- A Ph.D. in Positive Psychology program in announced! Starting with the most exciting news, finally a Ph.D. program in Positive Psychology is launched. It will be at Claremont Graduate University. “The Claremont Graduate University researchers involved—Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi and Jeanne Nakamura—will begin the program in the university’s School of Behavioral and Organizational Sciences this fall semester.” The press release is here, and the AP story is here.
- Eat Less, Remember More: Smartkit site. Caloric restriction can reverse memory loss? (Older news, but new to me). Check out other articles for executives here.
- Mind Over Matter: Fitness Business Pro. “New findings appearing in the February issue of Psychological Science suggests that many of the beneficial results of exercise are due to the placebo effect. Harvard Researchers studied 84 female housekeepers from seven hotels. Women in four hotels were told that their regular work was enough exercise to meet the requirements for a healthy, active lifestyle (Senia note: you think it’ll wokr if I just tell myself that?), whereas the women in the other three hotels were told nothing. … Four weeks later, the researchers returned to assess any changes in the women’s health. They found that the women in the informed group had lost an average of two pounds, lowered their blood pressure by almost 10 percent, and were healthier as measured by body-fat percentage, body mass index and waist-to-hip ratio.”
- Will Neuroscientists Be Involved in Increasingly More Court Cases?!: New York Times. This is a crazily in-depth article about what’s happened so far and what may happen in the future as criminals may be tested through fMRIs and other expensive techniques to view their brain make-up before filing their defense. This is a super-distrubing article – on all levels.
Category: ALL POSTS
created as a super-category to the subcategory __(all posts)
My Seinfeld Script: “Mr. Subliminal”
In 1998, I wrote this Seinfeld script one night out of the blue. Since today is Story Tuesday, enjoy!
TITLE: Mr. Subliminal
ELAINE interviews a prospective job candidate and JERRY buys a silk undershirt.
Scene I
JERRY at comedy club.
JERRY (on stage): You wanna know why I became a stand-up comedian?
All the other jobs had applications! – I couldn’t handle the applications. “Applying for a job? Please fill this short form out … High school athletics … past salaries … references.”
I didn’t have any of those. I would hand in a half-filled out application. The secretary would never even let me in to see the interviewer.
Scene II
In ELAINE’s office at work.
ALFRED GRUBERG (A medium-height, going bald, 30-45-year-old man. Dressed in a business suit for an interview. Smiling and charming. He has one quirk: he is a psychologist by training and often inserts subliminal phrases into his speech. Subliminal phrases are in all capital letters. Alfred says these phrases quickly as if skimming over the words with no change in demeanor, in how he speaks, how he acts.)
ELAINE and ALFRED walking in.
ELAINE: Mr. Gruberg, please sit down. (ELAINE points to seat on other side of her desk) Now, let’s take a look at your resume. … Secretary at Blomingdale’s . . . Vogue . . . Russian Tea Room. Psychology? It says here that you received a degree in psychology before starting your secretarial positions. Why would you do that (very puzzled look, taking her glasses off) – gain proficiency in one field and then leave it for secretarial positions?
ALFRED: Well let me tell you the two differences between secretaries and psychologists – Secretaries get fewer looney-tunes (signaling crazy with his finger to his head) if you know what I mean (smiles at ELAINE) GORGEOUS BRUNETTE WOMEN and more money to boot. (laughs, trying to get ELAINE to laugh with him)
ELAINE: (laughs uncomfortablly, looking at resume) Uh-huh.
ELAINE’s VOICEOVER: (Double-take) Did he just say “gorgeous brunette women� Is he trying to come on to me during an interview?
ALFRED: (reaching over her desk) And if you notice there at the bottom, I have listed my specifications: typing speed LOOK CLOSELY PENILE ENLARGEMENT and standardized test scores.
ELAINE’s VOICEOVER: (ELAINE looks very skeptical) Standardized test scores?
Scene III
JERRY’s apartment. JERRY and GEORGE.
JERRY: My mom recommended I buy a silk undershirt for the winter. But I just don’t know . . . . She recommends it every year.
GEORGE: Oh, no, JERRY, silk undershirts have been underrated. My mom got me a bunch when I was in junior high school.
JERRY: And you still have them?
GEORGE: Uh-huh.
JERRY: You have silk undershirts from when you were in junior high?!?! How could they have lasted that long?
