Foundations for Flourishing
Hi friend,
I’ve had the pleasure of leading lots of fantastic programs this summer, but I think most special experience was presenting on Foundations for Flourishing: Leveraging Positive Psychology for Greater Resilience, Well-Being, and Performance at the Fire Island Synagogue, with my family – including my incredible grandmother – in the front row.
While it was wonderful to have so many of my family members finally see “what I do,” it was even more rewarding to hear them and the other members of my Fire Island community report back – both immediately and in the ensuing weeks – about how they’ve implemented the various strategies I shared in their own lives, and the transformative impact it’s had on their personal and professional well-being as well as their relationships.
For instance, one family member noted how she was inspired to use self-compassion to counter the catastrophizing and self-critical thoughts that often arise when she’s about to deliver a presentation at work or struggling to fall asleep.
Two others noted that they’ve been exchanging their “daily gratitudes” or “three good things” each night over dinner, and that doing so has enabled them to connect on a deeper and more positive level than their traditional post-work venting sessions had previously allowed.
Another community member reached out weeks following the presentation to share the extent to which our discussion about thriving vs. just surviving revolutionized his concept of what living a “good life” means, and inspired him to aim for more than “just getting by” in various aspects of his life.
While I typically present primarily to students, lawyers, and other groups of relatively similarly-situated professionals, my experience engaging with this tremendous group of people spanning multiple generations, backgrounds, and areas of professional focus only reinforced my belief that the tenets of positive psychology are universal human principles from which all people can benefit.
OK, and my grandmother telling me she was proud of me was delicious icing on the cake. 🥰
In the session, the participants and I unpacked the six foundational elements of well-being and explored concrete, bite-sized strategies we can use to cultivate them (even in the context of a highly-demanding work environment and/or other stressful life circumstances).
Here’s a taste of some of my favorite strategies in each category:
Positive Emotions
Each day in the upcoming week, write down three good things that happened in the preceding 24 hours. As you do so, take a moment to reflect on what made that thing positive and how it made you feel – both during and after. Consider exchanging your daily gratitudes with someone close to you in order to tap into the benefits of Positive Relationships, as well.
Engagement
Practicing mindfulness is a great way to increase your ability to achieve flow (optimal engagement) because it strengthens your ability to focus on what you’re experiencing in the present moment and to filter out distractions such as thoughts, worry, or judgment about your performance.
Commit to practicing mindfulness each day in the upcoming week, even if it’s just for one minute.
If meditation isn’t your thing (trust me, I get it!), try practicing “Stealth Mindfulness” by bringing conscious awareness to to the sensations in your body as you go about daily activities that you usually perform on autopilot (e.g., showering, brushing your teeth, walking to work).
Positive Relationships
Commit to putting your phone away during social interactions (yes, FULLY away – face down on the table in front of you doesn’t count!). Document your experience including the level of difficulty you experience and how this experiment impacts your ability to meaningfully connect.
Meaning
Complete this Values Discovery Exercise, which will help you:
Assess how well you're currently honoring your top values;
Identify action steps you can take today to bring your life into better alignment with those values; and
Create a plan for building a future that brings you the greatest possible meaning and purpose
Achievement
Use the WOOP-SMART framework set forth in this Goal-Setting Guide to help you follow through on any action steps you would like to take to enhance your well-being.
Vitality
Commit to getting between 7-9 hours of sleep at least three nights in the upcoming week. Help yourself do this by setting yourself a bedtime, working backward from the time you need to wake up.
To maximize the quality of your sleep, regardless of how much of it you’re able to get, try adopting the following best practices for sleep hygiene:
Go to bed and wake up at the same time each day
Avoid caffeine, alcohol, and nicotine before bed
Exercise regularly – but not within three hours of bedtime
Keep your bedroom cool, dark, and quiet
Turn off the computer, phone, and television at least one hour before bed
Enjoy a calming wind-down routine in the lead-up to bedtime. Put away your work and, if it helps, make a list of any lingering tasks or worries. You can deal with them tomorrow. For now, embrace this opportunity to let your body rest and recharge.
Take note of how your mind and body feel after getting a good night’s sleep.
I hope this this recap piqued your interest, friend, and that it inspires you to try out one of the above strategies in the upcoming week.
(To all of my Recovering Type A+ Perfectionists: I encourage you to resist the urge to try out all of these strategies immediately! Instead, select one exercise in the area of well-being in which you’d most like to grow — once you’ve done that, you can build from there. Start small, track your wins, and celebrate them!)
If you do so, please don’t hesitate to reach out to let me know how it goes – it would make my day to hear from you!
And, as always, if you think you could use some additional support implementing any of these strategies (or taking any other steps to move from merely surviving to really thriving), you know where to find me :)
Until then, know that I am rooting for you!
With love,
Jordana
