Report from IPPA Conference, Day 2

Day two of the 2nd Congress of the International Positive Psychology Association was simply amazing.  I learned SO much!  At one point I laughed to my friend “Teacher!  My brain is full!”  Here’s a report of the day’s events:

It began with Ed Deci speaking about self-determination and its relationship to positive psychology – in other words: the self-fulfilling prophecy.  He showed scientific proof that believing that you are doomed and things will never get better can actually bring that about.  Using a simple analogy (of my own), if one is drowning and they really don’t think anyone will come to rescue them, they can behave based on this belief by not paddling and dying before help could arrive.  But Deci really wowed the crowd when he reported that studies repeatedly proved that external rewards kill off intrinsic motivation.  For instance, when we try to control our children either by giving them a reward for doing well (the carrot) or punishing them when they do not do well (the stick), we inadvertently are hindering our child’s innate love of learning!  You can bet I will be blogging more about this. Continue reading Report from IPPA Conference, Day 2

Be As Kind To Yourself As You Would a Stranger

Do you say or think things to yourself that you would never give yourself permission to say out loud to another person? Why?

The Language of Love

If you said “I love you” in Chinese, your mate may not understand what you said. Take that analogy and apply it to how we say “I love you” in our behavior. Are you and your mate speaking the same love language?

Take Responsibility For Your Happiness

A must for harnessing your Happiness is taking responsibility for it.

YOU Can Make a Positive Difference

One person has the ability to make a huge difference. You already made a difference – is it a positive one?

Assertiveness and Its Relationship to Happiness

The goal of true assertiveness is not to assert your will upon another – which is more the “I win, you lose” scenario (aggression), but to look for the win/win solution.

Forgiveness

Forgiveness: What is it? What is it NOT? How, specifically do we forgive?