Self sabotaging my happiness

When you have friends who have your back when you falter or clap you on your back when you succeed, you’re more likely to attain higher levels of career success. In a research study released earlier this year, as a joint project from the University of Notre Dame and Northwestern University, the connection between the having a tight “women’s only” friendship circle and professional success, in terms of job acquisition, for women was revealed (Yang, Chawla, & Uzzi, 2019). Friendscape your Way to the Top Findings suggested that women who stick together and support one another are likely to reap higher levels of professional success. Not only will you be more successful in your efforts to attain higher level positions if you have a tight inner circle of "Best Buds," who can offer the emotional support that you need along the way, but also want to establish a larger circle of connections, made up of any gender , who can provide more instrumental support along the career … [Read more...] about Are Friendships Necessary for Career Success?

The Covid-19 pandemic has altered daily life in countless ways, with potentially dire implications for well-being. From struggles with finding childcare or learning to work from home, to the toll taken on one’s health by social isolation , or on one’s finances by unemployment, the effects have been profound, and their combinations across individuals and institutions seemingly endless. At the Human Flourishing Program at Harvard, we have been trying to study and understand, empirically and quantitatively, how various domains of flourishing have changed during the pandemic. The results of this research are available in a newly published study in the Journal of General Internal Medicine . The Pandemic and Well-Being in the Nation This study used our flourishing measure across six domains of human life: happiness and life satisfaction, physical and mental health, meaning and purpose, character and virtue, close social relationships, and financial and material … [Read more...] about National Well-Being Before and During the Pandemic

Source: pathdoc/Shutterstock You may feel that you will never be the life of the party, but you’d at least like to be someone who is able to get through social occasions without feeling stymied by anxiety. Indeed, you’d like to be able not only to make it through these situations, but actually have a good time. Unfortunately, your past record isn’t all that good. Recently, there was a celebration for a beloved office mate’s retirement , and you wanted to be there to honor this person, but you couldn’t overcome your fears that you might have to make a speech, and so you stayed home. At the last holiday family gathering, you were prepared to join in the fun, but the thought of sitting around the table with extended family members led you to opt out instead and spend the evening watching reruns of your favorite show. People with social anxiety disorder experience extreme fears about being evaluated by others, causing them to feel so distressed that they readily can become … [Read more...] about Social Anxiety’s Newest Theory and the 7 Links to Depression

Source: Barnawi M Thahir/Shutterstock Daydreaming, or thinking for pleasure, can be an antidote for boredom and is a powerful tool for shaping our emotions. Previous cross-cultural research (2019) found that, in general, people derive more enjoyment from doing everyday solitary activities than trying to think pleasurable thoughts. A new study (2021) asks: "What makes thinking for pleasure pleasurable?" The researchers found that when participants were prompted to think "pleasurable and meaningful" thoughts, they enjoyed daydreaming more. When prompted to think only "meaningful" thoughts, it was difficult for most study participants to enjoy daydreaming. Although daydreaming has a reputation for being a pleasurable way to escape the gloomy, harsh, or monotonous realities of day-to-day life, "thinking for pleasure" is less easy to achieve and less enjoyable than many of us might assume, according to a growing body of research. Two years ago, in a Psychology … [Read more...] about Why Pleasurable Daydreaming Is Harder Than You’d Think

Source: Barnawi M Thahir/Shutterstock Daydreaming, or thinking for pleasure, can be an antidote to boredom and is a powerful tool for shaping our emotions. Previous cross-cultural research found that, in general, people derive more enjoyment from doing everyday solitary activities than trying to think pleasurable thoughts. A new study asks: "What makes thinking for pleasure pleasurable?" When participants were prompted to think "pleasurable and meaningful" thoughts, they enjoyed daydreaming more. When prompted to think only "meaningful" thoughts, it was difficult for most study participants to enjoy daydreaming. Although daydreaming has a reputation for being a pleasurable way to escape the gloomy, harsh, or monotonous realities of day-to-day life, "thinking for pleasure" is less easy to achieve and less enjoyable than many of us might assume, according to a growing body of research. Two years ago, in a Psychology Today blog post, " The Lost Art of … [Read more...] about How to Make Daydreaming More Enjoyable