The benefits of nature An article published last year on the website of Scientific American magazine asked and sought to address the question of whether city life poses a risk to mental health. While it is impossible to offer a definitive answer to such a question, there is a wealth of research evidence which suggests…
Mindset theory A recurring feature in this series has been the highlighting of the proposition that our attitude and how we think can have a strong bearing on our decision-making, with any consistent tendencies on that front capable of impacting strongly on the direction of our lives. Recognising that how we see the world can…
Happiness & introverts – Part 2 Last time, we highlighted the popular tendency in media coverage of psychological research on happiness to focus on what works for extraverts and to brush over the fact that these strategies might not yield the desired results for introverts. In fairness to the media, this trend is not evidence…
Blog #39 – Happiness & introverts A few years ago, I was giving a lecture on what behaviours and traits research tells us are most linked with higher levels of happiness when one of the students present raised a hand and indicated that she had a question. I had been going through the typical list…
Blog #38 – Resilience As made clear in our most recent posts, having a sense of purpose and meaning is undoubtedly a good thing and has been associated with many positive health outcomes, as well as achievement in various areas of life. We can think of purpose and meaning as the fuel that gets us…
Blog #37 – Meaning and purpose II Last time, we focused on the importance of cultivating a sense of purpose and meaning in life as it relates to individual well-being. We concluded by referring to Russell Grieger’s three-step process designed to help individuals identify and act on their true ‘passionate purpose’, with the first two…
Blog #36 – Meaning and purpose It should not surprise that this series regularly refers back to the ‘three happy lives’, first elaborated on in one of our earliest posts, as the ideas expressed therein resonate with just any topic you can think of related to happiness and well-being. Without engaging in a lengthy…
Blog #35 – Making a difference in the workplace It is all well and good to make the case that the business community needs to pay more heed to well-being in the workplace, but at some point the practical implications of doing so must be tackled. In other words, all the statistics in the world…
Blog #34 – Well-being and the workplace “The wellness-at-work movement is accelerating in the U.S. at a time when employers generally are desperate to cut costs, and you have to wonder why. Employers on average will spend 15% more per employee on wellness programs this year than last… As work becomes increasingly cognitive, fast-changing, and…
Blog #32 – Money & happiness – ways to make it work The relationship between money and happiness is a topic worth lingering on, as it deals with two things that people tend to spend a lot of time (perhaps too much) thinking about. In previous posts, we have highlighted common misconceptions around the…