Seven top tips taken from Positive Psychology for Overcoming Depression by Miriam Akhtar
Savour the moment: Relish, cherish, marvel, bask in and feast on life’s good stuff to maximise your enjoyment of a positive experience and generate positive emotions.
Practise gratitude: The attitude of gratitude helps you to grow your awareness of the good things in life and overcome the brain’s negativity bias, which spots what’s wrong before it notices what’s right.
Cultivate positivity: Make a ‘playlist’ of fun, enjoyable activities to act as a memory jogger when you’re low. Positive emotions build your resilience and undo the effects of negativity.
Learn optimism: Pessimism puts you on the fast track to depression while optimism’s cognitive tools act as psychological self-defence.
Nurture your relationships: Depression can lead to you withdrawing from social contact but relationships are vital for your happiness, so prioritise time in the company of your loved ones.
Meditate: Mindfulness meditation develops the brain’s capacity for positive emotions and helps you to detach from negativity.
Discover your strengths: Depression saps energy, undermines your functioning and may highlight a lack of meaning in life. Your strengths act as energisers to support your recovery and provide a clue to a positive direction to take.
Rock Star Parking, a Tight Ass, and Your Dream Job - Just Thank the Universe
AN EXTRACT FROM I'M SPIRITUAL, DAMMIT! by Jenniffer Weigel
Thank you in advance, Universe, for the parking space right where I need it.
“I can’t believe your luck,” my friend said, as we pulled into a parking space right in front of our lunch destination.
“It’s not luck,” I said. “I’ve changed my vocabulary.”
I got this idea of “thanking the Universe in advance” after reading Conversations with God by Neale Donald Walsch. Walsch writes that if you say that you want or need something, you will actually create more want and need in your life because that is the energy behind your statement.
“I want the perfect job.” Or “I need more money.”
The Universe is just delivering what you’re ordering.
The book claims that by assuming that you already have everything you need in every moment, your luck will change. It’s just a matter of allowing it to find you.
While this all looked good in print, I had a hard time believing that “thanking the Universe” for the perfect job would create that reality, so I decided to start with something smaller—parking spaces.
Thank you in advance for the “rock star” parking space.
How the 10-Day Self-Esteem Programme Works, taken from The Self-Esteem Coach by Lynda Field
Of course we all want to feel good about ourselves and our world. We want to: be happy and relaxed; have great relationships; attract prosperity and success; be motivated and enthusiastic; live a meaningful life and feel in control of our destiny. But where to begin? I know from long experience that anyone can change their life for the better, but they can only do so if they are in possession of three magical elements. When you bought this book you demonstrated two of the qualities that are absolutely necessary for your success: a strong intention to change and an unshakeable belief that this is possible. The third requirement is an excellent and foolproof plan! I have designed the programme to fit in with any lifestyle. Each day introduces a new topic and so you can dip in and out as time allows or you can begin at the beginning and follow the programme for 10 days.
Let The Self-Esteem Coach be an interactive experience for you. You bring your own unique self to the table and we all see things quite differently so be prepared to work creatively with the ideas in this book. Use your journal to jot down your answers to the exercises and also to add your own ideas, responses, thoughts and reflections. Question and investigate your process thoroughly – be your own coach. When you use the book like this it will become a meaningful reflection of your deepest beliefs, thoughts, feelings and desires. It will provide a personal record of your levels of self-esteem and it will demonstrate easy-to-use, practical techniques that you can apply to make changes in all areas of your life. You will create a confident new you who can finally bring your dreams into reality.
In my long career I have been privileged to hear many hundreds of wonderful stories of self-transformation. The most powerful positive changes often occur in the face of the greatest adversity so never ever give up on yourself. Fill your life with self-esteem and enjoy your full potential by discovering your own incredible and unique creative spirit.
You can change your life around, you have what it takes; begin today!