Business finance - management positive psy-1 assignments

1.3Assignment.TheGoodLifeandSpiritualFormation.docx

1.3 Assignment. The Good Life and Spiritual Formation

Getting Started

In this assignment, we introduce you to a concept referred to as “the good life.” What is “the good life,” you ask? If you randomly posed that question to 100 strangers you would likely get 100 different and probably very diverse answers. It is a subjective question, of course, that is based on a person’s interpretation of “good.” For some, “the good life” means financial security. For others, it could involve robust health, abundant friendships, living in safety, harmonious family relationships, or living in a geographic area that fits their dream.

When asking that question from the perspective of positive psychology, it is focused on the idea of what contributes to a person’s happiness and it is closely aligned with a person’s core values. In other words, how you define your core values will greatly influence your conception of what a “good” life, or one that promotes well-being, entails. The research behind positive psychology has identified five core components that lead to a state of well-being in most people using an acronym called PERMA. PERMA stands for:

· Positive emotion

· Engagement

· Relationship

· Meaning

· Accomplishment

Because these are so important to our overall understanding of positive psychology and the coaching process, we will discuss each of these components separately in the course. As a starting point, in this assignment, you will have the opportunity to take an online PERMA survey that will measure your well-being and your level of satisfaction with your current work. In addition to immediate feedback from the survey, the assessment tool will also prompt you to develop an action plan for desired changes you might want to make in your life. You will then use this feedback and action plan in the written portion of this assignment.

You will also apply the learning from the assessment to life coaching and spiritual formation. Understanding how the PERMA components integrate with life coaching and spiritual formation will be a main focus of this assignment. This integration will be especially important as you begin to think ahead to your capstone project, which we will discuss in the next assignment.

Upon successful completion of this assignment, you will be able to:

· Describe the PERMA (Positive emotion, Engagement, Relationship, Meaning and Accomplishment) model and how it applies personally.

Background Information

After completing the assigned reading and watching the PERMA video, you’ll take a free online survey that measures your well-being or level of satisfaction with your current work. You’ll need to create an account (don’t worry, it’s free), after which you’ll receive a password by email that will enable you to take the survey. Remember, you can opt out of future contact from the site.

The instructions for taking the survey are self-explanatory and the results are available immediately after completing the survey. The results are followed by prompts to apply action points in two of the five areas measured in the survey. As you indicate your action points, the inventory will contribute additional practical suggestions on how to implement your plan. You can then print an extensive PDF report, which you can use to develop your paper for this assignment.

Instructions

1. Read Chapter 2, “Why Feeling Good Matters: The Science Behind Positive Emotions,” in your textbook Positive Psychology in Coaching: Applying Science to Executive and Personal Coaching.

2. Read these articles:

a. “ What is the Good Life? (new tab) ”

b. “ Spiritual Formation (new tab) ”

3. Watch the following videos:TEDTalks:Dr. Matin Seligman

1. PERMA: ( Transcript (new tab) )

2. The Good Life From Title:( Transcript (PDF document) )

4. Complete the PERMA Well-Being Survey (new tab) . Complete the PERMA Well-Being Survey. If you don't have an account, you will need to register with your email address to create an account. Registration is free. A confirmation email will be sent to your email.

5. After completing the PERMA survey on well-being, answer the following questions in a three- to four-page paper.

a. You will have three assignments related to the Good Life throughout this course. In preparation for Workshop Three, you will have the opportunity to share what you are learning about the Good Life with a friend, family member, or coworker. Write about who you would like to engage in a conversation about the Good Life.

b. Schedule a time to meet with your colleague, friend, or family member about the Good Life conversation during Workshop Two so you can complete a write-up of your meeting in Workshop Three.

c. What are the three most important takeaways from your PERMA report? Explain them in detail.

d. What two areas did you choose to develop your plan around? Why did you choose these two areas?

e. Of the several suggestions that were provided for implementing changes in these two areas, which are you most likely to implement in the immediate future? How do you concretely intend to do this for both areas?

f. How do you see the PERMA components being effectively used in life coaching? Name at least two ways.

g. How would you integrate spiritual formation into the well-being goals developed in your action plan? Be specific.

h. Thinking critically about the PERMA model, what seems to be missing or needs more emphasis to fully address the overall physical, mental, social, and emotional health of an individual? Provide detailed comments to explain your points.

i. In light of what you have learned about PERMA and the Good Life so far, what are two key themes or concepts that connect with you or are important to you in pursuit of a good life? You will have an opportunity to create a draft of a Good Life Project in PSY 590 based on what you are learning in this course, so as you consider themes that are important to you in this assignment, also keep in mind how you might live these concepts out in a practical way.

6. Be specific in your responses and use concrete examples from the textbook, supplemental readings, outside sources, and personal experiences to frame your writing.

7. Use the APA 7th Edition.

8. If you use outside resources in the development of your paper, be sure to appropriately cite the material. At the very least, you will have one citation for the survey.

a. Use in-text citations and APA format for direct quotations and references to the readings.

1.4Assignment.CapstoneReflectionJournal-DevelopingYourCapstoneProject.docx

1.4 Assignment. Capstone Reflection Journal - Developing Your Capstone Project

Getting Started

Remember, this assignment is separate from your TED-style talk assignment. The TED talk and the Capstone Project are two separate projects that you will be working on, refining, and implementing in the next few courses.

