By invited author Robert Biswas-Diener
A quick look at the shelves in any major bookstore will convince you that positive psychologists have no trouble getting the word out about their exciting new science. Each year literally dozens of titles are published on happiness, meaning and living a better life. Because it is rooted in empirical study Positive Psychology has given the self-help market a much needed scientific makeover. One conspicuous hole in all this new information, however, is a more engaging way of presenting material. Reading books- even best sellers—is inherently a passive activity.
With this in mind a group of top names in Positive Psychology created a series of workbooks designed to allow readers to engage more fully with the material. These workbooks, including titles such as Invitation to Positive Psychology, Positive Motivation and Positively Happy, are written by recognized authorities on the topic. Each workbook, weighing in at more than 100 pages long, is full of reflective exercises and suggested activities that allow readers to go “beyond the books” and actually use this dynamic material in their own lives. Readers gain not only background information on the science but also practical tips, opportunities to step back and take stock of their goals and experiments they can try in an effort to craft a better life.
Learn more about these workbooks.
happier.com is a personal trainer for your happiness. With more than a dozen tools and tests to help you measure, track and improve your happiness, you can trust the happier.com experts to help you reach your goals. Exclusive videos and a popular blog mean there’s something new to learn every day. Download the free iPhone application or find what you’re looking for with the Positive Psychology Practitioner Directory. happier.com is on Facebook, LinkedIn, and twitter and has meetup groups in Washington, Philadelphia, and Portland, with more planned. Click here for a social media press release from our launch.
The last ten years of research have lead to a host of surprising findings about the science of happiness. Meet Dr. Robert Biswas-Diener, a researcher and instructor known as “The Indiana Jones of Positive Psychology” for his work on happiness in far-flung locations. Robert will share some of his most surprising findings in the science of happiness, and he’ll share the best ways to scientifically-improve happiness. Robert is being hosted by happierPortland.com, a meetup group for people interested in positive psychology and the science of happiness. This is the first meeting of happierPortland, which is being held after similar get-togethers in Philadelphia (happierPhilly.com), New York (happierNYC.com) and Washington, DC (happierDC.com).
Robert Biswas-Diener, D. Phil., is Program Director for the Centre for Applied Positive Psychology and a part-time instructor at Portland State University. He is widely known as the “Indiana Jones of Positive Psychology” because his research has taken him to such far-flung destinations as Greenland, Kenya and India where he has studied the happiness of often-overlooked groups such as Amish farmers, tribal people and sex workers. Robert’s research focuses on the intricate interplay between money, culture and happiness. He is on the editorial board of the Journal of Positive Psychology, the Journal of Happiness Studies, and is the associate editor of Journal of Personality. Robert is co-author of Happiness: Unlocking the mysteries of psychological wealth (2008), which won the 2008 PROSE Award.
In addition to his research on well-being Robert is also a thought leader in the application of positive psychological science. Robert is a Certified Mentor Coach and has conducted positive psychology trainings for therapists, coaches, managers and consultants in Iceland, Denmark, England, Scotland, Turkey, South Africa, Israel, India, Canada and the United States. He is author of the book Positive Psychology Coaching (2007) and the forthcoming Practicing Positive Psychology Coaching (2010)
Positive Psychology practitioners will particularly enjoy this opportunity to network, share best-practices, and learn from one of the leaders in the field. And your clients are welcome to attend this free event — in other cities, coaches and consultants have suggested clients attend these meetups, to great success.
Multnomah County Central Library
U.S. Bank Room (Ground Floor)
801 SW 10th Ave
Portland, OR 97205
Sunday, 11/22, 3-4:30pm
No charge.
View happierPortland.com November Meetup in a larger map
RSVP required, at http://happierPortland.com
Questions? Contact the happierPortland host, Andrew Rosenthal: andrew.rosenthal@happier.com; 215.629.9210 x 3.
