What I'm most interested in as a practitioner is wellbeing, and what we can do to maintain and enhance our wellbeing. There is good evidence that the higher our psychological wellbeing the more likely we are to perform effectively, both personally and professionally. In the business setting, those with higher psychological wellbeing are more likely to

§     Live longer; be sick less often; have a happier home and work life

§     See ambiguous events as less threatening

§     Feel that unfavourable feedback is less hurtful

§     Use less contentious interpersonal tactics

§     Show higher levels of engagement at work

That's quite a powerful list, don't you think? If we can achieve all those things as an individual and more widely as an organisation, we maximise our personal potential and reap the benefits as a business too. If we're feeling good physically and emotionally, we're more likely to feel good psychologically and vice-versa. For the business, there is clearly a strong relationship between wellbeing and performance. When you stretch yourself to achieve, and do achieve, you feel good about that, and about yourself, and can feel motivated to continue that process and stretch yourself to achieve again and feel good about yourself again. This will often be because you've achieved at something that's important to you/you've achieved your goals. We are more likely to be engaged as a result, more resilient, and better able to deal with the ups and downs of our home and work lives.  

Event                            What I say to myself    Consequences

Poor work appraisal       'I am useless'                 Anger

Too much work              'I can't cope'                  Skin irritation

Upcoming event             'I can't do it'                  Anxiety

Someone treats me        'I'm rubbish'                   Low mood

badly

The examples are on the face of it of varying levels of seriousness, and are used to illustrate how we can react in different situations, and most importantly, where these consequences come from: ourselves. This is not to say that we can just think our way out of major negative life events. We are not emotionless beings, and would not wish to be so. The message here is that to a large extent how I react is determined by how I perceive what happens to me.

We're looking here at the B/C connection, and how 'B' provokes the response, not 'A'

Some of these consequences are understandable, normal and natural, and perhaps helpful even. Problems can occur when they get in the way, go on for too long, and stop us from moving forward or living life and dealing with situations etc as we would wish to.

What needs to happen?

What I need to do therefore is tell myself something different at 'B', something more helpful if I want to change the consequences at 'C'.

Also, if I can improve what happens at 'B', I'll feel better about myself, won't have so many negative thoughts, and I'm likely to be more effective in my life as a result

So, changing what happens at 'B' will help what happens at 'C', and at 'A' also (If I feel good about life, and feel emotionally and psychologically well, and am performing well and to my potential, the likelihood of good things happening to me will increase and I'm liable to be more successful). More on this in future newsletters.