The 5^th European Positive Psychology Conference took place June 23-26 in Copenhagen, Denmark. I’ve written three separate reviews, covering eleven Keynotes, invited speakers, and opening and closing presentations. To read the full reviews, take a look at Positive Psychology News Daily:  part 1, part 2 and part 3.

Part 1:

Keynote 1: Stopping the Insanity: Promoting Positive Mental Health is Sanity in a World Needing Better Mental Health - Corey Keyes, Associate Professor, Department of Sociology at Emory University, USA

Corey Keyes

Keynote 2: How Positive Emotions Work, and Why – Barbara Fredrickson, Distinguished Professor of Psychology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA.

Part 2

Keynote 1: Occupational Health Psychology: A European Perspective – Wilmar Schaufeli, Professor of Work and Organizational Psychology at Utrecht University in The Netherlands.

Creativity expert, Sir Ken Robinson, talks about the need for revolution in the education system.

“Very many people go through their whole lives having no real sense of what their talents may be, or if they have any to speak of. I meet all kinds of people who don’t think they’re really good at anything”, he says. This sounds very familiar to me – only today I was working with some public sector admin staff who had no idea of their strengths, or that there might be a role for them at work in which they could really flourish, rather than just survive the 9-5.  We focussed on ways to identify and apply their strengths in the workplace using the VIA-Inventory of Strengths* – and it was a real eye-opener for them.

Robinson talks about the need for an organic “agricultural model” of education, in which the conditions necessary for flourishing are created, rather than the linear, “manufacturing model”, which merely standardises everything, and squashes creativity and talent, as well as depleting our spirit and energy.

A brilliant short talk, which brings ideas such as strengths, flow, positive energy, flourishing, authenticity, meaning and spirituality to life, all without mentioning Positive Psychology once. An inspiration.

* You can do this inventory yourself for free here: it takes about 30 minutes to do, and you get an immediate report of your strengths in order. Well worth it.

Thanks to Morten Mortensen for the link.

Here’s a link to my posting to Positive Psychology News Daily this month, reviewing some of the keynotes at the recent CAPP conference at Warwick University:

• Well-Being and Behavioural Economics : David Willetts, MP, Shadow Secretary of State for Innovations, Skills and Universities, UK

• Half-Life – Education for Well-being : Anthony Seldon, Master, Wellington College, UK

• Positive Psychology as a Force for Social Change: Robert Biswas-Diener, Debasish Sen Sharma, and Alex Linley

If you’d like to comment or ask questions, you can do that here or on the PPND website.

For other reviews of the CAPP keynotes by my colleague Timothy So, click here.

Here’s a great article on the value of Positive Psychology to business, covering all the basics from the benefits of positive emotions (e.g enhancing creativity and problem-solving) to hiring people on their strengths not their CVs.

Plus it mentions the work of two of my Positive Psychology News Daily colleagues, David J Pollay and Senia Maymin (founder), who also happen to be graduates of the Penn MAPP programme.

Image: Kevinzhengli

Thanks to Greg Quinting for the link

Are you out of work and looking for a job at the moment? This is a great posting from Peter Bregman about why you shouldn’t try too hard, and why you should instead spend most of your time doing things you love doing. The theory is that doing stuff you really enjoy helps motivate you, makes you energised and interesting, committed and passionate, all qualities that employers value. My friend Melody says the same thing (that if you work at things you love doing, the work will eventually find you) and you couldn’t find a better example; she’s a talented and successful trainer – she loves her job and she’s never short of contracts: it works for her.

Peter gives his own 4-step recipe for finding work when you’re not actively looking for it. I think the words ‘with other people’ should be highlighted in big bold letters. The key thing is that you don’t do the activities you love doing on your own, you find other people to do them with. The reason this is such an important point and one worth saying again and again is that finding a job is all about who you know, not what you know.

A couple of other things worth adding:  this is not about finding things to distract you from worrying about your unemployed status (such as drinking in the pub every afternoon with your mates), and it will take some courage to ‘give up’ a frenzied 24/7  job-search which is probably what your logical left-brain keeps telling you to do. Oh, and you will need to have an understanding partner, since s/he may think you’re just wasting time. And having far too much fun for someone who’s out of work.

In addition to Peter’s advice I’d also stress that you look for ways to engage your strengths during this period of unemployment. If your top VIA-IS strength is courage or curiosity, use it to try new activities and to meet new people. If it’s leadership, use it to organise an activity involving others. If it’s creativity, use it to sign up for a new art or craft class at your local college. If it’s team-work, volunteer your time to a local charity. The reason for suggesting using your strengths in new ways is that this has been proven to increase your well-being. And when you’re out of work, you’re likely to need this more than ever.

Thanks to Senia Maymin for the link.

Image: CarbonNYC