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Live Happy Magazine Premiere Issue Cover Image

Live Happy Premiere Issue on Newsstands!

We’re celebrating at Live Happy! Our premiere issue is out on newsstands across the country! We’ve asked people to send snapshots of our blue cover featuring Ron Howard when they first spy us on the shelf. So far we’ve gotten shots taken at Whole Foods in Santa Monica, Calif.; at the Barnes & Noble in Plano, Texas; Whole Foods in New York; and at the Los Angeles airport. Our cover’s message of Life More Positive is reaching thousands who now have a new resource of information, inspiration and ideas on how to make their lives happier. We hope you count yourself in! Do I sound like a proud parent? You bet I do. Live Happy grew from a personal vision shared by two entrepreneurs to a broader project undertaken by a small band of dedicated professionals. Now, it’s a timely and relevant new magazine and website. My husband, Don, was the first to say to me, “You know, with everything that’s going wrong in Washington [this was during the government shutdown], your magazine’s positive message will be all the more important to people.” Steve Cohen, editor in chief at Media Industry Newsletter, a leading publication for the magazine publishing industry, echoed this thinking just this morning, as he was interviewing me about Live Happy. We couldn’t agree more. Live Happy is an idea whose time has come. Thankfully, that is the general consensus of the valuable contributors to Live Happy. Shelley Levitt, our fantastic writer from L.A., was the first to answer my call, covering the International Positive Psychology Association’s conference brilliantly and then writing key and groundbreaking stories for the first issue. Kathryn Finney, our art director extraordinaire, also said “yes” when my ears and heart needed it most. I will always be grateful for their—and all our contributors’—great work, enthusiasm and care generously given to Live Happy. Yes, we are celebrating at Live Happy. And there are a lot more good times to come!

Education

Positive Education: The School of Wellbeing

Imagine sending your kids off to school and them learning reading, writing, arithmetic and flourishing. That’s the concept of positive education, a trend that’s popular in Australia and England, and gaining traction in the United States. Positive education is about merging flourishing—positive emotion, engagement, positive relationships, meaning and accomplishment—with traditional education. While many schools focus primarily on academic performance, positive education is about developing your child’s sense of well-being and social responsibility. While the idea of helping students build on their strengths and nurturing their resilience and well-being has been at the heart of Montessori and Steiner approaches for some time, Dr. Martin Seligman is leading the effort to bring positive psychology into more schools. Martin believes the need for positive education is growing with the worldwide prevalence of depression among young people. So he works with staff, parents and students to teach his PERMA model—the five elements of well-being—with the ultimate goal of helping students flourish. (P) Positive Emotions—Feeling positive emotions such as joy, gratitude, interest, hope (E) Engagement—Being fully absorbed in activities that use your skills yet challenge you (R) Relationships—Having positive relationships (M) Meaning—Belonging to and serving something you believe is bigger than yourself (A) Accomplishment—Pursuing success, winning achievement and mastery Some examples of positive education in schools include positive behavior initiatives (teaching empathy and compassion), curriculum designed to increase confidence, and strength projects for children. Michelle McQuaid, a teacher of positive education in Australian schools (and Live Happy blogger), believes “success is achieved when a school leadership team collectively supports the idea of making the well-being of students as important as their academic achievements and inviting, connecting and empowering the whole school community around this idea,” including administrators, teachers, parents and students. “My vision is for children to receive an education that teaches them how to flourish intellectually, emotionally, socially and physically. For this to happen, they need to be a part of an education system that is flourishing—where leadership teams feel challenged and supported, where teachers feel engaged and appreciated, and parents feel confident and empowered,” McQuaid says. What Parents Can Do Praise children for effort rather than intelligence. When you tell a child “You are so smart,” they don’t understand what they have done and how to repeat it, so they fear making mistakes or view failures as being dumb. When you praise effort, children understand they can influence the result, and learn to view failures as learning opportunities. Provide a consistent family routine. Take an interest in what your children are learning. Encourage special interests. Turn off the TV and encourage children to have free playtime where they use their imagination and creativity. Give kids achievable jobs at home to develop a sense of responsibility and self-mastery. Celebrate who your children are, not just what they achieve. Help your children discover their strengths, including character strengths like kindness. Show your children how to master challenges and overcome frustrations with an optimistic and not pessimistic approach. Teach and show your kids how to go on the hunt for gratitude. Share things that are going well. Keep lobbying your children and educators to create a learning environment that allows your child to flourish. What Schools Can Do Assess what you are doing well already. Adopt the PERMA model. Embed positive education into your school strategy so it becomes your school culture. Evaluate your results to assess your effectiveness. Connect with other educators and schools to share your positive education journey and benefit from their knowledge, resources and experiences Sandra Bienkowski, owner of The Media Concierge, LLC, is a national writer of wellness and personal development content and a social media expert.

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi – Flow – 01 by evalottchen, on Flickr

Resources

What is Flow?

