Archive for May 2023

Who is the wisest person you can think of? What makes this person so wise?

Most likely traits like intelligence, talent, or maturity (age) surface first.

Although a good definition of wisdom is difficult to come by, agreement on what wisdom is not, is much easier. Researchers agree that wisdom is not a result of aging. Nor do they believe that higher IQ scores signify increased wisdom.

According to The VIA Institute on Character, wisdom is defined as “knowledge hard fought for, and then used for good” (Peterson and Seligman, 2004).

The same group of researchers conclude that there are five character strengths included in the virtue of wisdom:

1. creativity,
2. curiosity,
3. judgment,
4. love of learning, and
5. perspective

Let’s take a deeper look at Peterson and Seligman’s definitions (2004).

Creativity is “thinking of novel and productive ways to conceptualize and do things; includes artistic achievement but is not limited to it.”

I feel I am a creative person, but art is not my strong point!

Curiosity is “taking an interest in ongoing experience for its own sake; finding subjects and topics fascinating; exploring and discovering.”

I am growing more curious as I age. Am I getting wiser???

Judgment (open-mindedness or critical thinking) is “thinking things through…it’s ‘not jumping to conclusions.’” Judgment is the ability to take in new evidence and change one’s mind if necessary. It’s weighing information fairly.

Often, being judgmental is seen as a negative. It is so refreshing to see this definition.

Love of Learning is “mastering new skills, topics, and bodies of knowledge.” A love of learning involves systematically adding to one’s knowledge base, whether formally or informally.

This is one of my top five (signature strengths)! Must be why I continue to go back to school, obtain further training, read nonfiction…

Perspective- Five factors were found to enable or inhibit perspective:

1. “Life tasks – Pursuing career tasks in the late 30s and 40s, for example, led to the development of precocious wisdom by age 43.
2. Adjustment – Wisdom isn’t simply about adjusting to societal norms and expectations.
3. Coming to terms with life choices – People who are able to do this by age 53 are wiser at age 53. This was true when compared to people having no regrets. It also was true when compared to people with unresolved regrets (Hartman, 2000).
4. Life changes – Hartman (2000) found that women who experienced more major changes in love and career developed more wisdom by midlife.
5. Stressful life experiences – Higher rates of negative stressors inhibit the development of wisdom.”

Numbers 1, 3, and 4 above ring quite true for me. I started my master’s degree at age 45. I had multiple changes in my career before age 50. And, at 52 ½ years of age, I have come to terms with many of life’s choices. Guess that makes sense, as perspective ranked 6/24 on my VIA strengths.

It’s important to remember that wisdom, like other strengths and virtues, can be learned. We all have all of them; how they show up for each of us daily is just different. Let’s say you want to be able to take on others’ views more easily. You may set out to work on expanding your perspective or holding off on judgment until you have all the facts. Practicing these skills will allow these strengths to broaden and deepen, therefore allowing you to learn to use them more frequently and freely!

Creativity, curiosity, and judgment are midrange for me. No matter how I decide to spend the rest of my life, I know that growing my wisdom will be a priority. And I will focus my attention on these three traits. How about you?

How are you wise?

How do you use your wisdom to your benefit? To the benefit of others?

How can you try out your wisdom in new ways? What do you think the result will be?

What do you admire about those who you think are wise?

Which wisdom strength will you nourish today?

When I was teaching, something called Schools of Character were a big deal and still are in some states. Schools applied for distinction hoping to meet the rigorous standards articulated in www.Character.org’s 11 Principles Framework for Schools.