Throughout the Masters in Psychology program, we have been referring to a capstone project that you will be working on. We’ve structured it so that you have been sequentially working on pieces of the project along the way. You began thinking about a topic in your very first course, then you completed a literature review in PSY-561, and then completed an outline of the content in a broad manner to get some general direction. In PSY 561, you also reviewed your journals and previous coursework to begin a deeper dive into what your Capstone Project will look like.

Also, keep in mind that your Capstone Project idea needs to meet these three criteria also highlighted in PSY 561:

· Your project needs to engage a small group of people.

· It needs to be related to life coaching and/or positive psychology.

· It needs to reflect the work you’ve completed in your literature review from PSY-561.

Do you remember this example about gratitude? A Capstone Project could be demonstrating gratitude to a few people in your life by writing and delivering meaningful gratitude letters to them and measuring your level of happiness before and after the visits. Another capstone idea mentioned could be designing a brief series of life coaching lessons for young adults and then sharing the information with a small group over a three-week period of time with pre- and post-tests to assess the impact of your work. You could also decide to create a positive psychology podcast series and share it on YouTube or Facebook with a small group of friends and family and ask them for feedback. You are only limited by your imagination and the three criteria mentioned above.

You should have a better idea of what you are doing for your Capstone Project based on what you have done so far, especially after working through assignments in PSY 561. If you are still struggling with what you are doing, please do reach out to your instructor as soon as possible.

As a reminder, over these next two specialization courses (PSY-562, 563), you will continue to work on components of your Capstone Project. In this course, PSY-562, you will refine it. In PSY-563, you will finalize the details so that you are ready to implement your plan and evaluate the outcome in PSY-590. So, this course allows you to refine and focus your project idea.

Because you have chosen the life coaching and positive psychology specialization in your program, you also want to keep in mind that your project should be related to some aspect of life coaching and/or positive psychology. Ideally, you will also want your project to reflect one of the 12 life coaching niches that were mentioned previously and that you will review in this assignment.

Over these next two specialization courses (PSY-562 and 563), you will also work on preparing for and practicing life coaching with an individual client. This is separate from your Capstone Project, and the client with whom you will practice life coaching is different than the individuals you will be working within your Capstone Project. For your Capstone Project, you will need to work with a small group of people, preferably in the area of coaching you hope to go into. The coaching sessions you complete in PSY 563 may help you prepare for your Capstone Project, even though they will be separate individuals.

In this Capstone Reflection Journal, you will focus on refining your plan for the Capstone Project. For this journal entry, it would be helpful to first review the Capstone Project Outline Update document that you completed in Workshop Five of PSY-561. This, along with any feedback that the instructor gave you on that assignment, will give you the best starting point for developing a more concrete plan for your Capstone Project.

To develop your Capstone Project plan even more, write at least one substantive paragraph addressing each of the seven points below. Here are the components that need to be included in your plan:

1. Provide a detailed description of your Capstone Project.

2. Who is your target audience and why have you chosen them?

3. What is the specific need you are trying to meet for this audience through your project?

4. What do you specifically intend to do with this target audience to meet that need?

5. How does your intended action point relate to life coaching and positive psychology?

6. How will your project incorporate and reflect your literature review from PSY-561?

7. Where will you conduct the project?

8. What resources might you need to complete the project?

Upon successful completion of this assignment, you will be able to:

· Explain the foundational design of the capstone project based upon the chosen life coaching area.

Background Information

The focus of this journal entry is to help you adequately prepare to finalize your Capstone Project in the next course so that you can implement it in the final course. In order to be prepared to do that, it is critical that you elaborate as fully as possible on the questions posed in the eight questions below. The more detail you can provide, the better your course instructor can help guide you and offer feedback that will give you a strong foundation for finalizing the Capstone Project preparation in PSY-563.

Instructions

1. Remember, this is separate from your TED-style talk assignment. The TED talk and the Capstone Project are two separate projects that you will be working on, refining, and implementing in the next two courses. You will finalize your TED-style talk and record it in PSY-563, and implement your Capstone Project in PSY-590.

2. Keep in mind the three criteria by which your project will be evaluated:

a. Your project needs to engage a small group of people.

b. Your Capstone Project needs to be related to life coaching and/or positive psychology.

c. It needs to reflect the work you’ve completed in your literature review from PSY-561.

3. Write at least one substantive paragraph addressing each of the eight points below, which are the core components of your implementation plan for PSY-590.

a. Provide a detailed description of your Capstone Project.

b. Who is your target audience, the small group you will work with, and why have you chosen them?

c. What is the specific need you are trying to meet for this audience through your project?

d. What do you specifically intend to do with this target audience to meet that need? Remember, you will have two to three weeks to work with your small group in PSY-590. You will need to provide the small group with content related to what you have been learning in this program, positive psychology and coaching, and include an intervention or practice they can utilize in their lives in some way.

e. How does your intended action point relate to life coaching and positive psychology?

f. How will your project incorporate and reflect your literature review from PSY-561?

g. Where will you conduct the project?

h. What resources might you need to complete the project?

4. Read the article How to Interview Someone Like a Journalist (new tab) .

5. Your journal entry should be a minimum of eight paragraphs.