Choose Growth: A Workbook for Transcending Trauma, Fear, and Self-Doubt - Softcover

Kaufman PhD, Scott Barry; Feingold, Jordyn

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0593538633 ISBN 13: 9780593538630

Verlag: Penguin Publishing Group, 2022

Inhaltsangabe

A research-based toolkit for turning challenging times into a springboard for healing, insight, and new beginnings.

The trauma, loss, and uncertainty of our world have led many of us to ask life’s big questions. Who are we? What is our higher purpose? And how do we not only live through but thrive in the wake of tragedy, division, and challenges to our fundamental way of living?
 
Choose Growth is a practical workbook designed to guide you on a journey of committing to growth and the pursuit of self-actualization every day. Created by renowned psychologist and host of The Psychology Podcast Scott Barry Kaufman and positive medicine physician and researcher Jordyn Feingold, this is an evidence-based toolkit—a compendium of exercises intimately grounded in the latest research in positive psychology and the core principles of humanistic psychology that help us all navigate whatever choppy waters we find ourselves in.
 
Topics include fostering secure attachment, setting healthy boundaries, practicing radical self-acceptance, and more—and each exercise is grounded in the latest research from the fields of psychology and positive medicine.
 
Whether you’re healing from loss, adapting to the new normal, or simply looking ahead to life’s next chapter, this supportive and insightful guide will help you steer yourself to calmer waters—and deeper connection to your values, your life vision, and ultimately your most authentic self.

Über diesen Titel

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Scott Barry Kaufman, Ph.D., is a cognitive scientist and humanistic psychologist exploring the depths of human potential, and founder and director of The Center for Human Potential. He hosts The Psychology Podcast, and is author and/or editor of nine previous books, including Transcend: The New Science of Self-Actualization, Wired to Create: Unraveling the Mysteries of the Creative Mind (with Carolyn Gregoire), and Ungifted: Intelligence Redefined.

 
Jordyn Feingold, M.D., is a physician and well-being researcher, integrating the science and practice of positive psychology into medical education and practice. She is a founder of the emerging field of positive medicine.

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Chapter 1

Anchor Yourself

Before setting sail, let's experience what it feels like to get on the boat and anchor ourselves. Throughout this chapter, we will set you up for a smooth ride through the sometimes choppy and often unpredictable waters of life and the growth process. We will familiarize you with the features of your proverbial sailboat, your vessel throughout this growth journey, introduce you to those who may be on this ride with you, prepare you for the whole-body nature of this experience, and help you to secure the base of your boat. Let's begin.

What Do You Need?

Every human on the planet has fundamental needs that make us far more similar than we are different from one another. You have likely heard of the renowned "Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs," the pyramid structure attributed to Abraham Maslow, which posits that humans are motivated by increasingly "higher" levels of needs. As it's been interpreted and taught in psychology courses and pop psychology, the more basic needs-physical health, safety, belonging, and esteem-must be satisfied to a certain degree before we can fully self-actualize, becoming all that we can become.

The truth is, though, as Scott details in his book Transcend: The New Science of Self-Actualization, Maslow never actually created a pyramid to represent his hierarchy of needs. Whereas the pyramid shape implies we must ascend some metaphorical mountain until we complete each step, unlock the next level of possibility, and never look back, this is an unfortunate misrepresentation of the human condition. Maslow emphasized that we are in a constant state of maturation, and that growth is often a two-steps-forward, one-step-back phenomenon. Evolving in our human condition is not any one destination we are moving toward; it is an experience.

To guide us through our growth experience, Scott developed a flexible and functional new metaphor, the sailboat, to help us all conceptualize how the fundamental human needs really operate.

With holes in our boat, we can't go anywhere. When we are living in unsafe conditions, experiencing profound loneliness, or have poor perceptions of ourselves and our own abilities, our energy is often spent simply trying to stay afloat, plugging up the holes and keeping the water out to avoid disaster. Under more favorable conditions, the security needs of safety, connection, and self-esteem operate together to bring our lives stability and bolster us against the harsh waters of life.

