The Practice of Positive Psychology for Thriving and Wellbeing in Community
Your Personal (Thriving & Wellbeing) Knowledge Mastery Portal
How do you thrive during challenging times, individually and with others?
What does research tell us about building and sustaining wellbeing in ourselves, our families, communities, and workplaces; what are the tools and techniques to do so?
Beyond a notional espoused value in word, can we make wellbeing a central organizing principle for how we care for ourselves and each other?
Within a larger frame of positive growth and empowered living, can we create a culture and climate of flourishing and wellbeing where each member of the community delights in the flourishing of each and the flourishing of all?
The knowledge mastery path described is best suited for individuals called to help others thrive: champions of positive growth, community leaders, supporters of positive change, helping professionals, caring parents and educators, and positively aspiring institutions, such as workplaces, schools, caring facilities, and independent or community-affiliated organizations looking to train wellbeing advocates and leaders.
Delivered through web-based technology, live, scheduled tele- and video-conferencing brings to life the power of personalized online distance learning. Individual coaching sessions and small group coaching conversations are delivered in cycles of teaching, discussion, practice, debriefing, and reflection for you to learn, participate, apply, share, and reflect. As you grow your toolbox of evidence-based wellbeing practices, you apply learnings in a personal impact project for your workplace, school, or community.
The personal case study is a robust method for knowledge mastery. It encourages assertively and proactively to initiate or participate in an ongoing collaborative community project while mindfully attending to one’s growth and learning mastery.
Program Outline:
The Practice of Positive Psychology for Thriving and Wellbeing in Community
The coaching program is delivered in three-month modules. However, once started, the mastery path never ends.
Progress and action focus on two domains: self-track – care for yourself, and community track – apply learnings to care for others.
Monthly Workshops: teaching, discussion, practice, sharing, reflection, and commitments.
Weekly Coaching Calls: sharing, discussion, and commitments.
Weekly individual coaching calls: set and strive for meaningful goals, apply your new knowledge practically, and deepen your learning insight and understanding.
Monthly interactive online workshops content and structure: the theme of the month; bringing together science and practice; building micro-skills; action plan to apply learnings to help others immediately; experiment in small groups to see the impact and receive feedback.
Guiding you through each learning step will be our team-of-one, but sub-personalities of many, the Mustafa, who was never, and probably will never be a globally known and sought-after persona. But he’s a nice guy, broadly speaking.
Create psychologically safe spaces
to playfully experiment with more effective and joyful ways to support each other’s wellbeing.
Foster learner identity (growth mindset)
so members can experience the joy of lifelong learning and thriving.
Teach people to create wellbeing habits
using intuitive and easy-to-remember wellbeing models.
Give members the tools to monitor their wellbeing
using self-administered surveys and questionnaires.
Foster thriving workplaces, schools, and communities
through strengths-based, values-guided positive changes that enhance capacities and life.
Improve personal and community wellbeing
by bringing the science of thriving into daily life and enlightened practice and helping people to thrive more consistently.
Monthly Schedule
Month 1: Care for Yourself
>> Lead self: create wellbeing micro-habits, prompts & cues to care for your wellbeing.
Welcome Package
Orientation Call (90 minutes): Welcome, introductions, course overview.
Pre-Work: Read, Imagine, Journal, and do “Try this out” exercises.
Themes: Learning to learn, Being on your own side, Building wellbeing micro-habits, Micro-learnings: virtuous cycles of positive growth.
Introducing Basic theory and research: Broaden and build positive emotions; strengths, engagement, and flow; meaning and purpose; self-concordance; self-determination; wellbeing theories: subjective, psychological, objective.
Questionnaires, surveys, scales, assessments: what are they for, and how can they help?
Monthly Workshop (2 + 1 hours) (Week 1)
(20 min) How happiness can infuse vigor and vitality into all life areas. The benefits of wellbeing.
(20 min) Measuring wellbeing: available surveys and questionnaires for self-assessment and monitoring growth.
(60 min) Creating wellbeing micro-habits: What, why, and how; Examples and practices; Discussion; Goals, actions, commitment.
(20 min) Using prompts and cues to care for your wellbeing.
(20 min) The experiential learning cycle.
Fieldwork: Create your wellbeing micro-habit, prompt and cue and all. Do your habit-work, five times, five days. Do, observe, reflect, adjust, and do again. Five times five makes twenty-five, but only if you do the work.
Weekly Coaching Calls (90 minutes) (Week 2-3-4)
Weekly Call 1
Self-track. The experiential learning cycle: What have you done in your fieldwork? What have you observed? What are your reflections, hypotheses, action theory, and learnings? What are you ready to experiment with, and what is your action plan?
Community track. Introducing wellbeing surveys to others.
Spotlight. Creating micro-habits.
Q&A, Takeaways, Commitments to Action.