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happier.com is a personal trainer for your happiness. With more than a dozen tools and tests to help you measure, track and improve your happiness, you can trust the happier.com experts to help you reach your goals. Exclusive videos and a popular blog mean there’s something new to learn every day. Download the free iPhone application or find what you’re looking for with the Positive Psychology Practitioner Directory. happier.com is on Facebook, LinkedIn, and twitter and has meetup groups in Washington, Philadelphia, and Portland, with more planned. Click here for a social media press release from our launch.
Several years ago I had a Vice President who was full of energy and optimism. He was also very kind and had an “open door” policy where he was more than willing to chat with any one of the several hundred employees in his group about anything. In fact, you could talk to him about anything and he always seemed to have time for you.
I don’t know if he ever took the VIA Survey, but I would guess that some of his top strengths were:
- Hope, optimism, and future-mindedness
- Creativity, ingenuity, and originality
- Forgiveness and mercy
- Curiosity and interest in the world
In fact, he knew his strengths and he used them often – unfortunately, too often. And, while he was a very likeable person, he was a pretty ineffective leader. He consistently did not acknowledge risks or issues. He loved creative ideas but was easily bored with operational issues. He rarely fired anyone for poor performance. In addition, he really didn’t know how to adapt to situations. He continued to use his top strengths even when he wasn’t getting results. His organization eventually fell into disarray.
In recent years, we have heard the experts tell us to use our strengths. And, Robert Biswas-Diener wrote a great post about using our strengths in the ‘right’ situations. But, how do we know when we’re over-using a strength?
Unfortunately, I think over-used strengths usually represent a blind spot. That is, they’re difficult to recognize. Remember, using a strength usually feels good. We are engaged when we are doing something that we’re good at and we frequently go into a state of flow where time stands still. This can lead to situations where we lose our self-awareness.
Try these two strategies to examine the use of your own strengths:
- Look at situations where your initial thoughts were that you performed at a high level but the results did not follow. Did you misjudge the reactions of others? Did you miss some cues? List your top strengths and see if any of them actually contributed to the poor outcome.
- Ask for some feedback from people who know you well AND are not afraid to tell you the truth (that second part is VERY important). Take the VIA Survey to identify your top strengths. Share this list with your friend(s) and ask if you rely on these too much.
In the end, don’t abandon your strengths. The research shows that use of your strengths can lead to lasting happiness. Just try to exercise a little more self-awareness and consider the situation.
happier.com is a personal trainer for your happiness. With more than a dozen tools and tests to help you measure, track and improve your happiness, you can trust the happier.com experts to help you reach your goals. Exclusive videos and a popular blog mean there’s something new to learn every day. Download the free iPhone application or find what you’re looking for with the Positive Psychology Practitioner Directory. happier.com is on Facebook, LinkedIn, and twitter and has meetup groups in Washington, Philadelphia, and Portland, with more planned. Click here for a social media press release from our launch.
By invited author Robert Biswas-Diener
1. Use Your Strengths Less!
Although, at first blush, this is a counter-intuitive piece of advice it makes a lot of sense. Our strengths interact with situations and may or may not be appropriate to every circumstance. When i work with coaching clients I find there is often as much traction in dialing down a particularly strength as there is in accentuating another. At CAPP we think of this as “the right strength, in the right amount, at the right time.” This is what Barry Schwartz says about wisdom– it is a “meta-strength” and tells you when and how to regulate the other strengths.
2. Use the Strengths You Didn’t Know You Had!
Most folks are pretty aware of what they might consider their “top 5″– that is, those strengths they commonly employ to good effect. These are the things we all receive compliments on and we know well. But what about unrealised strengths? At CAPP, we think of these as natural strengths that are energizing and which lead to maximal effectiveness, but which you are not currently using. The Realise2 strengths assessment distinguishes between realised and unrealised strengths. This latter group is ripe for development.
3. Swap Your Strengths and Your Learned Behaviors for Increased Energy!
Your learned behaviors are those skills you have adopted, perahps becuase your job or relationships have required it. You tend to be good at these behaviors and they help you enjoy the success you have. Unfortuantely, becuase they are not natural to you they can require extra effort and leave you deflated at the end of the day. The Realise2 also distinguishes Learned behaviors. At CAPP we emphasize that while you may not be able to do without some of these you might want to practice moderating their use so that you are not drained by them.
