Sam Evans

Book Club Discussion Questions

Overview: Wellbeing, Creating Happiness, Responding to the Negative (Chapters 1-3)

Why should we care about this research?

This research describes how humans function psychologically. It is

important to understand how and why people are happy, motivated, and seek wellbeing to help everyone achieve these fundamental goals. With this psychological
outlook on life, people will be more successful personally and professionally.
How does this research impact the way you think about approaching the career
exploration and search process?

I want a career which I enjoy and feel self-motivated to succeed. The

research showed that success is directly impacted by happiness. If I feel my career is
boring and irrelevant, I will rarely do a good job; therefore I will need to seek an
occupation I am interested in to obtain happiness and well-being, which will lead to
success.
Overview of the original Happiness Formula; explain the formula itself
(H=S+C+V).

The original happiness formula states that happiness is broken up into

various aspects of a person's life. The formula says that happiness (H) is made up of
a persons biological set point (S), conditions of living (C), and voluntary actions (V).
Specifically, H is broken up into 50% S, 10% C, and 40% V.
Explain elements of well-being. Why is this concept important for our course?

Well-being is a construct, which contains many different elements. These

elements include: positive emotion, engagement, meaning, positive relationships, and
accomplishments. This concept of well-being is important to our course because we
are striving to seek a career and life path, which could help us attain well-being. By
finding an occupation which you thoroughly enjoy, all elements of well-being could
be fulfilled. Therefore, this course, by helping me find a career path I enjoy, will
allow me to attain well-being.
Explain Active and Constructive Responding and how it may apply to work we
will do in class.

Active and constructive responding is the most effective way of

responding to someone, which includes enthusiastic support, eye contact, and
authenticity. This will apply to work we will do in class because many of our
assignments are group based where we express our opinions to others. Therefore, we
need to embrace active and constructive responding to communicate effectively with
others.
Select two exercises discussed in these chapters to increase positive emotion or
sense of wellbeing (e.g. Three Blessings, Signature Strengths Exercise, homework from
any of the 14 PPT sessions). Practice them and share what the experience was like for
you. How is this helpful related to your career planning or our course?

By performing exercises like Three Blessings and Signature Strengths

Exercise, happiness and confidence ensues. This is helpful for our course and career
planning because both happiness and confidence are desirable in any career path. You

Sam Evans

should seek an occupation, which allows you to be comfortable and confident in your
own skin as well as happy. Thereby allowing someone to attain well-being.
Learning and Applying Well-Being Principles (Chapters 4 and 5)
What is the importance of the Losada Ratio? How might this impact career
exploration practices?

The importance of the Losada Ratio is that it shows how positive/negative

someone's emotions are. This impacts career exploration practices because if
someone has a high (positive) ratio, they tend to work better than someone with a low
(negative) ratio because they enjoy their field of study and are more self-motivated to
succeed.
How might the principles of exploring strengths and Appreciative Inquiry be
important to undergraduates exploring opportunities? Explain

Principles of exploring strengths and Appreciative Inquiry both deal with

understanding and finding your true self. This means that you have a complete
understanding of who you are as a person. When undergraduates explore various
opportunities, it is beneficial for them to understand who they are so that their
opportunities match up with their interests.
How might the PFA be a helpful tool in understanding career options that are
meaningful? How could this be applied?

The PFA captures and illustrates your happiness, high and low. Therefore,
someone who uses it will be able to understand themselves better. This will allow
them to refine their career focus more effectively and find career options that are
more meaningful.
Seligman discusses prosperity. What is different about his view?

He states that prosperity goes side by side with not only wealth but also
flourishing. As people strive to be more successful than their parents, they should also
strive to attain well-being. This needs to be taught at an early age and is defined by
Seligman as new prosperity.
Grit, Principles to Flourish and Mental Strength (Chapters 6 and 7)
Explain the old/early explanation of character. How does Seligmans view differ?

The old/early explanation of character was associated with politics,

morality, and psychology. However the definition of character changed to be that a
person is a by-product of their environment. Therefore, the only way to change your
character is to change the environment in which you live. Seligman agrees with this
new explanation of character, yet further goes on to say that character is not always
about a negative environment and emotions but it is also about reward and high
achievement. If someone wants to change their character, they should strive for
positive psychology and not just try to rid their lives of wrongful behaviors and
environment.
What are the elements of intelligence described in Chapter 6?