Weekly Call 2
Self-track. Sharing and debrief: Learning cycle & newly established wellbeing micro-habit.
Community track. Making presentations to evoke interest and intrinsic motivation: Wellbeing promotes health, learner identity (growth mindset), and success.
Spotlight. Creating micro-habits. Engaging the full learning cycle; personal biases and preferences.
Q&A, Takeaways, Commitments to Action.
Pre-Work: Community track
Ask someone to complete the VIA-IS (Values in Action Inventory of Character Strengths; www.characterstrengths.org). Then, schedule a time to share their top five signature strengths with you and have a strengths conversation.
Weekly Call 3
Self-track. Sharing and debrief: Learning cycle & newly established wellbeing micro-habit.
Community track. Presenting Positive emotions.
Spotlight. Engaging the full learning cycle; personal biases and preferences.
Q&A, Takeaways, Commitments to Action.
Practice Work: Community track
Have the scheduled strengths conversation.
Month 2: Care for Other
Open Dialogue: Conversations about caring for wellbeing.
Design group conversations to help small groups, teams, and families to care for their wellbeing.
>> Lead other: needs survey, goals, skill gaps, intrinsic motivation, autonomy support, self-actualizing.
Spark conversations that activate organismic growth tendencies.
Help others create wellbeing habits & care for their wellbeing.
Check-in circles & Follow-up.
Advocate & educate for wellbeing literacy.
The other’s role in one’s wellbeing: Beyond positive relationships; Developmental relationships & the social as a resource; Ask for help.
Monthly Workshop (2 + 1 hours) (Week 5)
Help others to care for their wellbeing.
Design small group conversations to evoke others’ interest in caring for their wellbeing.
Understand the role of social models and persuasion in developing positive capacities, such as establishing wellbeing habits.
The power of self-concordant goal-setting and goal pursuit.
Fieldwork: Self-track
Consolidate micro-habits to form a habit or regular practice.
Fieldwork: Community track
Script your small group conversation about caring for wellbeing. Who will you approach to initiate the conversations; how and when?
Weekly coaching calls (90 minutes) (Week 6-7-8)
Weekly Call 1
Self-track. Sharing and debrief: Learning cycle & newly established wellbeing micro-habit.
Community track. Check-in: Group wellbeing conversation.
Spotlight. The language of strengths, positivity, and wellbeing.
Q&A, Takeaways, Commitments to Action.
Weekly Call 2
Self-track. Sharing and debrief: Learning cycle & newly established wellbeing micro-habit.
Community track. Presenting Engagement.
Spotlight. Discover, develop, and use strengths: Evaluating needs, gaps, and progress.
Q&A, Takeaways, Commitments to Action.
Weekly Call 3
Self-track. Sharing and debrief: Learning cycle & newly established wellbeing micro-habit.
Community track. Presenting Positive relationships.
Spotlight. Activating dormant strengths and capacities. Guarding weaknesses and vulnerabilities.
Q&A, Takeaways, Commitments to Action.
Fieldwork: Community track
Engage a small group to have a conversation about caring for their wellbeing.
Practice and refine your script to approach, initiate, and engage in small group conversations.
Month 3: Care for Community
Open Cafe: Co-creating better ways to care for wellbeing.
Facilitate large community groups
>> Lead community: Ask for help in your impact project.
Social determinants of wellbeing. Reciprocity; altruistic action; gratitude; forgiveness; generosity; generativity; stewardship.
Learning Content
Large Group Methods
Monthly Workshop (2 + 1 hours) (Week 9)
Working with large groups to co-create community wellbeing programs.
Supporting community wellbeing advocates and positive change agents.
Utilizing surveys to build literacy and awareness.
Mini-showcase your small group conversations and what you learned.
Self-assessment: How are you doing with your micro-habits? Creating routines and practices; consolidating micro-skills into skills toward competence and mastery; renewal and self-compassion on the way to mastery.
Fieldwork: Self-track
Create a regular wellbeing practice and a routine.
Weekly coaching calls (90 minutes) (Week 10-11-12)
Weekly Call 1
Self-track. Experiential learning: Your community impact project.
Community track. Presenting Meaning.
Spotlight. The benefits of pessimism. The downside of optimism.
Q&A, Takeaways, Commitments to Action.
Weekly Call 2
Self-track. Creating meaning through purpose: your community impact project and how it serves your wellbeing.
Community track. Community impact project working groups.
Spotlight.
Q&A, Takeaways, Commitments to Action.
Fieldwork: Community track
Engage a large group to have a conversation about co-creating a community wellbeing program.
Practice and refine your script to approach, initiate, and engage in large group conversations.
Weekly Call 3
Self-track. Experiential learning: Your community impact project.
Community track. Presenting Accomplishment.
Spotlight. Savor what you achieved. Celebrating learnings and sharing abundance.
Q&A, Takeaways, Commitments to Action.