GEORGE: (Looking at himself apologetically) Well, I haven’t changed much. (Explanatory tone) And – and I only wear them in the winter.
KRAMER walks in.
JERRY: Hey, Kramer, you have any silk undershirts?
KRAMER: Oh, yeah, (smiling big) how else do you think I stay warm in the winter? And let me tell you, women love that! Silk shirts, silk boxers, silk bedsheets, oh yeah! Ok, guys, I need your advice.
(Door buzzer)
Let’s Talk about Games
Let’s talk about games.
That’s already an oxymoron on some levels! The point of games is to play them, not to talk about them. Still, why are games so hot? Why am I so big on games? You’ve seen me write about games. You’ve seen me talk about the feeling of being alive when you’re playing games.
WHAT IS IT ABOUT GAMES?
- The Thrill
- The Competition
- The Speed
- The Creativity Needed to Win
- Winning
- Possibility of Affecting the Outcome
- Not Knowing Until the End
- Knowledge of Possibly Improving Each Time
I can tell you all these above, and yet. And yet! Those are WORDS! As Hamlet says, “Words, words, words!” There’s no point for words. Games are about action!
You think you can smack-talk your opponent? Go ahead, but let’s see if your skill holds up to your smack-talk. Larry Bird was always known for his smack-talk, and maybe priming his opponents for failure was EXACTLY what he was going for because it may have worked (so suggests the latest research). But even better, Bird’s skill ALWAYS held up on the court. ALWAYS.
Games are about using our best self to beat the competition.
EVER USE A GAME AT WORK?
Have you? Sure you have! Everytime you’re on deadline and you need to make a specific time. Everytime you want to complete something faster than you did it last time. Everytime you want this quarter to be better than last quarter. Everytime you count how many clients your company has. You’re always playing games.
But sometimes they feel like work. What would make those same games that you are right now not calling games and are possibly not considering as fun – what would make those games fun and productive for you and improve business for the company?
Sure, I know that’s a leading, rhetorical question…
I refer you to my favorite Simpsons quote of all time:
Lisa: Dad, do you even know what “rhetorical” means?
Homer: Do *I* know what “rhetorical” means?
FUN, PRODUCTIVE, IMPROVES BUSINESS
Look, I’m not advocating going crazy with happiness juice, and just saying blindly, “Oh, let’s turn our work into fun.” I’m advocating asking yourself or your colleagues, “How can I get more of these components into my work?”
- The Thrill
- The Competition
- The Speed
- The Creativity Needed to Win
- Winning
- Possibility of Affecting the Outcome
- Not Knowing Until the End
- Knowledge of Possibly Improving Each Time
Remember, being wealthy is about having money and time. How can you enjoy your time at work more, leave more time for yourself outside of work, and show that “play” can get improved results? How can you put those elements in, and put them in in such a way that they improve the bottom line?
I know I’ve asked more questions above than I’ve answered. This week and next week, I’ll be writing a lot about GAMES and BUSINESS!
And today, I’m asking you: how do you think you could make work more like “play” and do so in a way that strengthens the bottom line?
In-the-news: March 19, 2007
Links to wonderful things!
- Fastest Memory-Jogger: Happiness project. Keeping a one-sentence daily journal. I really like this post from Gretchen. There’s also a company that lets you text message from your cell phone a photo each day or some text each day, and then they build a timeline of your life! I’m a big fan of this idea – see nowthen.com.
- Brain Tests on TV: SharpBrains site. Video of the Founder on CBS describing two great brain tests. See how you fare! See other wonderful brain exercises on this site here.
- Definitions of Happiness: Boston Herald (AP). It’s hard to define happiness – therein lies its appeal. About Darrin McMahon, author of “Happiness: A History,” one of NYTimes’ 100 books of 2006. Some definitions of happiness in his book: luck (“Happiness is linked to such words as happen and happenstance.”), feeling good, looking back on a good life, virtue, pleasure. McMahon says, ” “I wish I could tell you that having studied the history of happiness for six years I’ve got the magic bullet, but I don’t,†he said. â€I just go about my business and find that happiness will come to me.†“
- Drugs to Keep You Alert?: Nootrops (smart drugs) blog. Senia note: How bizarre!! Messing with our minds. Can taking a drug to increase alertness and fast thinking become in the future as simple as a cup of coffee?
- Ask Questions!: The Practice of Leadership blog. Super book recommendation: “Change Your Questions, Change Your Life: 7 Powerful Tools for Life and Work†by Marilee Adams (changeyourquestions.com).
