Posts tagged with 'autonomy'
Reviewing & planning our lives
31st December 2023
And now let us believe in a long year that is given to us, new, untouched, full of things that have never been, full of work that has never been done Rainer Maria Rilke When I get to heaven, God will not ask “Why were you not Moses?”. He will …
How to WOOP
14th May 2015
WOOP is an acronym for Wish-Outcome-Obstacle-Plan. This sequence is based on the very impressive body of research on how to boost motivation, goal setting & goal achievement assembled over many years by professors Gabrielle Oettingen & Peter Gollwitzer. I have written extensively about their work in previous blog posts (and …
WOOPing along: an excellent way of helping us achieve our goals
9th May 2015
Gabrielle Oettingen has recently published her new book "Rethinking positive thinking: inside the new science of motivation". It's already available in hardback & Kindle, and is due out in paperback later this year. WOOP is an acronym for Wish-Outcome-Obstacle-Plan and is a facelift for the less catchily named (but highly …
A project to change long-term interpersonal patterns: building & maintaining commitment
8th April 2015
"Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds, wake in the day to find that it was but vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dreams with open eyes, to make it possible." T. E. Lawrence Our lives …
European positive psychology conference: love, national happiness comparison tables, & life satisfaction assessment (2nd post)
3rd July 2014
I wrote yesterday about the two pre-European Conference on Positive Psychology (ECPP) workshops I went to on "Positive supervision" and on "Positive relationships". Then in mid-afternoon on Tuesday, the conference proper began. It was heralded by Taiko drummers and a cluster of brief welcoming speeches. Apparently there are 920 people …
The "Balanced Measure of Psychological Needs" scale: a helpful contribution to self-determination and wellbeing assessment
16th February 2013
I'm a big fan of Self-Determination Theory (S-DT). For me it's one of the best ways into understanding flourishing and wellbeing. I use the ideas all the time in my work and in my life. The fine S-DT website at Rochester University in the States gives vast amounts more information. …
"To reach the other shore with each step of the crossing": a brief embodied cognition meditation exercise (3rd post)
30th December 2012
(This blog post is downloadable as both a Word doc and a PDF file) When I get to heaven they will not ask me, “Why were you not Moses?” Instead they will ask “Why were you not Susya? Why did you not become what only you could come?” Susya, a …
Learning MBSR: sixth evening of the course - making time for reflection, and the overlap between mindfulness & conscientiousness
11th November 2011
There was no MBSR class last week as our trainer was unavailable, but I wrote a fortnight ago on "Learning MBSR: fifth evening of the course - the value of 'difficult' practice sessions & of 'concentration'". This evening we were down to six out of the nine of us who …
Building willpower: the eight pillars
10th July 2011
(this post is downloadable as both a Word doc & as a PDF file.) In the earlier post "Self-control, conscientiousness, grit, emotion regulation, willpower - whatever word you use, it's sure important to have it" I described the extraordinary benefits achievable through increased self-control & willpower. I noted occasional downsides …
Building willpower: it's like strengthening and nourishing a muscle.
9th July 2011
(this post is downloadable as both a Word doc & as a PDF file.) "If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs and blaming it on you ..." "If" by Rudyard Kipling In yesterday's post on "Self-control ... the importance of training", I talked about …