Fact: religion increases happiness. But if you are not a religious person, can you get the positive benefits of religion? Read on to find out more… If you are interested in learning in positive psychology the way that I am you may wonder if gratitude, happiness, and wellbeing are more likely for people who are … Read more
Gratitude has for most of its history remained a discussion topics of pastors. As a growing field of science is starting to show, the benefits of cultivating an attitude of gratitude are very real and can be enjoyed outside a religious context. This page summarizes at a high level the prominent research in the field, and provides a link … Read more
Do you have a hobby or activity that relaxes you? I’m not talking TV relax – I’m talking dissolving muscle aches and destroying headaches relax. I’m not talking unwind or vegetate – I’m talking parasympathetic nervous system activation, slower breathing, and alpha waves. For the past eight years, I didn’t – I suffered from untreatable headaches. They were a constant companion. … Read more
Using a sample recruited through the Authentic Happiness website, the authors of the study wanted to compare the effectiveness of five different happiness techniques, each delivered via the internet. The five techniques chosen were: gratitude visit, three good things in life, you at your best, using signature strengths in a new way, and identifying signature strengths. The Steen Happiness Index … Read more
Are you full of zest? I hope so – it’s the character strength second most correlated with well-being. (Hope is #1). Positive psychologists use the following 3 survey questions to estimate a person’s level of zest. For each question, a 1-5 scale is used, where 1 = strongly agree, 3 = neutral, and 5 = … Read more
This article will show you how to create an indented, pretty navigation menu, exactly like the one below, which I used for my post – The 31 Benefits of Gratitude: Personality 7. More Optimistic 8. Less Materialistic 9. More Spiritual 10. Less Self-Centered 11. More Self-Esteem Health 12. Better Sleep 13. Keeps The Doctor Away … Read more
In the past two weeks I’ve made a number of changes that I’ve been putting off for years. The biggest change is that I exercise my willpower to failure every day. As I talked about yesterday, I didn’t suddenly discover a willpower secret or lasting source of inspiration. Over the past three months, I have … Read more
Are you a gambler; do you like to take unrealistic chances? I’m guessing you said ‘no’ to that question. Are you optimistic; not all the time, but on balance? If you said “yes” to this question but “no” to the first, I’m going to call you out. Optimism is a blind man’s gamble. Cultivate optimism. That’s advice … Read more
As a reader of this blog, can I assume that you want to increase your levels of happiness and overall life performance? If so, ‘good’ sleep is not optional. Do you think you get ‘good’ sleep? According to a poll by the National Sleep Foundation, less than 37% of Americans routinely get high-quality sleep.1 I … Read more
Is Omega-3 the silver bullet of supplementation? It’s potential effects are vast, from improving cholesterol numbers, reducing the risk of developing diabetes, reducing inflammation, preventing renal disease, assisting in weight loss, increasing muscle growth, reducing stress, improving cognition, and boosting mood.1 But don’t let the hype confuse you. There are conflicting studies (a lot of them, actually); they just don’t get … Read more