“Schools that effectively emphasize character development bring together all stakeholders to consider and agree on specific character strengths that will serve as the school’s core values. This combination of values expresses our common humanity, transcending religious and cultural differences. Ideally, a balance of moral, performance, intellectual, and civic character strengths, these values represent a school’s highest priorities and belief systems. A school committed to character development uses a common language to teach, model, and integrate their core values into all aspects of school life. “

This is a great example of how systems implement a case for character development. But how do we as individuals work toward something like this? The Values in Action (VIA) Institute on Character provides us with an abundance of insight into the matter. VIA bases its work on ‘The science of strengths. The practice of wellbeing.’ Based in Cincinnati, Ohio, the non-profit VIA is dedicated to bringing the science of character strengths to the world. They have created and validated surveys of character, supporting researchers and developing practical strengths-based tools for individuals and professionals. As such, their surveys are available free of charge worldwide in many languages.

“Research shows that knowing and using your character strengths can help you:

• increase happiness and wellbeing,
• find meaning and purpose,
• boost relationships,
• manage stress and health, and
• Accomplish goals!”

(Personality Test, Personality Assessment: VIA Survey | VIA Institute (viacharacter.org)

A Bit More about the Strengths, Themselves

Social scientists discovered a common language of 24 character strengths that everyone possesses during the early 2000s. They show up in different combinations at varying levels. Therefore, there are likely even more possible profiles than there are people on the planet. Even more fascinating is that everyone has a truly unique profile!

Each character strength falls into one of 6 broad virtue categories, which are universal across cultures, nations, and belief systems. As a result, it is seen as a holistic conceptual schema. Let’s dig deeper into these categories and learn which strengths fall where:

1. (Emotional) Courage: bravery, honesty, perseverance, zest
2. (Social) Humanity: kindness, love, social intelligence
3. (Social) Justice: fairness, leadership, teamwork
4. (Protective) Temperance: forgiveness, humility, prudence, self-regulation
5. (Spiritual) Transcendence: appreciation of beaty & excellence, gratitude, hope, humor, spirituality
6. (Cognitive) Wisdom: creativity, curiosity, judgment, love of learning, perspective

I have given and taken many personality tests in my life. I liked this one but needed to read more to find out how and why it was different…better than the others. I mean really, how do you choose which virtues and strengths to include? Why do you choose to call it one thing and not another, like why hope instead of optimism? Well, there is a science-based reason for that too.

In their book, Character Strengths and Virtues, Christopher Peterson and Martin Seligman explain that the character strengths and virtues classified in VIA’s system were based on a 3-year project they led involving 55 distinguished social scientists. The work represents the most significant effort in history to review, assemble, research, and classify positive strengths/traits in human beings. Tracing back to the time of Aristotle and Plato, the major world religions, and other great thinkers and philosophers during the past 2,500 years, we now have a common language for understanding and discussing these core human capacities. Each strength is thoroughly reviewed by a stringent list of 12 characteristics which can be found inside the pages of the book. The book remains essential to the field, as well as education, management, consulting, psychology, coaching, and others.

I now know why/how this set of 24-character strengths differentiates itself from the others. I was introduced to it while working for a nonprofit youth-serving agency and then again during my positive psychology coaching training. I have taken it several times and find it intriguing to observe shifts as some strengths move up in dominance while others scoot down. I use it frequently with clients as well.

If you want to learn more about each of the six virtue categories and/or more about the individual strengths, look for my other character strength blogs and future blogs about how to make optimal use of your signature strengths!

As positive psychology can be applied to individuals, groups, and organizations, so too can positive psychology coaching. For the individual, improved performance, self-efficacy, life satisfaction, and self-confidence are amongst the benefits seen. Harmony within families and other relationships occurs in groups.  And organizations have found improved talent retention, employee engagement, customer satisfaction, and financial growth. (Peláez et al., 2019).

In general, the goals of positive psychology in coaching are ‘to…:

• positively impact the client’s life; the main goal of coaching in general is to improve the client’s life. Positive psychology coaching is no different.
• increase the client’s experience of positive emotions,
• help clients identify and develop their strengths and unique talents,
• enhance the client’s goal setting and goal-striving abilities,
• build a sense of hope into the client’s perspective,
• cultivate the client’s sense of happiness and wellbeing,
• nurture a sense of gratitude in the client,
• help the client build and maintain healthy, positive relationships with others,
• encourage the client to maintain an optimistic outlook, and
• help the client learn to savor every positive moment (Mentor Coach, n.d.; Peppercorn, 2014).

