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Bibliografische Daten
ISBN/EAN: 9781119996965
Sprache: Englisch
Umfang: 320 S., 6.33 MB
Auflage: 1. Auflage 2011
E-Book
Format: EPUB
DRM: Adobe DRM

Beschreibung

Why do some people achieve greater success and happiness than others? The key is positive psychology.

For most of its history, psychology has focused mainly on the darker side of human behaviour - depression, anxiety, psychosis and psychopathic behaviour. In 1998, Martin Seligman became president of the American Psychological Association and inspired a movement to focus on the positives in human behaviour.

Positive Psychology For Dummies:

Taps into the burgeoning media focus on happiness and positive mental attitudeProvides key information on the origins, theory, methods, practitioners and results of positive psychologyDemonstrates how to understand what makes you tick, how to hone positive emotions and how to use positive philosophy for success in both your personal and working lives.Is perfect for a wide audience, from those wanting to get more out of their life, to psychology students or counsellors

About the author

Gladeana McMahon is co-author ofPerformance Coaching For Dummies. She is regarded as one of the UKs top ten coaches.Averil Leimon is co-author ofPerformance Coaching For Dummies. She is a business psychologist and a leading UK leadership coach.

Autorenportrait

Averil Leimon is a leadership psychologist and international business coach who uses positive psychology on a daily basis. She is a founder member of the Association for Coaching and is one of the top ten coaches in the UK. Gladeana McMahon is a leading transformational and personal development coach and Vice President and Life Fellow of the Association for Coaching. She was named as one of the UK's top ten coaches by the Independent on Sunday and Sunday Observer.

