dumps us after one date? So what if we don’t get that job? So what if someone rejected your Facebook friend request?! However, the mind perceives these as real threats: “the very same brain centres that interpret and “feel” physical pain also become activated during the experience of emotional rejection: on brain scans they “light up” in response to social ostracism just as they would when triggered by physically harmful stimuli.” Dr Gabor Maté.

The pain of rejection is very real indeed.

There’s only one solution

And I’m afraid it’s going to sound very clichéd. The solution is: accept yourself.

In my experience, when I own and accept my flaws, it doesn’t bother me if other people reject them. For example, people often mock me for my horrendous sense of direction and it barely makes me flinch. Because, I’m at one with my horrendous sense of direction!

When I make peace with a mistake I made, I’m not deeply affected by someone who rejects me for it. When I know I’ve tried my best at something, I’m not upset if someone rejects me for not doing enough. The only time I don’t feel rejected is when I am in full acceptance of myself.

On the other hand, when a rejection from someone else does hurt me, I always notice that I have a narrative playing in my mind which says: “I’m not good enough”, “I’m a bad person”, “I’m unlovable”, “I’m unworthy”. In other words, I’m rejecting myself.

And THAT’S what really hurts.

A quick tip on accepting yourself if to treat yourself like you would a small, innocent child whom you love dearly. With love, compassion, support and kindness. Maybe I’ll talk more about self-acceptance in the next blog. In the meantime, I’d love to hear your tips too.

About the author: To find out more about Pinky Jangra, please click here.

‘We Are The Positive Psychology People’

The Positive Psychology People is co-founded and sponsored
by Lesley Lyle and Dan Collinson,
Directors of Positive Psychology Learning and authors of the
8-week online Happiness Course

The post Releasing The Fear Of Rejection appeared first on The Positive Psychology People.

The Beautiful Day exercise involves four stages:

1. The first is to reflect upon what constitutes a Beautiful Day. This activity causes you to think about and recall what has made you happy in the past, which activities bought you pleasure, what did you do, who did you do it with, did you do it alone?
2. The second stage is to plan your Beautiful Day by using as many elements from step one as possible. This includes a plan from when you wake in the morning until when you sleep at night. You also need to set a date and make any necessary preparations such as check other people are free on that date.
3. The third stages just requires you to live your Beautiful Day.
4. The final stage is to reflect on your Beautiful Day, to record your experiences and the associated feelings. Again this invites a strong sense of savouring, re-experiencing the physical sensations and the internal emotions. Finally you are asked to think about what you would change when you plan your next Beautiful Day.

Reflections

Stage One
Stage one provides many opportunities for experiencing positive emotions. You get to look through the lovely experiences that you have previously had, it is a focused act of savouring where forgotten details are brought to the fore and positive emotions are cultivated and dwelt upon. You know that you cannot do all of the experiences in your Beautiful Day, but the act of drawing up the list is a very powerful reminder of the good things in your life.

When doing this exercise you need to focus on activities that can actually be done on your Beautiful Day. However, I have found that remembering things that it would be impossible to recreate, such a recalling treasured moments with people who have passed away, can still play a role in this exercise. Although they cannot be relived, they can act as a trigger to ensure that I spend time with other loved ones.

Stage Two
Although this is an extremely positive exercise, stage two, the planning stage did evoke some conflict and negative emotions in me. I got stuck with the planning because I felt bad if I hadn’t included all those people who are most special to me. Also why should I have the indulgence of a Beautiful Day, a day dedicated to pleasure on my terms? For a while it seemed selfish and egotistical, neither of which felt good, let alone beautiful. Again this required a period of reflection, exploring my thoughts and the intention of the Beautiful Day exercise. What I came to realise is the significance of the title, it is ‘A Beautiful Day’, not ‘A Perfect Day’ where I can see everyone, do everything and nothing will go wrong. More importantly the significance of the word ‘A’ struck a further chord with me. It is just one Beautiful Day, it is potentially one of many. I can do it again, maybe I can do it once a month, maybe I can have different focuses such as A Beautiful Day with family and friends, A Beautiful Day at work, A Beautiful Day alone or a strengths based Beautiful Day.