Although the first goal on the list is the most general, each of the subsequent goals can be considered milestones leading upward toward the first. These are all effective techniques and objectives that help the client and coach work their way towards the client’s biggest life goals.

But how do we determine what these BIG LIFE GOALS are/should be? This process is based on a personal vision of one’s ideal self. When you close your eyes and imagine yourself 10, 25, 50 (depending on your age, of course) years down the road, what do you see/feel/experience? What are you doing? Who are you with? How do you feel- physically, emotionally, relationally, intellectually, and spiritually? To get there, we need to go through a change process, a big growth experience (or maybe several), no?!? To do so successfully, we focus on potential rather than impossibility, positives rather than negatives, success rather than failure. In other words, on a continuum, it doesn’t mean bringing you from -5 to 0, but from 0 to +5 (or higher)! In essence, it means helping you thrive and flourish rather than survive. This may sound like a huge undertaking, but people are doing it SUCCESSFULLY! That’s what positive psychology coaching gets you.

I don’t know about you, but I still have a lot of living to do! I want to coach hundreds of people and learn from your life experiences. I long to travel the world with my husband. I wish to spend as much time with my grown children as possible. I strive to build a sustainable exercise regimen (that I actually grow to enjoy). I hope to take on several new hobbies. I’m excited to cuddle with our new puppy and kitten. The list goes on…

How about you? What do you see/envision for your future?

Does this sound like something you’d like to add to your life? How can you best do so?

To get started on your reflection, read my blogs on character strengths.

You are likely quite familiar with the field of psychology. But when, why, and how ‘positive psychology’ came to be is an interesting topic to consider!

Positive psychology is the study of the conditions and processes that contribute to the flourishing or optimal functioning of people and groups.

Although the practice of positive psychology is a relatively new subfield of psychology, its philosophical roots stretch back to ancient times. Aristotle believed that the highest form of being originated when humans ‘do the right thing/act morally’ and that people derive happiness by doing so. He emphasized the necessity of working on oneself every day in order to become self-actualized. His concern with happiness, intellectual and moral virtues, and the good life was called eudaimonia, or happiness in Greek. Other core elements of positive psychology such as mindfulness can be traced back to Eastern religious and spiritual traditions including Hinduism and Buddhism.

Psychology originally developed from the study of the brain, neurological system, cognition, and behavior and their interplay with cause and treatment for psychopathology and mental illness. This is often referred to as the disease model. Many treatments during the early decades of the 1900s involved the traumatic psychological injury of military personnel during the First and Second World Wars. Some psychologists disliked these clinical practices as they did not allow professionals to act compassionately and empathically toward their patients. During the 1950s, in response to areas lacking between Freud’s Psychoanalytic Theory and Skinner’s Behaviorism, researchers developed humanistic psychology. Distinguishing itself from current practices, humanistic psychology championed the holistic study of persons as biopsychosocial beings. The biopsychosocial approach considers the interconnectedness of biological, psychological, and social-environmental influences on health and overall wellbeing.

Much scientific research has been conducted regarding the ancient practices of enlightenment and self-actualization described above. A few contributors get the most attention for this work. Self-actualization was coined by theorist Kurt Goldstein ‘for the purpose of being able to realize one’s full potential’. Carl Rogers described ‘man’s tendency to actualize himself to become his potentialities’ is to express and activate all one is capable of. Perhaps most well-known for his use of the term self-actualization is Abraham Maslow, however. In Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, he writes that “self-actualization is the highest level of psychological development, where personal potential is fully realized after basic bodily and ego needs have been fulfilled.” Maslow argued that self-actualization gives the individual a desire or motivation to achieve one’s ambitions and is commonly interpreted as ‘the full realization of one’s potential/true self.’

