The Value of Lemonade Stands

One of the 24 Values In Action from Positive Psychology research is Persistence (Perseverance and Industriousness)(p.229).  This weekend I stopped to buy a glass of lemonade from two children in my neighborhood.  I had backed out of my garage and did not notice the lemonade stand until I was about turn the corner.  I pulled over – not because I needed lemonade – but because they had taken the time to ask their parents to set the stand up for them.

Lemonade stands are not something parents force a kid to do.  Generally, kids ask for help to put a stand together.  Asking for a lemonade stand does not mean you are necessarily industrious, but it does help you learn in a safe environment what it might take to succeed in life.  I live in a gated community.  I do not live on a heavily trafficked street, yet these two children decided to try, in the 100 degree heat, to sell their tasty libation.  They could have been in the pool, in an air conditioned family room watching television, or on the computer playing games.  Instead, they chose to put themselves ‘out there’ and try their hand at a small business. 

I like that for whatever the reason we live in a country with a ‘lemonade stand’ metaphor.  When some business person wants to prove they were industrious from a young age, they like to talk about the newspaper routes and lemonade stands they started. As they get older and traverse greater challenges in less safe business environments, there are lots of stories of turning ‘lemons into lemonade.’  The metaphor of turning something naturally sour into something sweet and enjoyable is the perfect metaphor for teaching resilience.  Resilience is the attribute that supports persistence, perseverance and industriousness.  We are never too young, or too old, to learn to build such great attributes. 

Happy Monday.  Thank you, Andrea T. Goeglein, PhD

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Two academic resources to check out:  Character Strengths and Virtues by Christopher Peterson and Martin E. P. Seligman and Resilience by Karen Reivich

 

 

Flourish

Marty Seligman delivered this TED speech in 2004.  I was completing his Authentic Happiness Coaching program at that time and he told us about this speech.  This segment covers Positive Psychology to that point in its young history.  It is a good primer for those interested in the subject. 

One part not covered in this video that Marty shared during the class stuck with me -- because it is something I generally do not care about -- and that was when he taught that when Florence was the center of economic commerce, the greatest decision the wealthy made was to invest in the arts. 

It was that investment that helped the society flourish and continue to proposer for centuries.  Today, the core of Florence's global attraction is art and architecture created during that time (well maybe food, fashion and weather have something to do it, too). 

I live in Las Vegas.  Tourists do not come to Las Vegas because of the art and culture.  Yet, several years ago the buzz about the Smith Center for the Performing Arts and its creation began to circulate.  In March, 2012 The Smith Center opened -- after having been constructed during the worst depression in Las Vegas history (because the population of Las Vegas was so small during the Great Depression most stories you hear about Las Vegas and that depression are associated with how Las Vegas prospered from government stimulus -- specifically the building of Hoover Dam).

As I sat in the Smith Center Reynolds Hall for the first time last night, I understood what the leaders of Florence understood and what Marty Seligman was attempting to teach me...investment in the arts creates community.  Every seat in the hall was filled, and filled with faces of every race, creed, color and generation.  I have lived in Las Vegas 15 years, I have never experienced the electrifying sense of community I experience in that hall. 

I always knew Las Vegas would survive the depression of 2008-2012.  It was not until last night that I could see how it was going to again thrive. 

The Reynolds Foundation legacy will become the legacy of a city. 

Thank you, Andrea T. Goeglein, PhD
DrSuccess@ServingSuccess.com

The Economics of Well-Being - Harvard Business Review

The Economics of Well-Being - Harvard Business Review

This installment of the HBR happiness articles will not be reading for most of usual readers. I have included this article for all those in business who are responsible for talent development, training and education and all areas of employee engagement that has been difficult to justify without hard results.

Thank you, Andrea T. Goeglein, PhD
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DrSuccess@ServingSuccess.com

Ted.com and Positive Psychology

Tipping Points, Ted.com and Positive Psychology

In 2004 the founding force behind Positive Psychology was asked to give a talk at Ted.com. At the time I was taking a class from said force, Marty Seligman. I did not know what Ted.com was but like all good students quickly investigated. I have been a fan ever since, even devoting a full page of my website to their videos at one point.

