Positive Psychology often talks about the benefits that helping others can have on your well-being – you may have come across the phrase ‘random acts of kindness’. Research by Sonja Lyubomirsky and colleagues suggests that doing  a variety of random acts of kindness for other people, such as holding the door open or helping someone carry their shopping, can improve your well-being. Volunteering is also good for depression for example.

New research from Netta Weinstein and Richard Ryan (2010) suggests firstly that you need to be intrinsically motivated to help in order to derive these benefits for yourself, and secondly helping others when you’re extrinsically motivated (e.g. by reward or the fear of reprimand) is worse for their well-being than if you don’t help them at all.

Clearly this has implications for companies where excellent customer service is at the heart of their business. Are your customer service staff intrinsically motivated to help?

My article on Positive Psychology News this month covers this topic in more depth – read it here.

Image courtesy of D3 San Francisco

In my recent posting on Positive Psychology and Coaching I referred to Sonja Lyubomirsky’s new book, “The How of Happiness”.

The video clip from 20/20 is a great intro to the science behind the book. The case of the identical twins is fascinating isn’t it?

On Tuesday I was fortunate enough to take part in a telephone seminar with Professor Lyubomirsky, in which she outlined the key messages from the book. The things which I found most interesting were:

1) that happiness takes effort – i.e. you need to be prepared to work at it; it may not come naturally

2) according to Lyubomirsky, you need to ensure that you choose the strategies which you’re comfortable with. Some may not be your cup of tea. She readily admits to finding the Gratitude exercise difficult. If that’s the case try something else.

3) whatever strategies you find work for you need to become habits – things that you do on a regular basis without thinking about it, like cleaning your teeth twice a day. How will you get the happiness habit?

4) some of the strategies which have been empirically validated, like gratitude, savouring and acts of kindness, may sound corny and trivial, but they do work. Plus, you have nothing to lose by trying them for a few weeks.



Let us know how you get on with her ‘Person/Activity Fit’ diagnostic tool (p73) and the various strategies you choose as a result.

Thanks to Christine Duvivier for the links.

“We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give”. Winston Churchill.

In December 26th’s article on Positive Psychology News Daily, it was appropriate to take a look at the positive psychology research behind giving, and the related subjects of altruism, kindness and empathy.

If you’re in Secondary/High School teaching, please do take a look at G-Nation, which works with young people aged 11-16 in the UK to show them how they can change the world by giving. And there’s research which shows that acts of kindness can boost your well-being too. A no-brainer, as my old boss would say!

Image credit: Special/Krystle Fleming

Top 10 Happiness Tools

Following on from yesterday’s post about the Open University Psychological Society’s Psychology of Wellbeing Conference , I’d like to share with you the Top 10 Happiness Tools, devised by Dr Richard Stevens, Dr Jane Henry, Linda Corlett and Nevia Mullan , which were tried and tested during the BBC2 documentary ‘Making Slough Happy’.

1. Physical exercise – take half an hour of exercise three times a week.
2. Count your blessings – see our previous post for more information.
3. Set aside some time for talking to your partner or closest friend – an hour long, uninterrupted conversation.
4. Plant something (pot, container, window box) and tend it carefully.
5. Cut your TV viewing by half.
6. Smile at and/or say hello to a stranger at least once a day.
7. Phone a friend – make contact with someone you haven’t seen for a while and arrange to meet up.
8. Have a good laugh at least once a day.
9. Give yourself a real treat every day and take the time to savour it.
10. Do a good turn for someone every day – see this post for further information, or look at Random Acts of Kindness for ideas.

To this list, and following Bernard Gesch’s nutritional advice mentioned in yesterday’s post, we would also add:
11. Ensure you’re getting the recommended daily allowance of essential vitamins and minerals.

Over the next couple of weeks we’ll be looking at some of the research which supports these Happiness Tools.

Stevens et al suggest you try using them for two months and see the difference they make to your happiness. On average they made the citizens of Slough 33% happier, so they can work for you too. Let us know how you get on.

If you wants ideas and inspiration on this subject, the Random Acts of Kindness website is where to get them – it’s a fantastic resource. Do take a look.