Stage Three
My reflections in stage three helped me to realise that a Beautiful Day is not an indulgence. It creates positive emotions in me and this has a ripple effect of positive emotions spreading out to others who pick up on my good mood. Furthermore, one of the most beautiful things about the Beautiful Day exercise was telling other people about it and encouraging them to create and experience their own Beautiful Day.

Live your own beautiful day

Now I want to extend that further and ask you to plan and live your own Beautiful Day. I’d love to hear how you get on, please leave your comments below.

References:
Proyer, R. T., Gander, F., Wellenzohn, S., & Ruch, W. (2016). Addressing the role of personality, ability, and positive and negative affect in positive psychology interventions: Findings from a randomized intervention based on the Authentic Happiness Theory and extensions. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 11(6), 609-621.

About the author: To find out more about Bryony Shaw, please click here.

‘We Are The Positive Psychology People’

The Positive Psychology People is co-founded and sponsored
by Lesley Lyle and Dan Collinson,
Directors of Positive Psychology Learning and authors of the
8-week online Happiness Course

The post Reflections On A Beautiful Day appeared first on The Positive Psychology People.

Knowing yourself

The first thing I found out is I know myself really well in the ‘doing’ mode of life. I am determined, ambitious, passionate about what I do, extremely organised, reliable, friendly, speak my mind, get things done – not waiting around boom they are done!

I also know myself really well with the many different facets of roles I play. Whatever role I am in I have these basic ingredients: empathetic, caring, nurturing, I will give you my time (hours of it), I have the ability to say the right thing at the right time and I am very honest with it. What I found out is I didn’t know myself that well in the ‘being’ mode of life. My ‘being’ sense of life had been drowned out by helping others and all the multitude of tasks to do with work, keeping a home, having car and you know the rest.

Your authentic self

So to achieve this personal goal of mine – to get to know the authentic me better. I soon realised I need to spend more time learning me as a being. To be honest I still don’t know if I ever knew this side of me before I went on this journey of authenticity or it just got lost with trying to do too much. However, it has been an empowering journey.

Your energy

The first thing I noticed was the connection I had with my energy – the life force in me. If we are talking terms, the Chinese call it Chi, the Native Americans call it the Great Spirit and the Indians call it Prana. There are many variations and names given, but for me, here and now I am going to refer to it as energy. At first I just became really conscious of when I felt energerised and when I felt drained. The conscious awareness of my energy was the centre to me living mindfully. The sense of being was a consistent flow of positive energy that created great peace within and more joy in the interactions with my external world. The more I focused on attaining this sense of being, the more time I spent in it and the easier it became to connect and sustain this aspect of me. I already knew I could not create mindful living from negative thinking and emotions: anger, sadness, frustration and so forth. Those emotions that make your energy feel stuck, dense and tired. So I moved from knowing to consciously redirecting my thoughts to positive ones, which changed my emotional state which entered me into this bliss of being. The more I practiced this mindful approach to my very busy life, the less tired I felt, the more joy I felt and somehow I had more time. Now don’t get me wrong I am still living in the same twenty-four-hour universe you are, but I seem to get more done, felt less stressed and I could see tangible results in the projects I was doing. I felt more present when I spent time with my family and friends and I really slept well. Something I haven’t done for decades. I moved from busy doing life to the productive being one.

Doing an energy inventory

I did an energy inventory of everything: the people I spend my time with, the colours of clothing I wore, the style of clothing, the stuff in my house that I accumulate over time, the things I buy because I tell myself I ‘need’ them and so forth. The places I regularly visited, the places I should visit more often like woodland areas where I find peace, grounding and the rejuvenating process. I energy inventoried the exercise I did (what did my soul like doing and what was I doing just to keep fit?). Every aspect of my life has begun an energy inventory process not from a to do list mode, just as it comes up from a sense of being.

The New Year resolution is still shaping, the authenticity is still exploring, but the fundamental thing I have learnt on this journey is we rarely give ourselves the time to get to know ourselves, I mean put the self as a conscious priority not just an autopilot transmitted version of us. Finding me is about the relationship we have with ourselves, I strongly believe that this is the key to mindful and blissful living which needs a voice, a platform, a recognition in our lives. In giving my authenticity a voice, a platform, I have sustained a more appreciative, energised and happier me.

