Napoleon Technique

A Problem Solving technique. It is a specific application of modelling and is related to the Acting as If technique.

Take on the persona of someone important and try to solve the problem from that persons point of view. Your new identity may give you a new perspective on your problem. Eg what would Napoleon or Leonardo da Vinci do if he had your problem?

Read the description and rate your self either by putting a mark on the line where you are between the two anchor points “unlike me and like me” or you can rate yourself out of 10 unlike me = 0 and like me = 10.

If this is closer to being like you then it is a strength.

If it is closer to being unlike you then it is not such a strength.

You are curious about the world and you strongly desire experience of it. You are flexible about matters that don’t fit your preconceptions. Curious people do not simply tolerate ambiguity but they like it and are intrigued by it. You seek out novelty, and you are rarely bored.

Like Me___________________________________________Unlike Me

You can check yourself against the following statements to help you identify if curiosity is one of your character strengths.

• I find the world a very interesting place.
• I am never bored.
• I am always busy with something interesting.
• I am excited by many different activities.
• I can find something of interest in any situation.
• I think that my life is extremely interesting.
• I love to hear about other countries and cultures.

If you are not so curious the following statements may apply.

• I am not all that curious about the world.
• I find it difficult to entertain myself.
• I have few interests.

How to use this item.

1) If this item is a strength for you then list 3 ways you could use this strength more during your week or   your day. Working to your strengths will improve your levels of well being.

2) If this item is unlike you, you may wish to work on it by finding 3 ways to work it into your week.

Mental health as a Utopian ideal goes back to Aristotle, so is not a new concept. In the last 60 years the view is that Mental Health requires the dual goal of using medication and clinical psychology to remove pathology and educational interventions to enhance above average functioning.

Mental Health and Positive Personality revolves around the perspective we are self organizing, self directed, and adaptive beings. Thus there is a focus on:

• Human Virtues and Character Strengths. These can act as buffers against mental illness. The virtues include Wisdom, Courage, Humanity, Justice, Temperance and Transcendence.
• Subjective Well-being. This refers to what we think and feel about our lives and has cognitive and affective components. It is a scientific term for what most of us call happiness.
• Optimism. Optimism mediates our experience of external events and our interpretation of them. It involves cognitive, emotional, and motivational components.The positive attributional style serves as a treatment for depression and can lead to positive mental states.
• Happiness. Factors such as faith, economic growth and income, and close personal relationships need to be considered.
• Self determination. We all have 3 basic psychological needs – competence, belonging, and autonomy. The satisfaction of these needs gives rise to optimal well being and development.
• Mature defences. Mature functioning requires creative and proactive problem solving and solution application which gives rise to successful and joyful lives.
• Exceptional Performance and Excellence. We all need examples and advice on how to reach richer and more fulfilling lives. Play, creativity and and peak experiences are important in this area. It was Abraham Maslows concept of Self Actualisation that drew attention to  talents, capacities, and potentialities.
• Wisdom. Wisdom involves the cognitive and motivational rules we use to organise knowledge in the pursuit of both individual and collective excellence. It is the best subjective beliefs and laws of life that we have accumulated over the generations. Wisdom is defined as an expert knowledge system that dealing with the practical issues of existence.
• Positive Health
• Insight
• Flow
• Hope
• Interpersonal Skills

It is the goal of positive psychology to help people to enhance their functioning to above average.

Freud dismissed mental health as “an ideal fiction” and the study of normal adaptive behaviour did not begin to be researched until after WWII.
Johoda 1958 suggested that a mentally healthy person was:

• In touch with their own identity and feelings.
• Future orientated and invested in life.
• Be psychologically resistant to stress.
• Be autonomous, perceive reality without distortion, be empathic.
• Able to work, love and play, be efficient in problem solving.

Astronauts have been studied as exemplars of the above normal concept of mental health.

They have been found to:

• Have exemplary work records
• Be competent at loving
• Come from intact happy small town families
• Be married with children
• Be venturesome but not accident prone
• Be able to tolerate close interdependent relationships
• Be able to tolerate extreme isolation
• Be trusting of others
• Be uncomplaining under discomfort
• To strongly experience both positive and negative emotions
• Not to be introspective and seldom dwelled on inner emotions but could describe them if asked
• Be aware of the feelings of others
• Avoid interpersonal difficulties

This description is the same as happy people and has been discussed elsewhere.

Often when people are talking about being normal they are referring to their Mental Health.
There are a number of different models of mental health:

• As Above Normal
• As Positive Psychology
• As Subjective Well-Being
• As Maturity
• As Social-Emotional Intelligence
• As Resilience

There are 5 main Models

The Absence of Pathology Model

The absence of symptoms, signs and lab abnormalities connate normality.
A healthy person is reasonably free of undue pain, discomfort, disability, distress, disadvantage, and other features of disorder.