The speed at which a person can effectively complete a task and give
themselves surplus time. The slowness that one takes when doing a careful or
creative task in order to more completely fulfill the requirements. The rate at which
one can learn, apply, and teach new things. The amount of effort that one is able to
summon and put into any task.

Sam Evans

What is GRIT? Explain the role of GRIT and self-discipline and how these relate
to your work as a student exploring career options? How can this information be applied?

Grit is defined by sheer persistence and passion. A student must remain

disciplined for a long period of time in order to earn good grades and high quality
careers. Applying complete self-discipline now pays off in the future.
Describe the five fitness dimensions included in the GAT. Practice one of the
exercise under Positive Emotions in Emotional Fitness. Describe your experience.

Social, Emotional, Family, Spiritual, and Physical. I thought about a time

when I felt great gratitude for someone and how they have always been a mentor for
me. This experience made me understand what he always went through and how I
could be more like him. Emulating what my mentor did for me will allow me to do
that same thing for someone else.
Relate the research in this chapter to your own goals for growth and how this
research may be helpful personally and professionally.

There are opportunities described in this chapter that will allow me to

succeed in the world after college. It is important to understand what makes people
successful and how anyone can achieve that. I would like to see myself demonstrate
some of these traits, particularly grit, in the future. I think I have a lot to learn about
myself and what I can achieve and this is a good place to start.
Resolving Past Events and Research on Optimism for Future (Chapters 8 and 9)
What are the five elements that contribute to post-traumatic growth? Explain.

Relating to others, new possibilities, personal strength, spiritual change,

and appreciation for life. Understanding these abilities will allow someone to be
stronger after tragedy. Only less than 10% of the population is able to do these
things, but if you persistently apply yourself, you can become a stronger person after
facing a serious tragedy.
Discuss the elements of Mental Toughness. How does Ellis model contribute to
development of resilience? Use an example from your own thinking/experience and walk
through the steps.

A key aspect of mental toughness is the ability to ask for help. In the past,
this was looked down upon but is now understood that everyone will face adversity at
some point in their life. Only the strong ones who seek out others are mentally tough.
They are resilient to stress factors and do not let that stop them from their goals.
What are the skill building dimensions (e.g. Hunt the Good Stuff) and what is the
value in them for undergraduates now?

These serve as a way to get the most out of every interaction that we have
with people. Any one we talk to may have a way to help us out in the future. Having
these good conversations with people can serve as a way to connect us to even more
beneficial conversations and employers
Explain the physical/biological elements of Optimism. What is the role of wellbeing and overall positive health?

Not being helpless can keep your problems separated and lead you to take
an active role in your issues. Only accurate predictor of death from cvd. Sad people
complain more about pain. Higher positive emotions meant less instances of
contracting the common cold. Sense of well-being has less of an effect on cancer.

Sam Evans

Overall an optimistic outlook on hardships, particularly diseases, usually can help

with your symptoms. Either way, having a positive outlook will never hurt you.
Wellbeing and Economic Realities (Chapter 10)
Explain the relationship between wealth and happiness.

Less clear correlation in prosperous societies. GDP is blind to human

suffering. The graph shows that there is a clear relation between overall GDP and
average sense of well-being. This idea is not 100% proven and there remains a wide
range of variability from homeless people to Amish people to the richest people in
America.
How might people can increase their satisfaction in any type of work; give
examples from either personal experience or current experience?

Be more optimistic about every experience. The main thing I took away
from this chapter was that good thoughts cant hurt you. They tried to argue that
catastrophic thinking makes us more pessimistic creatures but we no longer deal with
death and survival on a daily basis. We have been given opportunities to be
optimistic and we should take advantage of that.
What implications might this have for undergraduates?

Dont face every wrong turn as the end of the road. See mistakes as
opportunities. Students should pursue wealth after school but it should not be their
only goal. Wealth is linked to happiness but so is a loving family and a job that you
love to do. More wealth is simply an added bonus that should be pursued if an
opportunity is available.
What is important in this reading for an undergraduate now and in the future?

How to channel your emotions to make yourself a stronger and more

successful individual. Focusing on who you are and what makes you mentally fit is
key to being successful. Those who focus on negative emotions do not experience
the same benefits as optimistic people.