QUESTION FRIDAY: How do you celebrate steps towards a goal?
This week, we talked about the exponential power of daily action and taking daily action steps to gain the 10,000 hours of expertise!
Question: When you’re working toward a goal, how do you celebrate the steps along the way to that goal?
Here, on Positive Psychology News Daily, Nicholas Hall gives a summary of some ways to celebrate steps. He breaks out possible celebrations along two axes: body-mind-spirit and pleasure-engagement-meaning. Some suggestions:
- Go dancing (Body and Engagement)
- Learn something you’ve always wanted to (Mind and Meaning)
- talk to a friend (Mind and Engagement)
What is your list of small celebrations?!
Thanks!
Great weekend!
I’d love to hear your answers. Feel free to leave anonymous comments. My answers are in the comments also.
Image: fireworks.
How to Write a Press Release that Matters!
Here’s a great press release:
How to Bounce Back From ‘Google Slap Three’
First of all, I immediately ask “What on earth is Google Slap Three?” so they’ve already got me with a
- TITLE THAT MAKES ME ASK “WHY? HOW? WHAT?”
Then the opening paragraph is:
IRVINE, Calif., March 13 /PRNewswire/ — Horror crossed your face this morning when you logged in to find your Google AdWords account “slapped” — with your best keywords deactivated and their minimum bids jacked up to $10.00 a click. What happened, and what can you do?
- There’s an EMOTION (“horror”), there’s ACTION (“slapped,” “crossed your face,” “deactivated” (this is a bit boring of an action word), and “jacked up”), and there’s a QUESTION. Not bad.
Finally, the text has some strong points too:
- It has USEABLE ADVICE (“Make your landing page ‘about’ your keywords,” “Post more unique pages”), is about something in the NEWS that recently happened, and it ADDRESSES CONCERNS about that recent news item.
In short, if you’re playing the game of writing a great press release that MATTERS TO PEOPLE, here are the three take-aways from this great press release:
- Make it timely to news of the day
- Make it address concerns readers might have
- Make it have concrete suggestions (actions people can take)
… And if you want this press release to also grow your business (which is the goal of most press releases IMHO)…
- Make it link back to you effectively – for a reason
For example, that you’re the authority on how to beat Google optimization… I’m not sure this company completely did this (see below).
BELOW SMALL COMMENT: This might be just me being picky… when I click back to www.entrepreneurpress.com, it’s their generic homepage, with no additional advice or details about the Google news release. I would imagine based on the press release that they have books that are relevant to SEO or to marketing online? And one of their pieces of advice, ironically, was to create more unique pages relevant to the keywords that people used to get to those pages. So where are their SEO advice books? As one singer would say, they don’t make ’em easy to find.
Making a Deal with Yourself
UPDATE 3-14: Let me summarize the below post in a few words:
Making a deal with yourself involves three main parts:
- What am I going to do? “Get more exercise,” “Get more organized,” “Pay my bills faster.” (Situation appraisal, Objectives)
- How am I going to do it and how will I measure success? (Measures of success, Expression of value, Methodologies and options, Timing, Joint accountabilities, Terms and conditions)
- Am I sure? Yes, I’m sure. (Acceptance)
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Continue reading “Making a Deal with Yourself”
How to Achieve ANYTHING in Life
What is harder than rock, or softer than water? Yet soft water hollows out hard rock. Persevere.
~ Ovid
If there is one key to creating what you want in your life, it is daily practice. When you repeat again and again, you learn so much about the habit you’re building and about yourself. There are nuances that you do not learn from a how-to guide. Such as how to persevere.
Why daily? And why action?
- DAILY! Daily moves you toward putting in hours to develop your expertise and toward repeating an activity to develop discipline and focus. Whatever your regularity is, you build your own daily practice. You can choose if your daily means 5 days a week (work week daily) or seven days a week (whole week daily) or three times a week (M-W-F regularly).
- ACTION! Action is a form of commitment. A thought can be transitory, passing. An action is you saying to the world, “I am ready and I am doing it.” An action is more powerful than a thought – by definition, Action = Thought + Activity.
