JOURNAL #6

Journal Entry #6: Living the Good Life *This journal entry is worth 25 points. The scoring rubric is available to download on the PP Activity Journal Evaluation Criteria <https://asu.instructure.com/courses/154972/pages/pp-activity-journal-evaluation-criteria> page in the Assessment Details module. Please review the guidelines below AND the rubric before writing your journal entry.* ------------------------------ Orientation Throughout the course you have examined a number of theories and constructs that relate to subjective well-being and life satisfaction. You also have measured your strengths and virtues and your positive and negative affect, and have experienced a few brief positive psychology interventions or strategies. A primary goal of your engagement with these learning materials and assignments was to reframe your conceptions of how psychology, if applied with purpose and within a positive framework, can benefit us in our day-to-day living. In this journal entry you will reflect on what you have learned this session and create a plan for living the "Good Life,” which can be conceptualized as flourishing or thriving, living with purpose and full engagement, sustainable happiness or subjective well-being, etc. Living the good life might involve any of the following: - Using your strengths and values to fully engage with school, work, and others - Developing courage and resilience and overcoming adversity - Finding joy and gratitude in daily life and maintaining optimism for the future - Savoring experiences, finding flow, and being mindful - Being authentic and altruistic, finding purpose and meaning in activity - Being self-directed and autonomous and accomplishing goals - Letting go of the past, forgiving, and finding compassion The list could go on; it’s not meant to be exhaustive. However, most relevant to your life in this final reflection is how *you* conceptualize living the Good Life. ------------------------------ Instructions There are three parts to this journal entry, and you *must*address each part. 1. First, think about your life *20 years from now* and discuss your *possible selves*, which is a future-oriented examination of who you think you will become, who you would ideally like to become, and who you are afraid of becoming (Markus & Nurius, 1986). Identify each possible self and provide a brief explanation. [Two-to-three sentences for each “self” is sufficient.] 2. Second, use the positive psychology theory and research to describe what it means to *you* to live the Good Life*. You must include in the discussion the various life domains: education, work, leisure, and family*. If you are *spiritual or religious*, you should include that domain as well. Your lens for this should be how, over the next 20 years, you can strive to be your “ideal self,” accept who you actually become, and challenge along the way any fears about who you might become (i.e., threats to your actual/ideal self). You may wish to consider your character strengths and virtues/values as a starting point, but could also frame this discussion around desired accomplishments, subjective well-being or physical and mental health, living with purpose and meaning, etc. You could even use a model such as Seligman’s PERMA to frame your discussion. How you go about describing what the Good Life means to you is completely up to you! *But it is expected that you will make numerous connections to the course materials as you integrate PP theory and research*. [There is no length expectation for this component, but a discussion less than 400 words is likely lacking the necessary depth.] 3. Finally, create a personal plan for living the Good Life. These must be positive psychology practices that are feasible and can be maintained over the long-term. For each practice, provide a *brief* description of it and identify the following: (a) why you chose the practice (i.e., What aspect of the Good Life that you described in Part 2 is the PP practice meant to address?); (b) how often you will engage in the practice, and (c) what the barriers to the practice are and how you will overcome them. If you choose a general practice (e.g., savoring, mindfulness, loving kindness meditation), you do not need to provide a citation. Only cite if you use a very specific intervention/practice. Be sure that your description is specific. For example, a statement such as “I will practice mindfulness” is too vague. Use examples in your description if necessary to make it easy for the reader to picture what you will be doing during the practice. [Note: This component may be presented in a table, or you may clearly list out each practice and description, and label (a), (b), and (c). None of these subparts need to be more than 2-3 sentences, unless the description needs elaboration for clarity.] Sent from my iPhone