The SPIRE of Career Planning: How to Build Happiness and Optimism with Meaningful Career Goals

My first post on the SPIRE of career planning explained how to embrace a positive mindset around your career planning and then conduct a personal assessment of your purpose, values, passions, and strengths. In this post, we will explore how to incorporate those elements to set meaningful career goals and create an action plan.  The result will help you to …

The SPIRE of Career Planning: How to Build Happiness and Optimism into Your Career Part 1

Career planning may feel daunting so here is something that can help to make the process feel fulfilling and motivating, build resilience and lead to greater optimism: The SPIRE model of happiness. Let’s explore the SPIRE of Career Planning! Career Planning is a great way to clarify what you want to achieve professionally and how to get there.  My method …

Strengths and Happiness Part 2: The SPIRE of Strengths

How do you feel when you are doing something that you are really good at and that you love? Probably pretty terrific! That’s because you are using your strengths: the talents that energize you.  Research from positive psychology demonstrates that identifying and using your strengths enhances your capacity for greater well-being and happiness. Strengths connect closely to Tal Ben-Shahar’s research-based …

Strengths and Happiness Part I: How Strengths Help You Live Your Purpose

What are you good at? What energizes you? What motivates you to achieve your big goals? Welcome to strengths! Strengths are a major component of positive psychology, the science of what makes life worth living.  The strengths-based approach of positive psychology helps individuals to identify and focus on the positive aspects of their lives. In fact, research demonstrates that identifying …

Flow and SPIRE Model of Happiness: How Flow Boosts Your Happiness

Think back to the last time that you were doing something: that you love, where you were totally immersed in this activity and in the zone, totally confident, free of judgment, feeling tremendous joy and so absorbed in what you were doing that time was going by and you didn’t even notice it. How do you feel? Chances are that …

Happiness and Balance: How Leaders Use the SPIRE Model for Life Balance

Does life balance give rise to greater happiness? How can the science of happiness help to achieve happiness AND balance? These are the questions that I explored with the alumni of  OPERA America’s Leadership Intensive Program at the recent Leadership Intensive Alumni Forum in Los Angeles, California. These non-profit arts leaders have been through an incredibly demanding period starting with the …

Shoutout LA: Meet Astrid Baumgardner

“I feel a renewed sense of excitement as I share the science of happiness with my students and clients.” Shoutout LA published an entire feature on Astrid and her work. Check it out! Meet Astrid Baumgardner | Executive and Career Coach and Teacher to Arts Leaders, Professional Musicians and Creative Entrepreneurs

The Wisdom of Improv: 6 Principles to Enhance Your Happiness and Well-Being

Last month, I was thrilled to offer a workshop on improvisation (or improv) at the live retreat of my science of happiness program in Akumal, Mexico.  It was amazing to meet our professor, Tal Ben-Shahar, and 60 other happiness journeyers from all over the world who are part of the Happiness Studies Academy community for a beautiful weekend on Riviera …

How to Recharge and Prevent Burnout: 5 Happiness Practices for Creatives

The fall season is upon us and the arts are back! Along with the excitement of a new season, there are still many challenges for people in the arts. And these challenges can lead to burnout on the part of arts leaders and creative artists. Let’s explore five happiness practices that can help prevent burnout in these creatives and allow …