#wellbeing

Yale's most popular course in 300 years was about happiness. Laurie Santos's 'Psychology and the Good Life' enrolled nearly 1,200 students in 2018, a quarter of all Yale undergrads. The Coursera version reached 3.38 million by 2021. The core finding: we're systematically bad at predicting what will make us happy. We overestimate the impact of money, promotions, and acquisitions. The brain adapts to new circumstances and returns to baseline - a phenomenon called hedonic adaptation, first described by Brickman and Campbell in 1971. The famous lottery/paralysis study (Brickman 1978) is more nuanced than it gets credit for. Lottery winners were NOT significantly happier than controls. But accident victims were still less happy than controls - they did NOT 'return to baseline within one year' as often claimed. The study was cross-sectional, not longitudinal. What actually works for wellbeing? Social connection, kindness, savouring, sleep, exercise, and specific gratitude. Not manifesting. Not the next purchase. The research is clear that intentional activities outperform circumstances - though the exact percentages are debated. Read more: https://news.yale.edu/2018/04/26/overflowing-woolsey-interest-psychology-and-good-life-goes-global https://psycnet.apa.org/doiLanding?doi=10.1037%2F0022-3514.36.8.917 #psychology #science #wellbeing

"Much suffering, much unhappiness arises when you take each thought that comes into your head for the truth.” ~ Eckhart Tolle #quotes #dailylife #wellbeing #Thoughts #thinking #happiness #EckhartTolle

What are the 'luteal uglies'? And how they're affecting women https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cy0jk6wjkn0o?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=rss #Health #WomensHealth #Wellbeing

"Hope is the feeling we have that the feeling we have is not permanent." ~Mignon McLaughlin Famous for her clever aphorisms, journalist Mignon McLaughlin summarizes the nature of #hope here in a simple but powerful way. #threegoodthings #mentalhealth #wellbeing #USPol #premarket #investing

"The difference between misery and happiness depends on what we do with our attention." https://www.sharonsalzberg.com/bio This quote comes from Salzberg’s book “Lovingkindness,” which encourages self-compassion as the first step to changing our #perspective. We have more control over our #outlook than we think, if we can learn to choose where to focus our #energy. #threegoodthings #wellbeing #mentalhealth

Here’s a #MondayMorningMinute with #nature here on #WorldBeeSanctuary. Take a moment. #pause Go do some #good. Have the best week you can. If you’re not having a good week - tell someone. And if someone tells you - Listen. Really #listen. #mentalhealth #wellbeing #summer #health #life #meadows #wildlife #naturephotography

Screamers welcome: Chicago scream club lets people 'give in and let go' https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jul/27/chicago-scream-club-screaming #WorldNews #Community #Wellbeing

Here’s a #MondayMorningMinute with #nature here on #WorldBeeSanctuary. Take a moment. #pause Go do some #good. Have the best week you can. If you’re not having a good week - tell someone. And if someone tells you - Listen. Really #listen. #mentalhealth #wellbeing #summer #life #health #bees #wildflowers #monday

Do we talk enough about mental health in #IT?

At #PSConfEU, @tracisewell.com@bsky.brid.gy shares: ✅ How to recognise when someone is struggling ✅ Why listening matters more than fixing ✅ The importance of open conversations

👉 youtu.be/qLZcoTOF514?si=FKx...

