General

2013: Top 10 Articles on Mappalicious

  1. Top 10History in the making: Epic Harvard Study on what keeps Men healthy and happy
  2. Monkey (Porn) Business keeps up with the Kardashians
  3. 7 common Misconceptions about Positive Psychology
  4. Does Coaching really work? Yes, it does! And here´s some sound Scientific Evidence…
  5. Pennsylvania, here I come…
  6. Positive Psychology: Is it about Pleasure? Or Meaning? Or both?
  7. Grit: the Key for long-term Success?
  8. The crucial Difference between ‘Positive Psychology’ and ‘Positive Thinking’
  9. Getting older? Do not fear! For Age brings you Happiness…
  10. Grit and Flow as alternating Stages on the Road to Achievement?

 

Source for Top 10 graphic

2013 – 8760h: How time flies…really?

Every time a year draws to a close, a lot of people start saying something like “Oh, how time flies…”. Mostly, it is used in a slightly sniveling fashion – as if those people might have missed something. I guess that´s why they show all those year-end retrospectives on TV. But then, they invite all these VIP and VEP (Very Exceptional People) – and at the end of the day, one´s own life might seem insignificant in comparison.

So why not create your own personal year-end retrospective?* Why not have a look at what really happened in those last 365 days?

Merry Christmas and happy new Year!

Nico Rose - Neon - Euromasters

One year consists of 8760 hours! I have…

Big Chunks

Need to Talk

Nico Rose - TEDxKoeln

Working with real People

New Beginnings

  • started to study (surprise, surprise…) positive psychology (and therefore spent 22 days in the U.S.)
  • started the blog Mappalicious (surprise, surprise…again…) and written 62 articles (including this one)
  • published 5 articles as “Digital Leader” via lead-digital.de
  • bought an acoustic guitar, taken 7 lessons and practiced about 10 hours (definitely not enough)

Endings

Not so nice

Very nice

  • been promoted at Bertelsmann

Nico Rose - Birthday

Personal Stuff

  • said “I love you” +365 times (not every day, but several times on some of the days)
  • canoodled with my son approx. one million times
  • read +80 good-night stories (definitely not enough, please refer to kilometers travelled)
  • had approx. 700 cappuccinos and 5 kg chicken tikka
  • been to 5 metal concerts and one opera premier

My New Year´s resolution: having myself cloned!

So, how might your very own year-end retrospective look like?

* Please excuse the fact that a lot links in this article will lead to German sites. I´ve really just started publishing in English this year – so most of my stuff is still in German…

2013: Top 10 Book List on Positive Psychology

Grant: Give and TakeJust a quick note: This link leads to a great book list issued by the Greater Good Science Center at Berkeley, one of the finest institutions in the science and business of positive psychology.* A couple of the authors also teach in the MAPP program.

*Of course, nothing can compare to the Positive Psychology Center at Penn… 😉

Win 3×2 copies of my Book “License for Satisfaction”

For my German readers (or English readers who would like to learn German…): If you would like to win 3×2 copies of my book License for Satisfaction, please visit my personal Facebook page. There, you´ll get to participate…

Dr. Nico Rose - License for Satisfaction

I had a black Dog, his name was Depression

Event though this is blog about positive psychology, I´d really like to share with you this educational video about depression created by WHO. Unfortunately, even though so many people suffer from depression, there are even more people who don´t know about the typical symptoms and what it does to us, to our thinking, our feeling, how it interferes with leading a normal life, partnership, and so on. I think, the following video captures all that in a very palpable way. Please share and let other people know, too…

Mappalicious: The first 100 Days

100 DaysWhen a new CEO or political leader assumes an office, typically there is this special 100 day time window to deliver some first results. Today, Mappalicious is 100 days old. So I thought: why not create a first retrospective. So here´s what happened so far:

A big thank you to all my readers!

Clip art source

Welcome to Hogwarts

Just in case you want to know: Studying at Penn feels a little bit like attending Hogwarts. Of course, there are modern buildings, too – but a lot of the facilities are just adorable. This picture shows Cohen Hall where parts of the MAPP program are hosted.
20131029-110125.jpg

Pennsylvania, here I come…

The final potential stumbling block has been removed. Today, I have obtained my student visa for the U.S. Even though Germany is typically not considered to be a member of some axis of evil, getting my doctoral degree was a piece of cake compared to this procedure – at least subjectively.

So now I´m all set to board an airplane which will take me to Philadelphia on September 3, The next morning, it´ll be the first day of “immersion week” for the Master of Applied Positive Psychology (MAPP) program 2013/201 at University of Pennsylvania. I´m really grateful I have been chosen as one of only 30 individuals who, for ten months, will take a deep dive into Positive Psychology in all of its wonderful facets – guided by some of the most exceptional scholars in the field.

Flagge Pennsylvania

With a little help from…?

Even though I oppose to new age thinking as conveyed by “phenomena” like The Secret etc., sometimes it really does feel like magic when a supposedly unreachable goal suddenly becomes attainable. I learned about the MAPP about a year ago when I read Martin Seligman´s newest book Flourish, where he describes the program and its goals in one of the chapters. I was momentarily intrigued – because back then I was close to finalizing the writing process for my own book “Lizenz zur Zufriedenheit” (License for Satisfaction), which is also by and large based on Positive Psychology. The book contains some 300 references to research papers and popular science books. When I visited the MAPP homepage, I discovered that several of the scholars that I´ve cited most often are actually teaching in that program. I thought to myself: “If I ever go back to university to get another degree, it will have to this one!”

Penn_Logo

Yet, the University of Pennsylvania belongs to the Ivy League – meaning the graduate programs are not exactly a bargain buy. Having several jobs and a family in Germany also meant I would have to fly to Philadelphia at least ten times and stay in a hotel for a minimum of 40 nights – all in all adding up to a considerable amount money, which, frankly speaking, I could not find anywhere on my savings account back then. But, without going into detail, at the end of 2012, I made an arrangement with my boss at Bertelsmann, Dr. Hays Steilberg, making it all possible. Thank you very much, Hays! I won´t forget.

And just in case the “Law of Attraction” – against all odds – really does work, I would also like to express my gratitude for the inscrutable mechanics of the universe.

California Pennsylvania, here I come…

P.S.
If you would like to get a short introduction to Positive Psychology, you might want to watch this humorous and insightful TED Talk by “Mr. Positive Psychology” himself, Martin Seligman.