Maslow believed that self-actualizing individuals embodied a long list of positive qualities, allowing them to achieve this state. Having concluded that humanistic psychology was incapable of explaining all aspects of human experience, he identified various mystical, ecstatic, and spiritual states known aspeak experiences occurring beyond self-actualization. During the 1960s Maslow (with Fadiman, Frankel, Grof, Murphy, Sutich, and Vich), founded the school of transpersonal psychology, proposing that psychology’s preoccupation with disorder and dysfunction lacked an accurate understanding of human potential and incorporating these more existential belief systems into the mix.

Simultaneously Dr. Martin Seligman, known for introducing the world to the theory of learned helplessness, found that other characteristics could also be learned. Learned optimism became the groundwork for his widely administered resilience programs for children. In 1998, Seligman proposed a new subfield of psychology with a focus on what is life-giving rather than life-depleting. The foundational paper of this new field, positive psychology, was published in 2000 by Seligman and Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, bringing to light research on newer concepts such as flourishing and flow. Since then, positive psychology scholars have continued to study topics such as attachment, optimism, love, emotional intelligence, and intrinsic motivation. Others began researching areas of human experience about which there was very little published research before the year 2000, such as gratitude, forgiveness, awe, inspiration, hope, curiosity, and laughter.

Well, that’s a very brief summary of how positive psychology came to be. What questions and comments do you have? If you want to learn more about current research in positive psychology, read my blogs,

The Intrigue of Positive Psychology and Why You Should Make It a Part of Your Life, Parts 1 and 2!

(You can read the first part of this two-part article here)

Early Theory and Concepts

Although sometimes called a soft science or pseudoscience, positive psychology is indeed a science, and perhaps most aptly, a social science. A subfield of psychology, positive psychology is based on the scientific evidence pertaining to what makes life worth living.

A newer science, much of the research published in the field has come out during this century. Christopher Peterson (University of Michigan) outlines the early theories and concepts, which include:

• Happiness is one of the causes of the good things in life, and the good life can be taught.
• Happiness, character strengths, and good social relationships buffer us against disappointments and setbacks.
• In terms of what makes life worth living, other people matter, as does religion/spirituality for many, and engagement in purposeful, meaningful work.
• After a certain point, money has diminishing returns on our happiness, but we can buy some happiness by spending money on other people.
• Most good days include feeling a sense of autonomy, competence, and connection to others.

Focus of Positive Psychology

Positive psychology focuses on the positive events and influences in life, defined as:

1. Positive experiences (like happiness, joy, inspiration, and love)
2. Positive states and traits (like gratitude, resilience, and compassion)
3. Positive institutions (applying positive principles to entire organizations)

As a field, positive psychology research is dedicated to topics like character strengths, life satisfaction, wellbeing, (self) compassion, hope, and elevation. These topics are studied to learn how to help people flourish and live our best lives.

Benefits of Positive Psychology

In general, the greatest potential benefit of positive psychology is that it teaches us the power of shifting our perspective. It has been found that relatively small changes in perspective can lead to astounding shifts in wellbeing and overall quality of life. For example, injecting a bit more optimism and gratitude into our life is a simple action that can provide a radically more positive outlook on life. Likewise, a growth mindset has been found to help people reframe negative reactions to failure. Growth leads to all kinds of positive emotions, including curiosity, hope, courage, and creativity. So, we are not ignoring the negatives that are bound to occur, but rather using the experience of them to help us develop tools to practice mindfulness, optimism, and new learning.

Newer findings provide concrete ideas for improving our quality of life.

Connections between money and happiness:

• Spending money on other people results in greater happiness for the giver (Dunn, Aknin, & Norton, 2008).
• Spending money on experiences provides a bigger boost to happiness than spending money on material possessions (Howell & Hill, 2009).
• People overestimate the impact of money on their happiness. Although it has some influence, not nearly as much as we might think. Therefore, focusing less on attaining wealth will likely make you happier (Aknin, Norton, & Dunn, 2009).