About the author: Kelly Seaward became a teacher in 2003, graduating from The Central School of Speech and Drama. She is also a Hypnotherapist, Counsellor and Psychotherapist. Currently she is a MAPP student at New Bucks University. Her passion is helping people to live positive, more joyful lives through changing their mind-sets, self-development and education.
www.silentblessing.co.uk

‘We Are The Positive Psychology People’

The Positive Psychology People is co-founded and sponsored
by Lesley Lyle and Dan Collinson,
Directors of Positive Psychology Learning and authors of the
8-week online Happiness Course

The post Finding Me appeared first on The Positive Psychology People.

Positive psychology has divided motivation into two sub fields’ intrinsic: inbuilt human attributes to pursue virtuousness and extrinsic: pursuing an activity for an alternative outcome, thus highlighting variant forms of motivational triggers. The self-determination theory formalises the four tenets of motivation being external: tasks driven by outside forces, introjected: self regulation of emotions conducting activities to avoid guilt, pressure, anxiety, identified: conducting imperative task regardless of it not being joyful and integrated: conducting tasks as they adhere to our values (Ryan & Deci, 2000). On a healthy motivational continuum the more we develop our intrinsic motivation the less likely we are to be forced to do things we did not want to. Autonomy is an important factor in finding your intrinsic motivation and so are competences, relatedness that form an overall driving force in finding your extrinsic motivation. The self-concordance model advocates well being as being much superior entity when individuals identify, amalgamate, implement intrinsic motivations within themselves in co coordinating their life goals (Sheldon, 1994).

Evidence based research supports this notion and postulates that the model does indeed promote well being through attending to an individual’s innate psychological requirements (Boniwell, 2006). Some interesting perceptions of motivational strategies have been developed as the following recommended five dimensional steps: trust: fostering positive relationships, reward system: promotes healthy competition reinforcing good behaviours, recognition; appreciation of accomplishments, career advancement: opening up opportunities for high performers is a good incentive to do well and happiness: reacting reasons to be happy (LMA, 1972).
A further 12 strategies have been recommended as helping individuals to cultivate motivation, they are as followed: setting goals, rewarding steps towards your goal, be adaptive to challenges, acquire a positive mindset, announce your goals so as to acquire support, reject distractions, visualise positive imagery, reflect, implement inspirational quotes, seek professional help for psychological or physical issues and practice self care (Allegheny college, 2018). More is gained from utilising motivational strategies and how individuals implement or best suit them is a bit of trial and error process. Thus these recommended strategies, I feel could be used visually, auditory and kinaesthetically as personally, I love auditory motivational music that suits my mood whereby helps me to complete a task at hand.

Collaborative use of motivational strategies for professionals

Presenting a treatment plan for patients is half of the battle for doctors the adherence to the plan and patient motivation is a key issue for positive well being. The patient must pursue an intrinsically motivated mindset and supportive family members should provide extrinsic motivational triggers for the patient. A collaboration of treatment and patient/family positive motivational psychological support enables the patient to function in an optimal manner (Heath, 2017). Counsellors take a more paternalistic approach to motivational counselling giving a more directive style of counselling involving instructions, information on health related behaviours and setting SMART goals (Eufic, 2010). Other person-centred counsellors implement the motivational interviewing technique to nurture people through the process of change and commit to it too (Psychology Today, 2018).

The future of motivation

APS: Association for Psychological Sciences a collaborative platform for psychologist to share research. Whereby an article on motivation found evidence based research reinforced the notion that dramatic team work can lead to higher levels of perseverance and engagement leading to higher levels of performance (Carr, & Walton, 2014).
A more collaborative effort should be made by psychologist to form a society that deals with motivation and accessibility of resources that highlight importance value research on human beings today with evidence based proven motivational triggers. A consensus should be established on what motivates individuals by implementing motivational strategies that promote positive well being.