Inhalt

Introduction 1

About This Book 1

Conventions Used in This Book 2

Foolish Assumptions 2

How This Book Is Organised 3

Part I: Getting to Grips: Introducing Positive Psychology 3

Part II: Doing the Time Warp: Past, Present and Future 3

Part III: What Positive Psychology Can Do For You 4

Part IV: Positive Psychology in the Real World 4

Part V: The Part of Tens 4

Icons Used in This Book 4

Where to Go from Here 5

Part I: Getting to Grips: Introducing Positive Psychology 7

Chapter 1: Always Look on the Bright Side of Life 9

Putting the Positive in Psychology 9

Looking for a message 9

Being authentically happy 10

Building an evidence-based case 10

Measuring the good, the bad and the ugly 12

Living a positive life 12

Studying positive psychology 13

Having positive experiences 13

Recognising positive traits 15

Building positive relationships 16

Constructing positive institutions 16

Making It Worth Your While 19

Benefiting from positivity 19

Chapter 2: Why Being Healthy, Well and Happy is a Really Good Idea 21

Reaping the Health Benefits 21

A happy heart 22

Living the positive life 23

Building immunity 24

Assisting angry Andrew 26

Creating healthy habits 27

Living with Satisfaction 28

Becoming a well individual 28

Building societies with wellbeing 28

AIMing for Happiness 32

Attending to the good stuff 33

Interpreting for the best 34

Memorising effectively 35

Part II: Doing the Time Warp: Past, Present and Future 37

Chapter 3: Tackling the Past 39

Dealing with the Past 39

Mapping old issues 40

Letting go forgiving if not forgetting 41

Knowing How to be Grateful 46

Giving thanks 47

Counting your blessings 48

Adopting a Childlike Approach 50

Being how you want to be 50

Choosing the best life 50

Chapter 4: Living in the Present 53

Dancing in the Moment 53

Creating your own energy 53

The Johari Window 54

Being mindful 56

Laying ghosts 59

Getting Into the Flow 62

Being in the zone 62

Boosting happiness and fulfilment 64

Chapter 5: Planning for the Future 65

Looking Forward Joyfully 66

Anticipating the best 70

Making positive thoughts happen 70

Developing Optimism 71

Taking the thinking questionnaire 71

Thinking positively 74

Perfect-world thinking 75

Behaving constructively 76

Focusing on What Matters 77

Sorting out priorities 78

Ditching the unimportant 79

Leaving a Legacy 80

Living with a purpose 80

Making your mark on the world 81

Putting it all together 82

Part III: What Positive Psychology can do for you 83

Chapter 6: Finding Pleasure in Life 85

What Is Pleasure? 85

The law of diminishing returns 87

Breaking free from the materialist trap 89

Finding Real Pleasures 91

Celebrating the ordinary 91

Indulging in simple pleasures 92

Having a beautiful day 93

Sleepwalking through Life 93

Waking up to smell the roses 94

Taking stock of experiences 97

Chapter 7: Engaging in Life: Using your Signature Strengths 99

Analysing Your Signature Strengths 99

Appreciating your strengths 100

Understanding your strengths 100

Considering your weaknesses 102

Playing To Your Strengths 103

Identifying your strengths and virtues 103

Using your signature strengths daily 110

Shoring up your weaknesses 111

Finding Strengths in Others 111

Recognising other peoples virtues 111

Chapter 8: Developing Meaning in Life 113

Is This All There Is? 114

Rising above the humdrum 115

Making your mark on the world 116

Something Bigger Than Yourself 117

Connecting with others 117

Making a real difference 120

Chapter 9: Becoming your Best 123

Keeping Yourself Afloat 123

Sources of resilience 124

Getting through 126

Building your personal model of resilience 128

Having Fun 128

Looking for joy in your life 129

Living humorously 129

Living Confidently 131

Thinking Constructively 132

Listening to the voices 133

Building firm beliefs 133

Taking Gratitude Further 134

Seeing things afresh 135

Practising thankfulness 136

Experiencing Engagement 136

The big five strengths 136

Having self-respect and pride 137

Making Your Life Count 137

Choosing your destiny 138

Living up to your values 138

Chapter 10: Staying Healthy with Positive Psychology 141

Living Like It Matters 141

The healthy life checklist 142

Developing positive good health 143

Changing positively: The four-stage change model 144

Building a personal happiness programme 147

Overcoming Stress 149

Understanding stress 149

Taking a perspective on life, yourself and others 153

Building your resources 155

Learning to bounce back 156

Part IV: Positive Psychology in the Real World 157

Chapter 11: Making Relationships Work 159

Getting to Know You 159

Avoiding relationship pitfalls 161

Acknowledging and using each others signature strengths 162

Using Positive Communication 164

Taking the emotionally smart approach 164

Recognising your own feelings 165

Picking up on the non-verbal signs 166

Setting the climate control 168

Keeping talking 169

Looking at you, me and us 171

Investing Your Time 172

Planning the perfect date 172

Celebrating together 173

Creating carefree holidays 173

Building great friendships 174

Chapter 12: Becoming a Positive Parent 177

Making Happiness a Habit 177

Pleasing yourself! 178

Being engaged 180

Finding meaning 182

Measuring Family Strengths 183

Recognising the best in each other 185

Defining the key elements of a happy family 190

Being the Best Parent You Can Be 192

Facing the good, the bad and the ugly of parenting 194

Being a great step-parent 195

Making Happy Children 196

Celebrating success 196

Building positive rituals 198

Avoiding excessive materialism 199

Chapter 13: Embracing the Extended Family 201

Building Family Networks 201

Making connections 202

Getting On with the In-Laws 203

Seeing the best 205

Reaching a compromise 207

Acknowledging the Elderly 207

Developing wisdom 209

Recognising change 210

Extending the Family 211

Chapter 14: Understanding Why Work Matters 213

Providing a Structure 213

Discovering how work can make you happy 214

Using your time productively 216

Right time, right focus 219

Being a Shining Star! 219

Considering you at your best 220

Sharing the limelight 221

Chapter 15: Being your Best in the Workplace 225

Knowing Your Work Strengths 225

Learning from the past 228

Swapping round pegs and square holes 229

Using your work strengths in unlikely settings 230

Using Your Strengths Meaningfully 231

Novel ways of using your strengths 232

Measuring and Increasing Your Flow 233

Knowing Your Signature Strengths 235

Getting the Team Working Well 238

Recognising strengths in others 238

Using other peoples strengths to make whats good even better 238

Flourishing versus languishing teams 239

Reviewing resilience questions 242

Part V: The Part of Tens 245

Chapter 16: Ten Top Activities 247

Developing Gratitude 247

Recognising Your Blessings 248

Creating a Beautiful Day 249

Learning to Worry Well 249

Half An Hour a Day 249

My Worry Journal 250

Being Me at My Best 251

Using Sentence Completion 251

Recognising Different Facets of Yourself 254

Discovering Your Purpose 255

Learning to Be Optimistic (ABCDE) 255

Undertaking Deliberate Acts of Kindness 256

Chapter 17: Ten Useful Resources 259

www.authentichappiness.sas.upenn.edu 259

www.centreforconfi dence.co.uk 259

www.cappeu.org 260

www.ippanetwork.org 260

www.positivepsychology.net 260

www.dalailamacenter.org 260

Authentic Happiness byMartin E. P. Seligman, Ph.D 260

Happiness: Unlocking the Mysteries of Psychological Wealth byEd Diener andRobert Biswas Diener 261

Character Strengths and Virtues byChristopher Peterson andMartin E.P. Seligman 261

Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience byMihaly Csikzentmihalyi 261

Chapter 18: Ten Positive Inspirations 263

Pay it Forward (film, 2000) 264

Its a Wonderful Life (film, 1946) 264

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (film, 2007) 264

Thank you for being a Friend,Andrew Gold (song, 1978) 265

My Way,Frank Sinatra (song, 1969) 265

Lean on Me,Bill Withers, (song, 1972) 265

The Prophet, byKhalil Ghibran (book, 1998) 265

Random Acts of Kindness: 365 Ways to Make the World aNicer Place, byDanny Wallace (book, 2004) 266

Who Moved My Cheese, bySpencer Jones (book, 1998) 266

The Art of Happiness: A handbook for Living, by His Holiness theDalai Lama andHoward C. Cutler, (book, 1999) 267

Index 269

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