Flow is a positive psychology concept that focuses on focus. In other words, the state of mind you are in when you have total concentration on a specific task and nothing else around you seems to matter. Total immersion. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, a positive psychologist primarily known as the architect of “flow,” describes flow as "being completely involved in an activity for its own sake. The ego falls away. Time flies. Every action, movement, and thought follows inevitably from the previous one, like playing jazz. Your whole being is involved, and you're using your skills to the utmost.”Csikszentmihalyi began researching flow after he became fascinated by artists who would get so lost in their work, they would forgo food, water and even sleep.In order to get into the state of flow, a balance of the challenge at hand and the strengths of the challenger must be met. The motivation is for no other reason than just the pure enjoyment of that certain task. For more information watch Mihaly Czikszentmihalyi's TED talk on Flow.

Resources

Positive Psychology Timeline

This timeline shows the progression of the unlikely and amazing story of positive psychology. You can read the full story in our article The Happiness Revolution. 1984 Ed Dienercoins the termsubjective well-being. 1985 Ed Dienerpublishes his Satisfaction with Life scale. 1997 Martin Seligmanand MihalyCsikszentmihalyimeet on a Hawaiian beach and begin mapping out a plan for launching positive psychology. 1998 Martin Seligman delivers his "Manhattan Project for the Social Sciences" inaugural presidential address at the American Psychological Association convention. Barbara Fredrickson's "broaden and build" theory of the value of positive emotions is published. 1999 The first positive psychology conference is heldin Akumal, Mexico. The first annual Positive Psychology Summit is held in Lincoln, Neb. The first university programs in positive psychology are available at Harvard and the University of Pennsylvania. 2000 Special millennial issue ofAmerican Psychologistdevoted to positive psychology. First Templeton Prize to Barbara Fredrickson. 2001 "Positive emotions in early life and longevity: Findings from the nun study" published, linking happiness and positive outlook to longevity. U.S. News & World Reportpublishes "Happiness Explained" cover story. 2002 First International Positive Psychology Summit in Washington, D.C. U.S. Department of Education grants $2.8 million for Martin Seligman to explore positive psychology in a Philadelphia high school. Martin Seligman publishesAuthentic Happiness. 2003 Marcial Losada and Barbara Fredrickson publish their 3:1 positivity ratio, showing that those who flourish exhibit a ratio of at least 3:1 positivity-to-negativity in their behavior and expression. Robert Emmons and Michael McCullough publish "Counting Blessings Versus Burdens" showing that a consistent practice of gratitude increases wellbeing. 2004 $1 million National Institute of Mental Health grant to Sonja Lyubormirskyand Kennon Sheldon to explore practical "intervention" pathways to permanent increases in happiness. Martin Seligman and Chris PetersonpublishCharacter Strengths and Virtues, the definitive text and positive psychology's what-goes-right answer to psychology's classic what-goes-wrong reference textDiagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM). 2005 Timepublishes its cover story, "The Science of Happiness." First master's program in positive psychology at U Penn. "Pursuing happiness: The architecture of sustainable change" study shows as much as 40 percent of personal happiness is dictated by personal effort. "Does happiness lead to success?" study shows broad range of benefits, from physiological health to financial and career success and greater social engagement. 2006 Gallup World Poll launched, with sampling that represents 95 percent of the world's population. Tal Ben-Shahar's "Positive Psychology" becomes Harvard's most popular course. 2007 Sonja Lyubormirsky publishesThe How of Happiness. First doctoral program in positive psychology at Claremont Graduate University. 2008 Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index launched in the United States. The Pentagom approaches Martin Seligman to develop a positive psychology program for the U.S. Army. 2009 First World Congress on Positive Psychology held in Philadelphia. Barbara Fredrickson publishes her 3:1 positivity ratio finding inPositivity. 2010 Tony Hsieh'sDelivering Happinesshits No. 1 onNew York Timesbestseller list and stays on the list for 27 consecutive weeks. Gretchen Rubin'sThe Happiness Projecthits No. 1 onNew York Timesbestseller list and has stayed on the list continuously for more than two years. 2011 British government begins national happiness survey. Somerville, Mass., becomes the first U.S. city to track its population's happiness. 2012 Harvard Business Reviewpublishes issue on "The Value of Happiness."