References
https://leadershipmanagement.com.au/motivate-and-dominate-5-motivation-strategies-to-increase-productivity/
https://patientengagementhit.com/news/top-4-patient-motivation-techniques-for-health-improvement
https://sites.allegheny.edu/deanofstudents/wellness-education/todays-topic/12-strategies-for-motivation-that-work/ https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/therapy-types/motivational-interviewing
Lopez, S.J & Snyder, C, R, (2011) The Oxford Handbook of Positive Psychology, Second edition, New York, United States of America, OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS.
Positive Psychology in a Nutshell: The Science of happiness, IIona Boniwell, third edition, Open University Press, 2012.
Rollnick S et al. (2005). Consultations about changing behaviour. BMJ 331:961-963.
Rubak S et al. (2005). Motivational interviewing: a systematic review and meta-analysis. British Journal of General Practice 55: 305-312.

About the author: To find out more about Fizza Shah, please click here.

‘We Are The Positive Psychology People’

The Positive Psychology People is co-founded and sponsored
by Lesley Lyle and Dan Collinson,
Directors of Positive Psychology Learning and authors of the
8-week online Happiness Course

The post Building One’s Motivation appeared first on The Positive Psychology People.

Where it all started to make sense

Imagine just how bad it must have been that I chose to leave my 2 small children when I left their father and divorced him. I left them all alone in a country where I had no say, no choice, no voice. I could have waded through that feeling of devastation. That deep sense of depression. And the feeling of total loss.

I could have walked along the banks using my tears to fill the river but instead I chose to laugh myself a bridge and cross over it.

Laughter has really changed my life and I would love to share my story with you today.

3 Bridges to help you

1. Laugh yourself a bridge to better self-esteem

This is something to do with acceptance and self-love. Even though things may be falling apart around you, you can chose to love and accept yourself unconditionally. We all make mistakes or have ‘lessons’ as I call them. It’s best not to dwell on them, rather find out how to overcome it. Once you remove judgment from yourself and others you will feel a weight lifted off your shoulders.

I felt guilty for years about leaving my kids, but when I realised I did everything in my power to get to see them, support them and love them I was ok. Things didn’t work out the way I had hoped but I grew resilient kids.

2. Laugh yourself a bridge to face your fears and improve your mental health

What is fear anyway, False Evidence Appearing Real. Have you ever feared something and stewed on it for ages and built it up to be this huge mountain of something only to find that actually it wasn’t that bad at all. Laughter will help you ease the nerves, oxygenate the brain to think clearer and help you push forward. It’s the over thinking and stewing over a problem that causes our mental health issues.

I made sure I did the best I could do for my kids and they know that and love me for it. And for that I am grateful.

3. Laugh yourself a bridge to be the best you possible

So many times we feel stuck, and this could be in a relationship, in a business or even a decision or idea. Laughter actually makes you more productive, creative and innovative so you will be able to come up with a solution to any ‘problem’ and you really can be happy.

Laughter helped me find my happy through many different situations and I would love you to try it. It gets you thinking, laughing and empowering yourself to be the best you possible. Be who your really deserve to be.

As I wrote in my blog about Banish the Blues When You Get Bad News, you will see that life continues to throw things at me. Sometimes I still cry a little and add to the river, but building bridges is becoming an automatic procedure now because I have practiced it.

If you are going through a hard time right now, I encourage you to laugh yourself a bridge and cross over it now, and I will be right there with you all the way.

About the author: To find out more about Jo-Dee Walmsley, please click here.

The Positive Psychology People is co-founded and sponsored
by Lesley Lyle and Dan Collinson,
Directors of Positive Psychology Learning and authors of the
8-week online Happiness Course

The post Laugh Yourself A Bridge appeared first on The Positive Psychology People.

1. Self-love is not a gooey proclamation of self-appreciation

Those are my words, not his; but, the message essentially was that Gabor had never experienced self-love as a gushy feeling about himself. I resonated with that because neither had I. Yet, I was seeking that kind of self-love, I thought that was what it is meant to look like. You know that feeling you get when you look at another human or animal that you love? I thought I was meant to feel that way when I looked at myself. I also thought I was meant to become so self-assured and believe that I was worthy of all the goodness in the world. I thought that was self-love; and for the most part, I was trying – but largely failing – to achieve it.