But why do it? Why take regular, structured, self-scheduled daily action as opposed to acting whenever you feel like it?
| The Deep Math Example. As my very good friend and a former math professor says,
“It takes a while to get into the problem. You need to sit with it at your desk for several hours at a time just to start to focus deeply enough to be able to create any new conclusions.” It takes time to get deep enough into a subject that you are no longer skirting the surface. |
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| The Ballroom Dancing Teacher Example. Have you found that some people who are excellent at what they do returrn to the basics from time to time? Like a yoga teacher taking a basic refresher course. Or an author going back to the structure of his characters? I know dance teachers who regularly take beginner classes. Why? |  |
- When you are at an advanced level, you get a lot more from beginner lessons. You start to see the nuanced distinctions that you didn’t notice at the beginning – “When I ask my students to ‘rock-step’ here, some are still thinking that they are rocking when the important distinction is that they are there-and-immediately back, on their toe and immediately forward… it’s more about the forward than it is about the rock-step back.” You start to see new ways of describing something, new ways of understanding and then being able to explain a concept.
- You take the beginner class to come back to the beginner’s mind. To return to that joy that you loved about the activity to begin with, and to hear and see and feel and imagine what it is like to learn the steps for the first time. As Chip Heath and Dan Heath say in Made to Stick, we are sucked into the Curse of Knowledge: We are no longer able to often explain things to a five year old because we know too much detail. Avoid the Curse of Knowledge. Play as a beginner.
| The Twyla Tharp Creativity Example. You make space for yourself – in your head and in your heart when you practice something regularly. You make space for yourself to be creative, to focus, to live in the moment. So much of life ends up being planning and rushing that unless you make the Creative Habit as Twyla Tharp says in her book, then you don’t ever create the discipline of creativity, the space for allowing yourself to do. That space is often only possible within the constraints of time allowed for that activity. |  |
| The Alaska Hiking Example. It is through action that you create a habit, and through habits that you create the life you want to live. According to Ann Graybiel, neural pathways – i.e. the pathways that create a new habit or new behavior pattern – form when you go over them again and again. Again and again. Like a hiking trail in Alaska worn by all the footsteps repeating over the ground again and again, so a new mental pathway forms when you repeat an activity. Best results are daily. |  |
| The Guitar Example. My guitar teacher years ago said, “The most important thing in learning guitar is daily practice. Even if you play 15 or 30 minutes a day, do just that. And if you have the choice to play once for 30 minutes or twice for 15 minutes, play twice for 15 minutes.” According to him and many other musicians, the mind learns when it starts a-new – when it comes to a project a-new. So scheduling that “new” regularly allows a habit to make that deep Alaskan hiking trail pathway. |  |
And then, once you have taken the daily actions, keep track of them. Put a star on your wall calendar. Post about it on your blog. Write yourself an email accounting for that day. Track your progress. Roy Baumeister of Florida State University says (23-min interview) that one of the keys to creating a new habit is writing down those times when you have acted on that habit.
Is it really possible to achieve anything in life?
Let me ask that another way: what is harder than rock, or softer than water?
Lesson and Take-Away: 1) Take daily action and 2) write down your daily actions!
Images: math, dance, Twyla Tharp, hiking path, guitar.
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Senia Maymin, MBA, MAPP is an Executive Coach, and presents workshops to corporations about Positive Psychology. Senia is the Editor of Positive Psychology News Daily, and posts her latest ideas about positive psychology, business, and coaching at Senia.com. Senia’s bio. |
Shake well and buy often
Remember when it was a big marketing idea when (I think it was Snapple) changed the “expires by” date to the “enjoy by” date! Just a small change of perspective.
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Today, I read on my Silk soy milk container: “SHAKE WELL & BUY OFTEN.”
I don’t at all get upset by over-the-top, in-your-face advertising, like the cute phrase “BUY OFTEN.” It actually makes me smile. |
But what does bother me is when you’re not expecting to be sold to, and it’s a roundabout sale – that makes my stomach churn. Like a person who goes up to you on the street, and you think he or she may need help with directions, so you wait for the directions question, and after, “Hi, how are you?” you might get some bid, like, “I work for the pizza store over there. You should stop by,” and a brochure handed to you. NOT COOL.
“BUY OFTEN” makes me smile.
“How are you doing?” follow by “Have you tried this?” makes me queasy.
Maybe what I should try saying to someone who walks up to me on the street is … “SHAKE WELL” before I walk away.
“Have you tried—-?”
“Thanks, I haven’t. SHAKE WELL!” :)
Einstein on Intuition
“The Intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift.”
~ Albert Einstein