Psychologist with too many projects
The first draft of Chapter 7 - Principles of self-improvement has been posted and is now ready to read. When I was writing the chapter I had the mental image of a coach giving a team a pep-talk before the big final. The pep-talk isn't about tactics. It is about reminding the team of their … Continue reading Chapter 7 of my book is up
I like drawing. I am not very good at it. The best I can do are modestly complicated doodles. Abstract 2-dimensional representations of something going on in my brain. I tend to turn to art during times of high emotional arousal. It might be because I am very happy and I want to celebrate the … Continue reading What art has taught me about incremental change
A repost of a blog I wrote for my job. A week or so back my GP got me to fill out the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS). It is a common instrument used by GP’s and psychologists to get a measure of a person’s level of distress. I showed high levels of stress … Continue reading Let’s talk about distress
A repost from a blog post I wrote for the Student Health and Wellbeing Blog. So I read this article on the bus home the other day. It is called “Revisiting the Sustainable Happiness Model and Pie Chart: Can Happiness Be Successfully Pursued?” It is by Kennon Sheldon and Sonja Lyubomirsky. In essence, the article … Continue reading How much can you change your own happiness?
For some strange reason, whilst I was in the shower the other day, I started wondering what my current answer to the question 'what is a good life?' would be. I imagined having only a minute on prime-time TV to trying to explain it, so I sat down over two separate occasions and tried to … Continue reading Try writing your life philosophy
I can't say the writing process is as easy or fast as I would like, but let's face it, that was kinda predictable. That being said, content is being developed and added slowly. I recently posted Chapter 6 to the website. It covers the many areas (16 in total) of one's life where you could … Continue reading Chapter 6 of my book is up
My partner and I own two cars. One of them is approaching the end of it's useful life. It is much loved but the costs to repair and maintain it now massively outweigh it's value. At first I contemplated purchasing a replacement car. But when I did the maths, even a conservative second-hand car would … Continue reading What catching the bus has taught me about time
I've been using Sam Harris' Waking Up meditation app for about a year now. I took up mindfulness meditation almost out of frustration from hearing about it constantly in the news and scientific literature. It gets marketed as a cure-all, and whilst I am aware there is some scientific literature to back up some claims … Continue reading Get a free month of the Waking Up app
Back in my teenage years, I took up weight training. I was determined to change my body from soft and flabby to at least mildly toned. I started at a gym, got given a program and I went regularly. I kept a basic record of my progress (weights and reps) and over the next couple … Continue reading You should track your progress on at least one thing in life
As you are probably aware, if you are reading this, I am writing a book on self-improvement. I take the view that we should endeavour to make ongoing incremental improvements to ourselves over time. Doing so helps us live a life with purpose and meaning. But there will be times, as it is for me … Continue reading Self-improvement during difficult times
Dr Gareth Furber 