Maybe that is part of self-love but, Gabor awakened me to something much more subtle, profound and less gooey: his experience of self-love was being able to be present with his own pain. Instead of trying to avoid pain – which is not just sadness/ hurt but could also be insecurity, anxiety, fear, frustration, shame or anger – or, trying to wangle out of it with the latest self-help methodology, he identified self love as making space for that pain; letting it be without judgement and with compassion. That sounds like the warm embrace of love to me.

2. You do love yourself, actually

Some of my work involves helping people who’ve experienced childhood abuse. Through their experiences, they have been conditioned into patterns of negative self belief, self rejection and understandably, they often think they’re not lovable and certainly find it hard to love themselves. I thought I was in that same boat until, Dr Gabor Maté said (slightly paraphrased):

The fact that you are here [in the workshop] means there is a part of you that loves you. It thinks you are worthy of help and healing and that’s why it bought you here. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be here.

That hit me somewhere very deep.

Something inside cares. Something inside makes you and I seek out this kind of blog and other self-help material because, something inside thinks we’re worthy of progress.

This led me to consider our bodies too. When they are hurt, on most occasions, they heal. What about when you’re in danger? The body fights or runs. Something inside you thinks you are absolutely worth keeping alive.

That sounds like the warm embrace of love to me.

We forgot what it truly means to love

Perhaps we watched too many rom coms and got caught up in society’s hype about finding love in a relationship and flaunting it as some joyous, ecstatic experience. We forgot that actually, for those whom we truly love, we also hold them in their pain. We look after them in unglamorous times, we help them when they are sick, we offer compassion and support when things are tough for them. In fact, it is in all these expressions where true love really shows up. It’s easy to ‘love’ someone when everything’s going well, but to handle them in their dark times is the greatest testament to how you really feel.

And so, this brings us back to Gabor’s words about what it truly means to love yourself – it’s not in the warm and fluffy stuff, it’s in the heavy and difficult stuff that you nurture yourself through. And, the fact is that your heart is beating, you’re breathing and billions of cells in your body are working tirelessly to keep you alive whilst you read this blog. To me, this means that the search for self-love is over. It’s already here.

About the author: To find out more about Pinky Jangra, please click here.

‘We Are The Positive Psychology People’

The Positive Psychology People is co-founded and sponsored
by Lesley Lyle and Dan Collinson,
Directors of Positive Psychology Learning and authors of the
8-week online Happiness Course

The post Self Love Is Not What I Thought It Was appeared first on The Positive Psychology People.

Positive psychology advocates human flourishing (Seligman, 1998), which also directs us towards changing our bad habits into good habits for the purpose of optimal wellbeing. Thus building self belief into a pro active self efficacy human trait is an imperative tool for positivity to take place in society today. Depression has overcome individuals to such an extent that is has become a growing epidemic disease. How do you overcome such unhealthy thoughts and what does positive psychology present to us to overcome this epidemic?

The most pioneering self-efficacy theory advocates that “people’s beliefs in their capabilities to produce desired effects by their own actions” (Bandura, 1997, p.vii). The whole process of cultivating self efficacy takes variant pathways that entail adaptive psychological skills and self regulated behavioural modification strategies. These two distinctive positive pathway methods cultivate positive belief behaviours within humans. Thus postulating that these strategies actually allow humans to accomplish their core psychological and physical well being, Evidence based research has found self efficacy as a core factor in changing unhealthy behaviours into healthy behaviours (Maddux & Rogers, 1983: Rogers & Prentice-Dunn, 1997).

In light of some recent high profile cases of high depression resulting in diminished well being have explores some self help measures. Some present day thinkers advocate that the following strategies must be practiced in accordance for self belief to be accomplished: demonstrate adaptive behaviour, be reflective in events of mistakes, avoid blame, self compassion, act confident and above all practice these in your daily life (Hope & Butler, 2007). Furthermore a lack of self belief has strong implications for poor wellbeing (Bandura, 1997). Thus signposting us towards a self regulating our self efficacy human trait as a protective factor in managing our wellbeing in a positive manner. Three components of self efficacy have been identified: goal performance, self evaluation in accordance to goal performance and self efficacy beliefs (Barone et al., 1997).