The Utopian Model

Health is defined as an ideal functioning that is rarely obtained and then only by a few.
Normal or average is therefore pathological in that it is far short of the ideal.
In this respect the analytic model of therapy emphasizes pathology while the humanistic model emphasizes health. Psychoanalysis lacks the language and method to describe healthy functioning.

The Statistical Model

Normal equals the average Level of functioning. Concerns in this model are that the average may be relative to a population that may be dysfunctional.

The Systems Model

Normality is the interplay of systems that interact, operate and fluctuate over time in an adaptive fashion. There are multiple processes nvolved and multiple levels of adaptation that are studied longitudinally.

The Pragmatic Model

Mental disorders are conditions that clinicians treat. Conditions for which people do not seek treatment are not considered pathological and therefore are normal. This is a circular argument and is relative to the degree of complaints and the economic situation of local people and interests of clinicians.

Normality and Mental Health

Often when people are talking about being normal they are referring to their Mental Health.
There are a number of different models of mental health:

• As Above Normal
• As Positive Psychology
• As Maturity
• As Social-Emotional Intelligence
• As Subjective Well-Being
• As Resilience

Rule of Five

Do five things everyday that will move you toward your goal completion until you reach the goal.


Achieving external Goals may be different from making internal change and there may be a reinforcement schedule that determines the effectiveness of internal change strategies as for some happiness techniques.

You can blame the event for the lack of outcome or you can change your response to the event until you achieve your desired outcome.

Changing you response means changing your thinking, your communication, the pictures in your head or your behaviours. This can take time as you have to overcome years of conditioned behaviours (Habits).

Give up all the victim stories.
Give up all the reasons why you cant.
Give up all the reasons why you haven’t.
Give up blaming all outside circumstances.

You have the power to make it different, but you have chosen not to exercise that power. Why is this? It is not even important. It doesn’t matter. There is only now and from this point you make the choice to act as if you are 100% responsible.

Being responsible means asking yourself questions as to how you made it so.

How did I create that?
What was I thinking then? Now?
What beliefs was I holding?
What other beliefs may be more helpful?
What did I do to get that result?
How did I get the other person to actthat way?
What do I need to do next time to get the result I want?

ABCs
In my work many people experience an event (A – Activating event) and are aware of the outcome
(C – consequences) but give little thought to their own responses (B – beliefs) that may occur before the outcome.

You can blame the event for the lack of outcome or you can change your response to the event until you achieve your desired outcome.

Changing you response means changing your thinking, your communication, the pictures in your head or your behaviours. This can take time as you have to over come years of conditioned behaviours (Habits).

Till next time, have a great day.
Nevin

Having breadth and depth in personal relationships is vital to our mental health and overall happiness.

Supportive co workers, friendly neighbours, confidants and very close friends protect us from sadness, loneliness low self esteem.

Social Capital is all the support, trust and good will we accumulate by way of our relationships and community involvement. It is important to have a strong and varied social network.

Our ability to internalise others is a key skill common to a healthy accomplished and satisfying life. The skill involves decorating your space with pictures of loved and loving people, having active sociable activities in your diary, especially ones that don’t involve alcohol.

Whether we are outgoing or not we need to join groups where we are welcome and valued.

“No Amount of wildlife can makeup for human company”   David Attborough.

Loneliness

Loneliness is natures emotional reminder that we must progress in our relationships in and with our world.

Loneliness represents the absence of intimacy that involves knowing understanding and caring for not only other people but for our homes, work and life skills.

Loneliness could be regarded as signal that we are too detached.

It is better to regard emotions as energy levels that we can chose to channel into activities that help our well being rather than being destructive.

Add sedonna Fuel gage

Managing Loneliness

Engage in a fully involving task.

Walking in the country side for example deepens our relationship with the world.

Walking in the countryside with friends deepens our relationship with them and the world.

Remember that a pleasure such as food or a glass of wine is a fleeting effect, active interest in mental or physical capabilities such as working at something or a good book is satisfying  and can leave a happiness trace that can last for days. The most happiness invoking actions is the love we have for another person or place or vocation and fills our life with meaning. Loneliness can be used to inspire such loves.

The Love of our Friends

Friendship is important for our physical and psychological health, but we often take this for granted and do not pay sufficient attention to it.

Human relationships change, they grow or shrink, as do our emotional, intellectual and personal persuits. Our friends persuits also change and therefore so does our relationships with them.

Close friends view our victories and our failures as their own and will encourage us or pull us into line if we are not doing our best.

“In the company of a true friend we dare to think out loud without the need to edit ourselves”  author unknown.

A good friend will risk our irritability and will make up afterwards.

A good friend will not let you moan on about things, they want to know what you a re going to do about it. They will help us see different perspectives.  (perspective Exercise)

Make you closest friends a priority. Gratitude exercise