Connections between our treatment of others and happiness:

• Happiness is contagious; those with happy friends and significant others are more likely to be happy in the future (Fowler & Christakis, 2008).
• People who perform acts of kindness towards others not only get a boost in wellbeing, but they are also more accepted by their peers (Layous, Nelson, Oberle, Schonert-Reichl, & Lyubomirsky, 2012).
• Volunteering time to a cause you believe in improves your wellbeing and life satisfaction. It may even reduce symptoms of depression (Jenkinson et al., 2013).

Connections between other positive emotions and happiness:

• Gratitude is a big contributor to happiness in life, suggesting that the more we cultivate gratitude, the happier we will be (Seligman, Steen, Park, & Peterson, 2005).
• Oxytocin may provoke greater trust, empathy, and morality in humans, meaning that giving hugs or other shows of physical affection may give a boost to your overall wellbeing (Barraza & Zak, 2009).
• “Putting on a happy face” won’t necessarily make you feel happier, but putting in a little bit of effort likely will (Scott & Barnes, 2011).

Connections between positive emotions and job performance:

• Positive emotions are contagious, which means one positive person or team can have a ripple effect that extends through the entire organization.
• Small, simple actions can have a big impact on our happiness; it therefore doesn’t take much to encourage your workplace to become a happier/more positive place (Kjerulf, 2016).

How do YOU intend to make positive psychology a part of YOUR LIFE today?

Simply put, “Positive psychology is the scientific study of what makes life most worth living” (Peterson, 2008).

In a few more words Peterson states (2008),

Positive psychology is a scientific approach to studying human thoughts, feelings, and behavior, with a focus on strengths instead of weaknesses, building the good in life instead of repairing the bad, and taking the lives of average people up to “great” instead of focusing solely on moving those who are struggling up to “normal”.

Dr. Martin Seligman is often called the Father of Positive Psychology. But to many, he is one of the leading researchers in the whole field of psychology. Seligman created an evidence-based model to explore optimal human functioning and lasting wellbeing. Positive psychology focuses on helping individuals use their character strengths to identify their vision of what they want and turn it into reality. The basic idea is that to work towards a state of contentment, we must first understand how a pleasant, engaged, and meaningful life looks. Seligman originally believed in doing so by highlighting individual strengths and leveraging them to help people achieve their personal definition of happiness. Instead of using happiness, he now refers more frequently to flourishing, which he and other researchers have found to be more easily measured. Seligman also added accomplishment to his early definition of positive psychology, claiming that most people seek to feel a sense of achievement in order to function optimally.

One of the benefits of practicing a positive psychological outlook is SUCCESS! Not only does success make us happier, but feeling happy and experiencing positive emotions actually increases our chances of success.

(Lyubomirsky, King, & Diener, 2005).

More On the Founder: Martin Seligman

You might have heard of Dr. Seligman, as his research formed the foundation for the theory of learned helplessness during the 1960s and 70s. Learned helplessness explains how humans and animals can learn to become helpless and feel they have lost control over what happens to them. Seligman connected this phenomenon with depression, noting that many people suffering from depression feel helpless as well. His work on the subject provided inspiration, ideas, and evidence to back up many treatments for depressive symptoms, as well as strategies for preventing depression. Tired of the negative bent of the psychology research conducted at the time, Seligman reasoned that, if helplessness can be learned, so too should positive traits like optimism. He believed that if helplessness encourages depression, so too may optimism encourage resilience. He was right! Seligman’s findings became the groundwork for his resilience programs administered widely to children and members of the military.

In 1998, Seligman was elected president of the American Psychological Association. He proposed a new subfield of psychology with a focus on what is life-giving rather than life-depleting. The foundational paper of this new field, positive psychology, was published in 2000 by Seligman and the “founding father” of flow, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. Since 2000, thousands of researchers around the world have established a base for the application of positive principles to coaching, teaching, relationships, work, and other life domains.

*This is the first of two parts for this article. Please continue reading Part 2 of this article here.