4. Use Your Strengths to Target Your Weaknesses!
Don’t give weaknesses lip service…. actually deal with them. Your weaknesses are like a leak in a boat, you have to manage them or you will sink. Fortunately, you can employ your strengths in a variety of ways to accomplish this. You might use your strengths to compensate for or overcome your weaknesses; you might use your strengths to find collaborations with others that better address your weaknesses; you might use your strengths to make your weaknesses irrelevant.
5. Challenge Ben Franklin!
Okay, so Ben adopted a strengths a week and rotated through his core aspirations over the course of weeks and years. he got so good at it that his friends couldn’t shut him up and recommended he add “humility” to the mix! What about you? Can you rotate through your “top 5″; choosing one a week as a theme through which you view problems, setbacks, decisions and plans?
6. Strengths spotting
Recognizing strengths in yourself may come easily for folks who use happier.com, but what about others, for whom the vocabulary of strengths is a bit more…. foreign? You can gain traction by labeling every instance of a strength or passion you see in others. Be vigilant for that straight posture, increased gesturing, more fluid speech, use of metaphor and brighter facial expressions. Point out and label each strength as you see it in play. But be forwarned, the larger your own strengths vocabulary is, the more you will be able to spot in your friends, clients and colleagues.
happier.com is a personal trainer for your happiness. With more than a dozen tools and tests to help you measure, track and improve your happiness, you can trust the happier.com experts to help you reach your goals. Exclusive videos and a popular blog mean there’s something new to learn every day. Download the free iPhone application or find what you’re looking for with the Positive Psychology Practitioner Directory. happier.com is on Facebook, LinkedIn, and twitter and has meetup groups in Washington, Philadelphia, and Portland, with more planned. Click here for a social media press release from our launch.
© Alex Linley 2008
Use your strengths less!
Post by invited guest contributor Robert Biswas-Diener
For most people, using strengths is second nature. We are all naturally inclined to gravitate toward situations in which we will excel and we tend to leverage our best abilities for greater achievement. In fact, using strengths can seem so obvious a strategy for success that some people avoid working on strengths altogether! For these people, it seems sensible to focus on weaknesses for the pursuit of personal growth.
In recent years, however, a growing body of research suggests that working with your strengths can be a strategy for success. For example, the most successful managers tend to spend disproportionately more time with their top producers relatively to their lowest producers. In addition, engaging personal strengths is associated with more intrinsic motivation and, therefore, more happiness. I have even seen how much more effective I am as an instructor when I focus on my students at Portland State University who are in the C, B and A range.
What this line of research has translated to—where positive psychology is concerned—is a push toward “using your strengths more.” I have seen blog posts encouraging folks to use their strengths more and attended trainings that promote the same approach. While there is nothing inherently wrong with this advice it may not be the entire story. What most people forget is that, as individuals, we interact with the world around us. Although strengths are a natural part of us, our strengths interact with situations and circumstances. Simply put, not all strengths are appropriate to every situation. Sometimes using a strength less, rather than more, can help you be far more effective and result in greater satisfaction!
This week try gaining more mastery of your strengths by thinking about the most appropriate way to use them. As you consider the challenges and circumstances of the near future which of your strengths do you think you can put into play more, and which might you want to dial back? If you have a particularly good story about overusing a strength, feel free to e-mail me.
happier.com is a personal trainer for your happiness. With more than a dozen tools and tests to help you measure, track and improve your happiness, you can trust the happier.com experts to help you reach your goals. Exclusive videos and a popular blog mean there’s something new to learn every day. Download the free iPhone application or find what you’re looking for with the Positive Psychology Practitioner Directory. happier.com is on Facebook, LinkedIn, and twitter and has meetup groups in Washington, Philadelphia, and Portland, with more planned. Click here for a social media press release from our launch.