#PowerShell #Conference #Wellbeing

• YouTube

Obsessing About Our Mental Health Is Part of Our Mental Health Problem https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/26/opinion/mental-health-exercise-charity.html #MentalHealth #Psychology #Wellbeing

Obsessing About Our Mental Health Is Part of Our Mental Health Problem https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/26/opinion/mental-health-exercise-charity.html #MentalHealth #Psychology #Wellbeing

New in our electronic collection: ➡️ #Work Meaning and #Motivation. #Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Work #WellBeing 🔗 https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-032-23826-9 #OpenScience #economics #economy #sociology #organization #psychology #books #bookstodon

There’s a quiet epidemic running through C-suites worldwide, and most boards won’t admit it exists. It shows up in the third consecutive all-nighter before the quarterly earnings call. In the executive who hasn’t taken a real weekend off since the merger announcement. In the senior leader whose children can barely remember their parent’s face without a phone screen in between. We tend to dress it up as “commitment” or “dedication.” Sometimes we call it “high performance.” But beneath the corporate euphemisms lies something simpler and harder to swallow: leaders are running on fumes, and everyone pays the price. Why this isn’t just a wellness problem Let me be blunt: framing executive wellbeing as a mental-health initiative misses the point entirely. This isn’t about meditation apps or wellness stipends. Those are band-aids on a bullet wound. When you’re making decisions that affect thousands of jobs, millions in revenue, and an entire organization’s trajectory, cognitive clarity isn’t a luxury. It’s a competitive requirement. And stress, fatigue, and chronic exhaustion don’t just make people feel terrible—they actively degrade the neural machinery required for sound judgment. Harvard Business Review covered this ground extensively. So did McKinsey. The research keeps landing on the same uncomfortable finding: sleep-deprived executives make measurably worse decisions. They become reactive instead of reflective. They default to familiar patterns when they should be innovating. They overestimate risks and underestimate opportunities. None of this registers on a balance sheet until months later, when a missed acquisition target or failed transformation reveals what should have been obvious at the start. But here’s what the reports rarely say out loud: the culture of leadership rewards the opposite behavior. There’s still a weird prestige attached to looking perpetually drained. As if burnout is a badge of honor rather than a warning sign. What actually works Okay, so we know the problem. Now what? Because this isn’t solved with nice intentions or another DEI statement on wellbeing. It requires structural change—the kind that makes some boards nervous because it means admitting that the current model isn’t sustainable. Here’s what I’ve seen work, across organizations ranging from Fortune 500 companies to growing startups: Stop glorifying the grind. Sounds simple. It’s not. When the CEO sends emails at 3 AM, that signal ripples down faster than any policy memo ever could. Some companies have started enforcing actual boundaries—no weekend messages, mandatory offline periods during leave, meeting-free blocks that executives can’t override with their own back-to-back schedules. It feels radical. That’s probably why it works. Give leaders somewhere safe to talk. The isolation at the top is brutal. Few peers understand the weight of having final accountability. Even fewer are willing to admit vulnerability. External peer groups help. Executive coaches with real clinical training help more. But it takes courage to build these channels without making usage somehow visible to HR or compensation committees. Trust is everything here. Treat recovery as infrastructure. Travel, sleep, exercise, nutrition—these aren’t personal choices for senior leaders. They’re operational requirements. A fatigued CFO doesn’t make better decisions. An exhausted COO doesn’t run a tighter operation. Companies that recognize this embed recovery time into travel policies, provide comprehensive health monitoring as standard benefit rather than perk, and design meeting structures that don’t assume humans can function optimally after six hours of back-to-back calls. Let the board ask hard questions. Compensation committees should be asking more than “did you hit your numbers?” They should ask: how sustainable is that performance? Are you building resilience or burning bridges? The language might feel unfamiliar, but so did ESG five years ago. What seems soft today becomes standard tomorrow. The bottom line Here’s the thing: the next generation of leaders isn’t buying the old playbook. They’re reading the data on burnout. They’re watching their predecessors crack under pressure. They’re choosing differently—and companies need to figure out how to meet them there. Organizations that get ahead of this shift won’t just retain better talent. They’ll make better decisions, move faster on critical initiatives, and navigate crisis with actual clarity rather than performative calm. The wellbeing dividend is real. It just requires acknowledging that human beings aren’t machines, no matter what the org chart suggests. The question isn’t whether companies can afford to invest in their leaders’ health. It’s whether they can afford not to. And for anyone reading this who’s currently working through lunch again—take a breath. Your board needs you sharp, not spent. #wellbeing #MentalHealth #burnout #ExecutiveBurnout #business #OrganizationalCulture #organization #health

