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The 51% Solution
Last week I was up in Philadelphia for the First World Congress on Positive Psychology. I got to meet with and learn more from the people I've been studying with for over five years, including those in my study/mastermind team.
What a joy! Many of our members were there - and for some of us it was a first time meeting. I couldn't wipe the grin off my face if I tried.
If you are a regular reader of my Tip, you know that my fascination grows almost daily with this ten year old field. The International Positive Psychology Association, the sponsor of the event had a simple elegant definition. "Positive Psychology is the scientific study of what enables individuals and communities to thrive." That's in total alignment with our mission to help create positive, customer-caring companies that thrive. And so my study continues and my work evolves to include some of the stunning finding and my clients are loving it. Let's just say that positive feedback abounds!
As is my practice, I'd like to share a little of what I learned here with you today (and will continue to share my notes on my blog when this becomes too long.) Yes, yes... I will get blogging again, this week, I promise.
One of the highlights for me was meeting Marty Seligman in person - he is the author of some 20+ books including "Learned Optimism" and "Authentic Happiness" - the one our coaching program was based on. He opened the conference. He reminded us that depression is more widespread than ever and that the onset age of depression is now 14 ½ years (as opposed to 29 years when he started his career.)
He asks the question, "What do we want for our children?" Things like happiness, well-being, fulfillment, success, good health, of course, the very things we don't teach in schools. He assured us that now, as result of these last years of intense research, that's changed. We can teach well-being, we can teach people to be happier if they choose to be, we can reverse the damaging effects of stress and we can teach organizations to thrive and prosper. And we can prove all this with random assignment placebo controlled studies. That means there is evidence that it works. It's not fluff, it's not, as a friend of mine says "all that huggy kissy stuff you teach." It's science pure and simple. Not rocket science, mind you, but science none the less. It's the science of optimal human flourishing - now how cool is that?
We now know that optimists live 7 - 9 years longer than pessimists. That's pretty significant - and we know they live healthier, happier more fulfilling lives as well. We know they make more money, have more friends, are more creative and get sick way less often. Optimism CAN be taught and can be learned and there are many evidenced based tools to prove it. The simplest and one of the most effective is this one - the "Three Good Things and Why" exercise.
Every day, as your day winds down to an end, contemplate the good things that happened to you that day. Spend a few moments savoring them and then pick three and write them down, along with the answer to the "why." Keep the answer to that question simple. Go to sleep with one of those good things on your mind, and forget about all the other things in the day, and the things you have to do tomorrow.
It's quite similar to the "Blessings Book" I recommend in my book "54 Ways to Stay Positive in a Changing, Challenging and Sometimes Negative World." What I began to notice after I started doing the exercise Marty's way (with the "why") is that many of the positive highlights of my day were things that I had planned ahead of time and scheduled on my calendar, like a visit with a friend or a long walk at the beach. It made me realize in this crazy-busy world you sometimes have to schedule pleasure in if you want it to happen.
You can use that "Three Good Things" exercise in business as well. It's a great way to start a meeting, it's a great way bring out the best in a team and find out what going right. It quite simply makes people feel good about themselves, their work and their customers when we shine the light on what is right.
(Yeah, yeah, I know you've heard me prescribe this exercise before - but are you doing it? The apple-a-day approach to life only works if you EAT the apple!)
Marty talked about VIA Strengths, positive relationships, meaning and purpose, resilience and kindness - all tools we work with in our workshops with clients. I am sure you can only imagine how happy I felt to hear him talk about the very things we use to help companies engage both employees and customers.
Okay, so I was beaming!
Then he talked about something that really lit me up - the future.
He said that psychology has - up until now - been driven by the past. What he wants for it (after all he IS the "father" of Positive Psychology, so he gets to have that opinion) is to be pulled by the future.
He talked about some of the failures of learning theory and psychoanalysis and the way they try to explain the future with the past and how we must move on to consciousness and what he called "future simulation."
Let's translate that to business. We must create a vision of our best possible future (and of course customer experience) and allow that to guide us. Pulled by the future not pushed by the past.
I love it.
When Marty was teaching his coaches Authentic Happiness he talked about his vision to raise the "tonnage of happiness on the planet." I got right on it and started incorporating my new learnings into my work and what you read here.
Last week Marty set a new ambitious goal for us. One that is specific and measurable. It's called the 51% goal. Right now, only 10 - 18% of the population is "Flourishing" (according to Felicia Huppertat Cambridge) Marty's goal for Positive Psychology is that by 205l, 51% of the world's population will be flourishing. That means all us practitioners better get moving! 51% - can you imagine what that would look like - MORE positive emotion than negative, more robust good health, more happy relationships, more creative solutions to the world's problems, more contentment, awe, love, inspiration, serenity, hope, optimism. And yes, more fun at work.
More of the good stuff, less of the bad stuff.
I'm ready, I'm on it! Are you in?
All the best,
JoAnna
PS More discussion about these things will go on in the blog www.customercaregoddess.com over the next week
And you can tell us what makes you feel good at work Feel Good at Work Factor It's our ongoing project and will eventually end in a book. Please help us write it!
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