Your Happiness Factor

   Appreciative Inquiry is an approach to change that focuses on the positive!  It works on the principle that what is good now that can be built on to achieve a vision for the future. When thinking about change people often focus on what is wrong now – what is deficient. This has been the traditional approach to change management Appreciative Inquiry, which has its roots in Positive Psychology , starts the other way round.  It looks at what is good and valuable now and then uses that as a foundation for moving forward. Once the basis is established you can then explore the future possibilities with much greater confidence. In all change, something will be lost, but with Appreciative Inquiry you work to make sure that much of what is good remains.  It allows people to honour the past and have confidence in the future! Appreciative Inquiry was developed as a tool for changing organizations but, as an approach, it works very well with people and teams.  It allows them to approac

   Image via Wikipedia In  Mark Rashid 's book  Life Lessons from a Ranch Horse , he, the teacher, becomes the student when a nondescript, seven-year-old horse steps into his life. Mark is a famous horse trainer,  who is known for listening to them and working with them in a non-confrontational manner. So this "different" horse arrives and Mark  has to re-evaluate everything he think he knows about horses and himself, as a trainer and as a person. Beginning with an untimely balk from Buck, who never falters, Mark tries to find out why it happened.  He draws on the full range of his experience from Native American teaching to Japanese martial arts, Gradually he begins to understand the horse and how he thinks.  What he learns makes up the story of the book! He comes to believe that Buck, an everyday horse, has the ability to plan ahead and make choices in a consistent manner! This book will change how you think about animals but also how

Image via Wikipedia Coping with life’s problems successfully needs you to have realistic expectations. Psychologists call these expectations, and the judgements you make based on them, ‘appraisals’.  Things that happen to us aren’t a problem unless we judge them to be. Life is never perfect and problems, are a part of normal, everyday life. If our judgements (appraisals) are realistic, we’re much better able to deal with them and not let them throw us off-balance. The appraisals we make come from our belief system. If we hold unrealistic beliefs, then our judgements may not be the best for the situation. Sometimes we have unrealistic beliefs about what we must or should do.  We want to be “perfect”.  “Everyone must like me “or “I’ve got to be good at everything” for example. If you think about these for a minute, they are irrational beliefs. Who do you know who could really achieve them? Another approach! When you are

  What is personal development? Personal development is a way that you can develop yourself; sometimes alone, sometimes with support from others. Personal development can help you identity and develop your talents and potential. You can improve your career opportunities, enhance the quality of your life and contribute to the realization of your dreams and aspirations. What is  Personal Development ?  Personal development includes; understanding yourself as an individual building your self-image and  self-esteem developing strengths or talents improving your opportunities in the job market – your career identifying or improving your potential enhancing your  quality of life  and relationships improving health and social abilities fulfilling  aspirations  and dreams developing and carrying out personal development plans What is Personal Development?  Personal development enables you to; expect to succee

Image via Wikipedia Enforced loneliness has been a   punishment  throughout history. We are social animals and most of us need the company of others for a lot of our time.  I remember my mother, the eldest of ten children, feeling horrified at the prospect of one night alone when my father needed to visit a relative and they couldn’t spare the time to go together. Robert S. Weiss  has categorized loneliness into two ways:   emotional loneliness and   social loneliness . Emotional loneliness feels like the pain we feel when a romantic partner is missing. Social loneliness is when you feel like you are not part of a community and you feel you do not have   friends   to rely on. The other important distinction is between   transient   or chronic loneliness, also known rather cruelly as state and trait loneliness. Transient loneliness passes and is often caused by something external to us – it is  easily remedied  usually .  Chronic loneliness comes fr