There’s a quiet epidemic running through C-suites worldwide, and most boards won’t admit it exists, writes Laura Cooper (@laura@vebinet.com). Read the full article: https://mediascope.group/the-uncomfortable-truth-about-executive-burnout/ #burnout #MentalHealth #ExecutiveBurnout #leadership #business #wellbeing #people #management #corporate #company #organization #sustainability #workplace

Here’s a #MondayMorningMinute with #nature here on #WorldBeeSanctuary. Take a moment. #pause Go do some #good. Have the best week you can. If you’re not having a good week - tell someone. And if someone tells you - Listen. Really #listen. #mentalhealth #wellbeing #bees #meadow #fieldscabious #summer #health

So distressed you can't think straight? Lower the intensity with these 4 skills https://www.npr.org/2026/07/20/nx-s1-5894845/so-distressed-you-cant-think-straight-lower-the-intensity-with-these-4-skills #MentalHealth #CopingSkills #Wellbeing

Here’s a #MondayMorningMinute with #nature here on #WorldBeeSanctuary. Take a moment. #pause Go do some #good. Have the best week you can. If you’re not having a good week - tell someone. And if someone tells you - Listen. Really #listen. #mentalhealth #wellbeing #summer #July #meadow #health

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📚 Philosophy

The Japanese concept of Ikigai (生き甲斐) translates to "reason for being" and represents a framework for finding personal meaning and direction in life. Unlike objective success metrics such as salary or test scores, Ikigai is inherently subjective — it is defined by the individual, not by external benchmarks.

Core Framework

The Ikigai model identifies four intersecting conditions that define meaningful engagement:

1. What you love doing
2. What you are good at
3. What you can be paid for
4. What the world needs

The intersection of these four domains constitutes a person's Ikigai. The concept does not restrict itself to professional life — it can manifest through family, hobbies, community service, or creative pursuits.

Historical Context

While the term existed in Japanese culture long before its popularization, psychiatrist Mieko Kamiya (1914–1979) brought it into broader awareness with her 1966 book "On the Meaning of Life" (生きがいについて). This book has never been translated from Japanese into English, which means much of the Western understanding of Ikigai comes from secondary interpretations rather than the original source. This matters because simplified versions circulating online often strip away cultural nuance.

Research Findings

A longitudinal study by Levy, Slade, Kunkel, and Kasl (2002) examined the relationship between Ikigai and health outcomes. Participants who reported having an Ikigai showed higher rates of marriage, employment, and educational attainment. Mortality rates were significantly lower among those with Ikigai, with the gap primarily driven by fewer deaths from cardiovascular disease.

The study is correlational. It does not establish that Ikigai causes better health outcomes. The relationship could run in either direction or be mediated by other factors like socioeconomic status or social support.

Parallels and Limitations

There is conceptual overlap with Western positive psychology, but the framing differs. Ikigai emphasizes contribution and interdependence, while positive psychology leans toward individual flourishing. The source here is a Wikipedia article, not the original paper. Effect sizes, sample sizes, and methodological details are absent. Anyone citing these findings should read the Levy et al. (2002) paper directly.

🔹 ikigai #philosophy #positivepsychology #wellbeing #research

🔗 Source: https://he.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D7%90%D7%99%D7%A7%D7%99%D7%92%D7%90%D7%99

What Studies Tell Us About the Relationship Between Creativity and Happiness https://www.chronogram.com/resource-guide/what-studies-tell-us-about-the-relationship-between-creativity-and-happiness/ #Creativity #Psychology #Wellbeing

On decision fatigue : "Why are you so tired? The... https://kottke.org/26/06/0049227-on-decision-fatigue #Psychology #Productivity #Wellbeing