I know now a tipping point has been reached. Ted is now posted on Facebook walls daily, has created TEDx community-supported events, and is referred to regularly by across generational populations. If you have not signed up for their free site, please do.  Be a part of something so very, very good.

I want to share the video that started it all for me.

Martin Seligman on positive psychology Video on TED.com

Thank you,

Andrea Goeglein, PhD
Dr. Success
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The Hidden Gift of the Gratitude Exercise Part 2

Some life work and gifts just have a way to keep on giving. In my last post I wrote of one man’s experience with writing a gratitude letter and the impact it had on the author and his recipients – his Mom and Dad. I also shared the sudden life change that occurred shortly after the letter was read by his Dad.

There were other gifts yet to come, one that I was lucky enough to have received. It came in the form of an email from my friend and former client – the author of the gratitude letter to his parents. This is part of the email I received on the one year anniversary of his father’s passing:

“As it turned out, he had read this letter just before he confirmed he had cancer which, of course, changed the dynamics of everything. And while I might have sent the letter after learning of his condition, your teachings led me to send the letter to them before the change of circumstance, as an “unrelated to anything else” gift, a knowledge and remembrance which I will always treasure.”

If you ever wonder why I say that money cannot be the measure of success, I hope you can see in this story how no amount of money could count the benefits received by so many involved in something as simple as a gratitude letter.

I will leave you again with the same question I closed my last post with, “Is there a letter you need to write?”

Thank you,
Andrea T. Goeglein, PhD
Dr. Success
www.facebook.com/DrSuccessPhD
http://www.servingsuccess.com/
1 866 975 3777
DrSuccess@ServingSuccess.com

The Hidden Gift of the Gratitude Exercise Part 1

As 2010 comes to a close, I decided to republish a blog about closure, letter writing and most of all gratitude for those we love in our lives.  Enjoy this day, and every day.  Remember to remember:  this moment is the only one you really have, may you use it to be love, see love, and live love.  Peace on Earth and in you always, Andrea

A cornerstone Positive Psychology exercise is the Gratitude Letter and Visit. I have admitted on more than one occasion that I did this exercise and hated it – yet I have never regretted doing it. The suggested process is you write a letter to someone who has helped you during your life, expressing what they did and how it helped you. You then arrange to visit with the person and read the letter to them. That was the part I hated. Yes, hated. Yet since the person I wrote to has since passed away, I appreciate that I have a complete feeling of closure with our relationship while we lived on this earth together. I had not expected that result, but with hindsight I know that the gratitude exercise contributed to that sense of closure. This result was duplicated with a former client and friend’s experience.

During work with a senior executive in his late 50’s I assigned the Gratitude Letter Exercise. Having a father in his last 80’s, this senior executive chose to write a letter to his Mom and Dad. Typical of a client interaction, he chose to write the letter but instead of following the protocol of reading it to the recipient(s), he wrote the letter and placed it in a book in his parent’s vast home library. He knew his parent’s had a habit of returning to certain books several times during the year. His Dad discovered the letter a short time later.

In the solitude of his beloved library, in a chair that fit him like a well worn shoe, he read a letter of love and appreciation from his son. He read examples of how, as a father, he had guided his son’s life every step of the way. He read how he taught his son to love his country because of his distinguished military experience, how his son learned to love his wife watching his Dad love his mother, and how his son learned to never give up on his children – because his parents never gave up on him.

You can only imagine the flood of pride and emotion his Dad felt upon reading his son’s words. My friends Dad told him that a letter had never meant so much, they shared tears of love and joy and spoke about how grateful and fortunate they all were to have had each other in their lives.

Life being life that is not the end of the story. Within two weeks of their tear filled conversation, his Dad received a terminal diagnosis. Within six months his Dad had passed away.

The only challenge I leave you today is a question, “Is there a letter you need to write?”

Thank you,
Andrea T. Goeglein, PhD
Dr. Success
www.facebook.com/DrSuccessPhD
http://www.servingsuccess.com/
1 866 975 3777
DrSuccess@ServingSuccess.com