Profiles

Profile: Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (pronounced cheek-sent-me-high), called simply Mike by his friends and colleagues, had dedicated his career to the study of what he called flow, the state of being fully engaged in the activity of the moment that is shared by great artists engrossed in their work, teenagers absorbed in a complex videogame sequence, or new lovers in each other’s company.Son of a Hungarian ambassador to Rome, Mike had spent his fairly idyllic childhood in Rome in the 1930s, but the tranquility of those years was soon shattered by the miseries of World War II. He was surprised to see how successful, self-confident adults suddenly became helpless and dispirited as their social supports were shorn away by war and its aftermath. “Without jobs, money or status,” he recalls, “they were reduced to empty shells. Yet there were a few who kept their integrity and purpose despite the surrounding chaos. Their serenity was a beacon that kept others from losing hope.”These observations sparked the young man’s curiosity. What was it that made some people so resilient while others gave in to despondency?When the war ended in 1945, Mihaly was just 10 years old. In the years that followed, he devoured books on philosophy, history and religion, seeking answers to the puzzle of human nature. He became interested in psychology after hearing a lecture by Carl Jung, who he says viewed the human predicament “with an unflinching yet hopeful gaze,” and immigrated to the United States at the age of 22 to pursue his studies.Mike would eventually find a kindred curious spirit in Martin Seligmanand the two of them would spearhead a movementto a more positive psychology.Now, for more than 35 years Mike has been involved in research on topics related to flow. He is the author of Flow, Beyond Boredom and Anxiety, The Evolving Self and Creativity, and is co-author of The Creative Vision, The Meaning of Things and Being Adolescent. He is the C.S. and D.J. Davidson Professor of Psychology and Management at Claremont Graduate University in Claremont, Calif., and director of the Quality of Life Research Center (QLRS), which he founded in 1999. The QLRC is a non-profit research institute which conducts research on a wide range of cutting edge issues in positive psychology, and provides a forum for scholars from all across the globe to extend their research and studies in positive psychology.

work

8 Ways to Be Happier at Work

Let’s get the obvious out of the way first: If you love your job, it’s easier to smile as you trot off to work each day. On the flip side, if you describe your job with words like despise, you may want to look for more enjoyable work—something closer to your purpose or passion. No matter where you rank on the work-happiness scale, there are things you can do to be happier at work. Wake up earlier. You are thinking, “Are you kidding me?” Nope. Getting up earlier will allow you some you-time before you herd the kiddos, pack lunches and fight commuter traffic. Take time when the house is quiet. It may require practice to get up earlier, but you will give your mind some breathing space to enjoy the sun coming up, an early walk, a cup of coffee, a good book, or a conversation with your spouse before the day gets going. Do what you dread most, first. Get the dread off your plate by conquering it first. Just knowing there’s a project or task you don’t want to do can bring you down. Go after it first thing, so you no longer have to think about it. Plus, it can fuel your momentum for the day. Don’t dwell on the negative. According to happiness expert, Sonja Lyubomirsky, author of The How of Happiness: A Scientific Approach to Getting the Life You Want unhappy people are more likely than happy people to dwell on negative events. Dwelling or rumination can drain your mental resources and reinforce unhappiness. Avoid negative people, gossip and drama. Don’t replay negative experiences. Dwell on aspects of work you like. Take charge of your own growth. You are responsible for your professional development. You have lots to gain from expanding your skill set and plenty to lose if you remain stagnant. Invest in yourself. Keep your commitments. Not doing or delivering what you said you were going to do is a huge happiness drain. Whether it’s a tiny promise or a looming work deadline, deliver on your commitments—every single time. Make a work-specific gratitude list. What do you like about your job? Everyone can find something to love. Maybe it’s your short commute, your cubicle-mate, or your benefits package. Look for and capture all the things you love about your job—the act alone of writing a gratitude work list will switch your brain to the positive. Use your strengths. Even if you aren’t living your passion for your paycheck, you can find ways to use your strengths at work. What are your skills and interests? How can you more effectively use them at work? When you use your strengths, you create what psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi calls “flow”—being fully immersed in your work and focused. Time goes by faster and you feel happier. Go outside at least once a day and if possible, take a walk, says Gretchen Rubin, best-selling author of The Happiness Project. “The sunlight and activity is good for your focus, mood, and retention of information.” Remember, there are about 260 workdays in a year. That’s a lot of days to be dragging your feet to work. Choose to make your work time happier instead.

Profiles

Profile: Barbara Fredrickson

When Martin Seligmanfirst encountered Barbara Fredrickson’s work, he bounded up the stairs two at a time. He blurted out to his wife: “This is life-changing!” Marty says that while his daughter had convinced his heart that positive emotions serve a valuable function far beyond simply making us feel good, “it took Barbara Fredrickson to convince my head.”Barbara’s broaden-and-build theory showed conclusively that positive emotions play a critical role in human development. But that didn’t mean negative emotions had no value. Such feelings as apprehension, fear, and even anger and outrage serve vitally important roles. The goal of positive psychology, as Marty has pointed out, was not to sweep all negative feelings under the rug and turn people into unthinking smiley faces but to “aim for the optimal balance between positive and negative thinking.”So what exactly was that balance?For example, Barbara points out that her “positivity ratio” is closely echoed in the work of John Gottman, the world’s leading marriage researcher, who spent years studying the emotional dynamics between married couples. For marriages that flourish, reports John, the ratio of positive to negative behavior and communication is about 5-to-1. Less than that, and the marriage is in trouble; down to 1-to-1 or worse, and you’re in divorce court.“What I was seeing,” Barbara writes in her landmark book, Positivity, describing the moment when the discovery first presented itself, “was no less than a prescription for life and how to live it. This stunned me. It still does.”