Recent thinkers propose 12 step techniques to elevate self confidence through: identify your positive side, do not listen to negative people, don’t be bothered by small matters, embrace praise, be active, lift you head, maintain a good posture, think positive, talk with confidence, do not boast, acquire new knowledge, diminish negativity and manage yourself (Zoe, B, 2012). Furthermore others have a more simpler approach such as changing yourself talk methods to positive ones, foresee to adaptively cope with adversities, try self talking, positive body posture and perceiving people as humans who have variant facets to them not feeling threatened by them at all (Dr Thompson, 2014). Also more self help is needed in collaboration with positive psychotherapy thus guiding us towards meditation, cognitive behavioural therapy and self regulatory self help measures which would be vital in enhancing ones well being.

Collaborative use of Self Believe Strategies for Professionals

I feel healthcare professionals can try to test new evidence based self efficacy strategies such as the 12 step techniques and five step techniques in collaboration to their current professional procedures. I feel positive psychology has so much more to offer and with increasing depression levels in society we need more positive interventions be it through home, family, educational sector, healthcare sector, mental wellbeing charities and government we need to focus upon a mutual goal of positive well being for all.

The healthcare industry has lots of information regarding building self belief, the NHS recommends the following tips: identify your positive points, build positive relationships, practice self compassion, exercise assertiveness, learn to say no and give yourself a challenge. Furthermore the following podcast by Dr Chris Williams gives a realistic account of self help advisory guidance for people with low self esteem (to access go on https://www.nhs.uk/Video/Pages/unhelpful-thinking-podcast.aspx).

The future of self belief

I feel some core positive psychology thinkers that cultivate evidence based self help positive interventions can change our present lack of clarity in the field of positive wellbeing. The steps needed to boost happiness (Lyubormirsky, 2007), enhance strengths (Seligman & Parks, 1999) need to be built and repeated if optimal wellbeing is to be achieved. Most recently at the European Positive Psychology Conference in Budapest, Dr Rashid, presents the notion of integration of negative symptoms with a amalgamation of one’s strengths can reduce fear in oneself leading to self efficacy thus self belief (Rashid, 2018).

Some organisations have started such this positive advancement of self as the National Self Esteem Association forwarding a notion of self concept being a combination of values, social interactions, beliefs, abilities and goals. The latest insight into positive wellbeing is the worldwide wellbeing project conducted by martin Seligman, (ongoing) analysing social media posts for the purpose of psychological wellbeing thus developing accurate psychological profiles of users well being. This is in collaboration of healthcare professionals, policy makers thus advancing us towards positive well being for all by 2051.

References

Home

6 Strategies for Building Self-Confidence

http://www.wwbp.org/about.html

12 Steps to Boost Your Confidence

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/stress-anxiety-depression/raising-low-self-esteem/
Lopez, S.J & Snyder, C, R, (2011) The Oxford Handbook of Positive Psychology, Second edition, New York, United States of America, OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS.

Managing Your Mind: the Mental Fitness Guide, Gillian Butler, Ph.D., and Tony Hope, M.D., write about six ways to improve your confidence.
Prochaska, J., Prochaska, j, (2016). Changing to Thrive: Using the Stages of Change to Overcome the Top Threats to Your Health and Happiness. Hazelden Publishing. USA.
Rashid, R., (2018). The European Positive Psychology Conference, Budapest. Social Media.
Seligman, Martin. Learned Optimism. New York, NY: Pocket Books. 1998.
The How of Happiness, A practical guide to Getting the life You Want, Sonja Lyubomirsky, 2011, Piakus.

About the author: To find out more about Fizza Shah, please click here.

‘We Are The Positive Psychology People’

The post The Power Of Self-Belief appeared first on The Positive Psychology People.

Yes, that all happened in the past 7 days. Now as you know I am the laughter lady and I always say to laugh at life and sometimes that is a real challenge. Oh boy, that was put to test this week. Did I laugh? Actually No I didn’t at first BUT I would like to share how laughter did help me and how it will keep on getting me through this:

Getting through the initial shock

Being able to feel the joy and the sadness of all is very important and laughter has helped me be true to my inner feelings. I think the best thing to do when you have an emotion is to feel it, understand it and yourself and then process it.

