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Intrinsic Motivation and Flow
[015 Research Review | Flow series: 3] In 1989, psychologists Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi and Jeanne Nakamura assessed how intrinsic motivation might be related to flow in three groups of teenagers. After Larson and Csikszentmihalyi pioneered the ESM method in the early 1980s (see Chapters 2 and 3 here), researchers interested in flow could evaluate flow across broader categories of people in society like working professionals, adolescents, and mothers, for example. A lot of ESM flow researchers honed in on school, because school is a structured system for supporting students to develop academic skills in the face of scholarly challenges.
The Experience-Sampling Method
[015 Research Review | Flow series: 2] In the 1980s, the Experience-Sampling Method (ESM) revolutionized the psychological study of human experience during daily life. It was made possible by the pager. Yes, the pager, or beeper, the ancestor of the two-way and cell phone. The thing that businesspeople and doctors wore on their hips during the 80s and 90s.
How to Cultivate Optimism
[014 Research Review | FUTURE SELF series: 2] Cultivating optimism is an essential cornerstone in the coaching profession. A coaching tool called, “Future Self” is often used to create such a perspective. It guides a client to craft a clear picture of who they are going to be at some distant point in the future, anywhere from 9 to 20 years and includes the positive perspectives, knowledge, and experiences played out over the designated time period. It provides an opportunity to learn from the amassed wisdom of those years.
Happy 2020
Each year, it’s been a tradition that Amois and I craft a word for the upcoming year. It’s a word of intention, a guidepost that leads to a perspective for the year. I’m delighted to share this video of our headquarter staff. And from a sense of deep gratitude, thanks for being a part of Coach Training EDU and checking out this blog.
What’s your word for 2020?
Counting 3 Blessings
Perhaps the most famous intervention of positive psychology, Counting 3 Blessings, offers an elegant and simple exercise that boosts positivity and primes your mind to enjoy future goodness. The idea is to recall and write down three happy things that happened to you that day. What I love most about the exercise is when a blessing comes to mind that I otherwise wouldn’t have considered. It brings back such sweet moments and memories that otherwise would have faded.
What are three blessings you’re grateful for in 2019?
Hope and Academic Performance
[013 Research Review | HOPE series: 4] In 2002, C.L. Snyder and his colleagues set out to see if hope had anything to do with what Hanson (1994) termed the “lost talent.” These are the students who have high natural talent, academic ability, and innate intelligence who do not achieve the success one might expect based on their potential. They drop out of college early, or don’t go in the first place. They struggle to find jobs that convert to careers. This study marked the first time hope theory was used to sort out why some students succeed and others don’t.
A Head Start for 2020
New Year’s is the life coaching holiday. It’s a time for cleansing. It’s a time when people try to live their best lives and resolve to do something different in the new year. And to get the most out of the collective boost and spiffy newness, it helps to get a head start. How can you give yourself a head start going into 2020?
Making Giving Sustainable
One of the most robustly proven ways to build a successful practice as a life coach is the ability to give workshops to small (and sometimes not so small) groups. These workshops, however, take lots of time and energy to set up, deliver, and follow up. There’s no way around the effort needed to hustle. The real question is whether you can make the needed effort sustainable as you start to develop a sustainable client base. How can you make giving sustainable?
Merry Christmas
On the single biggest day of exchanging gifts, I remember as a kid the sublime excitement of coming down the stairs Christmas morning. The excitement came from the pile of gifts that were waiting for me under the tree. Now as an adult, I feel that same level of excitement, but because I’m eager to see my own little ones delight in opening presents. And as I’m thinking about the shift from excitement from receiving to giving, I’m stuck by the parallel in similar thinking of the most successful life coaches with thriving private practices or organizational programs. What are you most excited to give this holiday season?
The Season of Miracles
Working as a life coach and life coach trainer for over a decade, I’ve seen incredible transformation happen. People can vastly improve their lives. The change usually isn’t instant, but there’s usually a moment when a choice is made that starts a cascade of other decisions and events. In this seasons of miracles, may you be blessed with the clarity of making a powerful choice and trusting you will hear an answer. What’s the choice life is waiting for you to make?