Who doesn’t want to be happier?
In this episode, Steph Noon, explains the role of positive psychology in her work as a Life Coach. Positive psychology is not based on the premise that we must be happy all the time. Rather, it builds on our individual strengths and talents to enhance our happiness and wellbeing. I was so interested to learn that these are skills we can practise and develop. Just as psychology, in the more traditional sense, can equip us with skills to overcome deficits or what is wrong, positive psychology can teach us another set of skills, to improve our happiness and our self-worth.
I put some common scenarios to Steph and she gave some helpful, practical tips. One example was how do we counter all the nearly constant negativity and despair we encounter on the news. The news cycle is relentless and for many of us (me included) it can sometimes feel overwhelming and consuming. Steph explains the human negativity bias (where adverse events have a more significant impact on our psychological state than positive events) and how putting up parameters around how often we access the news can be helpful – a simple but effective tip.
Our chat also ranges over how social media can affect our teens, changing our thought patterns, self-compassion, sprinting and so many more interesting topics. Also, Steph addresses two listener questions to do with chronic pain and with being a highly sensitive person.
LINKS MENTIONED IN THE PODCAST
Lifespan Podcast with Dr David Sinclair: https://www.lifespanpodcast.com
VIA character strengths survey: https://www.viacharacter.org