For so many years I just planted my emotions and hid them but seriously there’s is only so much a human can take before they will over flow with unprocessed baggage.

So laughter has helped me do just that. I will mope a bit in the beginning, cry, get angry and then let it go. When I finally laugh at what ever it is that is causing the pain it sometimes defuses the negative charge and releases it.

* Learn laugh at yourself – I have this problem – It makes me feel like this and I will let it go and get through it. (Give it a try and let me know how it works for you)

Looking for the positives

Now that we have done that while laughing at it you now open your mind to the possibilities of how you can change the situation or get over it.

Through laughing at it you now can find the positives. Let’s use my kidney news as an example here. So yes I have had this terrible news and yet wow I am so blessed to have these good things:

1. I am in a country where I have great medical care and support
2. With it being a rare disease, I have volunteered to be a research subject to help others
3. I will finally have a base and stay in the UK (something I have never done before)
4. I have family and friends who can support me – that friend of 15 years offered me one of her kidneys if we are a match – (WOW!! That is a true friend)
5. I am a motivational speaker – I can use my voice to inspire others to find their way to a more positive outcome. I can help spread awareness for this disease ( Polycystic Kidney Disease known as PKD)
6. Even after the transplant I can live a fairly normal life, having been given a second chance
7. I am lucky I created a job that is not a normal 9 – 5 in an office so I am free to be treated and still do what I am passionate about
8. And the list goes on YAY!!

* Celebrate life with laughter – no matter how small or big the victory say ‘Very Good, Very Good YAY!!’

Future Proof the Way you Handle your News

By having a daily laughter practice you start to know the inner child and let them out to play. This is so important to help you in the future so you know that ‘Yes, I will get through this’.

*Start finding things to laugh at or with. If you need help there are many outlets online with the Daily Laughers group, or some Skype Laughter Clubs or even join a real club. I know I love my club and we are really a nice group of people that choose to laugh together and help each other through it all.

About the author: To find out more about Jo-Dee Walmsley, please click here.

‘We Are The Positive Psychology People’

The post Banish The Blues When You Get Bad News appeared first on The Positive Psychology People.

I recently purchased large dry erase sheets that easily adhere to the wall. They make checking the to-do boxes even more fun. And, using bright, colourful dry erase markers adds a bit more beauty and fun!

Why shouldn’t getting stuff done be fun?

It’s easy to get caught up in the minutia of working endlessly until a project is completed. But, where is the fun? Are you allowing fun to seep into your day? Are you allowing fun to even seep into the mundane details, too?

I get such satisfaction out of seeing my walls filled with my colourful hand-writing and with projects I have chosen to do—writing projects, projects for clients, marketing projects, timelines for conferences and speaking engagements.

As I write this, I am thinking that this blog is about finding colour in the dull places. Creating colourful moments in the seemingly mundane activities.

Colourful opportunities

Instead of seeing my to-do list as a massive amount of daunting tasks, I see it as a list of fun and colourful opportunities!
Although I so enjoy seeing the colour on my walls, I also get such a feeling of gratification when I erase that items from the board, which indicates the project or task is completed. I keep the completed to-do item on my wall for a day or two so I can stand and revel in my accomplishment. And get that feeling of “Aaaaahhh…you did it!” And, a chance to pat myself on the back for a job well-done.

But, not for too long. As my tennis coach would tell me, “Julie, don’t admire your shot. Get ready for the next one.”

Ask yourself…

• Can I find joy in mundane projects or tasks?
• Do I allow myself to find joy in the little moments?
• Will I allow myself to admire my accomplishments—if just for a brief moment—before moving onto my next project?

As Thich Nhat Hanh writes in his book, “Present Moment. Wonderful Moment”:
“When we settle into the present moment, we can see beauties and wonders right before our eyes—a new born baby, the sun rising in the sky. We can be very happy just by being aware of what is in front of us.”

And, so I enjoy the feeling of satisfaction for a moment knowing that more happiness, satisfaction, and gratification await me.

About the author: To find out more about Julie Ostrow, please click here.

‘We Are The Positive Psychology People’

The post The Satisfaction of the Checkmark appeared first on The Positive Psychology People.