But we don't stop there. Also essential to our human condition is growth, becoming all that we can become, what Maslow described as being "fully human." To grow, we can't just have a stable base, which is concerned primarily with defense and protection, but we must open our sails with vulnerability to life's winds and waves. Our sail enables us to be curious, open to understanding new truths about the world, to expand ourselves and discover new possibilities for our lives. The growth needs of exploration, love, and purpose function to help us revel in the beauty and goodness in the world and find our own place within it. In this "being realm of human existence," we see the world on its own terms, not only to the extent to which the world and people can satisfy our deficiencies.

As we'll uncover throughout the practices in the workbook, as we fortify our sailboat, it's not just about the level we reach or how large our sail is, but the integration and harmony we have within our boat, with ourselves, with our crewmates, and with the vast water around us. Transcendence, which rests on a secure foundation of both security and growth, allows us to attain wisdom and a sense of connectedness with the rest of humanity. Here's the catch, though: We can't seek transcendence directly. Rather, transcendent experiences come along for the ride of working on ourselves and engaging deeply with the world around us.

Let's begin to reflect on how our own proverbial boats have withstood the waves of our lives, and where we may have room for reengineering.

Practice

               1.            Spend some time quietly reflecting on the above passage and the sailboat image in the context of your own life. Consider the following questions about your own needs.

Security

In what ways do I feel safe and secure in my life right now?

In what ways does my safety feel challenged?

How is the general quality of my connections with other people?

What does my own internal dialogue or inner voice sound like?

Are there any areas in my life in which I feel like I'm just barely getting by?

How am I generally feeling about myself these days?

Growth

How am I generally feeling about the future?

What am I excited about right now?

What parts of myself and what parts of life am I most interested in exploring?

What is bringing me a sense of meaning in my life?

What types of things do I want to give my whole self to?

In what ways do I feel whole?

What makes me feel fully alive and vital?

               2.            Use the space below to fill in what your own sailboat looks like right now. Are there holes in the base of your boat? Your Sail? What areas of your boat require your greatest attention right now to help you meet your needs?

               3.            Based on the state of your sailboat, what have you discovered already about your needs and how they may be currently met or challenged? What is at least one intention you have for the rest of this journey?

Who's in Your Boat?

Now that we've taken stock of the state of our boats, let's think about who will be joining us along the ride. While this is designed to be a deeply personal adventure, it is not a solo expedition. Our pursuit of growth is a deeply interpersonal process, and research shows that having someone close such as a friend, romantic partner, or colleague who affirms our growth ideals enhances our ability to reach our goals and contributes to greater life satisfaction and psychological health.

We hope that you will choose to share some of the insights and revelations that you have about yourself and how you operate in the world with other people-friends, family members, partners, coworkers, or even a therapist or coach. Perhaps you will be moved to bring a particular topic to a family meal, your team at work, or your special someone. Maybe you'll engage a book club or reading group for accountability and support. Additionally, as we move into deeper waters, there may be times when we will feel out of our depths. Let's prepare for inevitable discomfort by thinking through who we might call upon to throw us a life vest so that we may, more safely, move into the unknown waters head-on.

Practice

1. Identify your crew.

               1.            Who in your life comprises your "crew," or the folks you would want in your sailboat with you, to help support your growth and hold you accountable on the journey ahead? (These folks can include anyone who you share your life with, alive or dead, humans or animals, who you can engage with literally or spiritually, through writing, journaling, or prayer.)

              ...

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: Penguin Publishing Group
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2022
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 0593538633
• ISBN 13: 9780593538630
• Einband: Taschenbuch
• Anzahl der Seiten: 224
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: Nicht verfügbar
• Verantwortliche Person: Buchbär; info@buchbaer.de; ; Weberstr. 67; Osnabrück; 49084; Deutschland