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Flourishing in Life, Love and Work…

I am back with more news from the field of Positive Psychology. Today’s blog will be about how Positive Psychology techniques help us in all areas of life. The research is showing us great things about why this is good and how to get there yourself.

What is the secret behind individuals who are resilient and bounce back from stress and setbacks quickly? Marriages that seem to weather all sorts of problems or business teams who excel beyond all expectations?

The common denominator, as it turns out, is the Positive to Negative ratio. We are taught how to interpret positive and negative events. Positive events drive us forward, motivate us and excite us! Negative events (as interpreted by our brains) drive fear into us, scare us and create physical reactions that signal the “fight or flight” response in our bodies.

In three areas: our health, our marriages and in our businesses, the correlations are magical! In a recent study men aged 65-84 are at a greater risk if they are less optimistic. Men who scored in the top 1/3 of the Optimism tests, had half the heart attacks than their counterparts who were less optimistic. On similar measures in marriages, the positive to negative ratios predicted successful marriages and divorces.  With regard to business, similar outcomes were found with companies who flourished and were highly successful. It is becoming very clear that the pathway to Optimism leads to increased happiness and success. Who doesn’t want that? Most people feel they are born the way they are but skills in Optimism can be taught. Ways to be happier also can be taught. Starting with small changes, we can learn to flourish in our lives and I always start with one small change and that is gratitude. Try evaluating one thing you are grateful for each day and focus on that for 3-5 minutes. You can meditate on it, write in your journal about it, tell a friend about it but just taking the time to notice it and stay in it for a moment. Cultivating this habit will help you begin to feel happier. Try it for a month and see how you feel. It helps to rate it and write it down so you have a point of comparison. Good luck!

Embrace Life Today!!

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