Practicing Your Religion Has Multiple Benefits
April 13, 2017 by Dr. Ryan Niemiec ·
Having a religion isn’t enough – you must practice that religion (new research shows). For those that practice their religion, some of the benefits are more love, forgiveness, gratitude and kindness. Particularly when compared to those who don’t practice. The following three groups of people across three countries... Read More
Mindfulness & Character Strengths: Teaching Students How to Flourish
July 27, 2016 by VIA Contributor ·
By applying a research-based approach to wellbeing across the school, our focus is to teach students the necessary skills to flourish and live a life of promise, purpose and fulfillment. As part of our positive education curriculum, students learn how to combine mindfulness and character strengths techniques. Arguably, the... Read More
Parent-Child Strengths Mapping
April 19, 2016 by VIA Institute on Character ·
Being a parent is hard work. There is no job description that can fully prepare you for the responsibility, rewards, challenges and uncertainty that come with having children. How can you possibly nurture and guide this other person when you are still navigating life yourself? Well…you do it together!... Read More
What Are Your “Defining Moments”?
February 22, 2016 by Dr. Ryan Niemiec ·
We all have moments in our lives that can be considered “defining moments”– times when a certain thing happened that changed our life trajectory. Taking time to reflect and focus on these moments can improve your life. Consider this first date I had 14 years ago. After a stagnant and... Read More
The Happiness Exercises You’ve Never Heard Of
December 7, 2015 by Dr. Ryan Niemiec ·
It seems certain positive psychology exercises get all of the love and attention. This post is for those “under-appreciated” but highly effective strategies that you may not have heard of. I’ll also follow-up with the popular strategies for boosting happiness in a later post. But for now, here’s to... Read More
5 Tips To Make Your Mindfulness Practice Easier
October 15, 2015 by Dr. Ryan Niemiec ·
You may think that developing a mindfulness practice is something that “is too difficult for you” or “you don’t have time for”. Here I’ll show you 5 easy tips that will prove a mindfulness practice can be integrated into ANY schedule for ANY person. Tip #1: Start with the... Read More
10 Ways To Develop Your Strengths At Work
August 12, 2015 by VIA Contributor ·
Next week more than one thousand people around the world will see if they can put their strengths to work more intentionally. Want to know what they’ll be trying? As part of the first free global Strengths Challenge, we’ve invited leaders, employees, contractors and entrepreneurs to create an eleven-minute... Read More
Use Your Strengths To Happify Your Life!
July 28, 2015 by Dr. Ryan Niemiec ·
Character Strengths Character strengths are positive traits, or capacities within us, that contribute to personal fulfillment and bring benefit of others. The science of character has boomed in the last decade as leading researchers and practitioners deepen the study of those core ingredients that are best in human beings. Since the... Read More
24 Ways to Make Mindfulness Stickier
April 13, 2015 by Dr. Ryan Niemiec ·
I don’t have the time to practice mindfulness. I would like to meditate but I usually forget. Meditation is too difficult. My mind always wanders. When I survey participants in my mindfulness programs, these are the three most common mindfulness obstacles people report. I say “obstacles” because these are... Read More
Is There A Strengths Revolution Underway In Our Workplaces?
March 10, 2015 by VIA Contributor ·
As a senior leader in a large global organization I was shocked when I first came across the data that suggested only 2 out of every 10 people had a chance to do what they do best each day at work. Shocked, but not surprised. Let’s be honest at... Read More