Who are you now, and who are you capable of becoming? — We are all at times overwhelmed by life and lacking in what is needed to take on something new. But according to new research in the field of positive psychology, building psychological capital can help. PsyCap, as it’s typically shortened to, can help you manage who you are now and…

We all, at times, feel overwhelmed by the challenges we face. Engaging hope can help. After all, psychological research shows hope is more of a habit than a state of mind, and like any other, it can be learned. Learned hopefulness is the ability to maintain a positive outlook in…

The science of flourishing needs to be part of your creative model — Four weeks after the pandemic hit in 2020, my employer let me go. It was unexpected, yet so was my sense of overwhelming relief. I’d been a misfit for too long, so I saw this as an opportunity… Two years of freelancing and more than 200 psychology articles later, I…

‘We need hope like we need air’ Hope is stronger than hate. After all, hope is not just wishful thinking; it is a resolve that cannot be broken. The father of positive psychology, Martin Seligman, spent years studying this and other positive emotions and said that hope is “when you expect the best in the future, and…

Learning to unpack kindness Most of us aren’t great at being kind to ourselves. We spend a lot of our time thinking we’ve failed or feeling disappointed in what we’ve done. Here we go again, another dinner burnt! This diet will never work; I can’t stick at anything! …

Fear and anxiety make us act weird I am well aware that standing in the toilet cubicle adopting a Superman pose is not normal behavior. Yet looking a little odd is less scary than standing up presenting in front of two hundred people– all of which look far more intelligent than me–in five minutes’ time. Fear and…

Four steps to FADE anger We’ve all lost it at times. We’ve become angry at the smallest thing or reacted badly when we wish we hadn’t. Human emotions are not easy. So let’s take a look at one way to get a grip on one of our most harmful–anger! Visualization is an incredibly powerful tool…

The Art of Change Reaching for goals, and achieving our aims, is never easy. We need to create the capability, the opportunity, and the motivation. Setting goals is crucial for getting things done but often need to be underpinned by a new set of habits. According to James Clear, in Atomic Habits, to make…

What can you build on? Change is not always easy, things happen — obstacles are thrown in our way. And that’s ok, that’s life! But resilience can help you recover and continue on your journey. And it doesn’t have to be too complicated — we can learn from what we’ve already done. Carole Pemberton, in…