Posts Tagged

well-being

Life is complicated, and our brains have developed short cuts in order to deal with such complexities. While such shortcuts can be very efficient, at other times these ways of thinking cause problems, as they often result in significant biases and inaccuracies. One particular type of thought pattern is termed a “cognitive distortion.” Cognitive distortions […]

In my last column, I spoke of the various pillars important to the University and the School of Medicine & Health Sciences. Recently, UND President Armacost declared this new academic year to be the “Year of Community,” with the theme espoused by the UND Strategic Plan elements of Learning, Equity, Affinity, Discovery, and Service. What […]

The School of Positive Psychology, a movement based on the work of Dr. Martin Seligman, identifies the following core pillars of concern for human wellness: Positive Experiences, Positive Individual Traits, and Positive Institutions. This past week I was working on linking these pillars to those within our School, and to well-being. (Thank you, Dr. Van […]

In a previous “Words on well-being” column, I focused on the occupational hazard of loneliness. I wanted to offer a few additional comments to that discussion here. Many people feel that they are too busy to maintain social connections, or that the benefits might not outweigh the effort of reaching out. As it turns out, […]

Most of you are well aware of former U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy’s declaration of the “Loneliness Epidemic.” However, you might not be aware that healthcare professionals are at significantly high risk for loneliness. A Harvard Business Review study of a few years back named physicians and lawyers as the loneliest professionals, and a recent […]

The term “mentor” comes from the figure in Homer’s Odyssey of the same name, whose role it was to oversee Odysseus’s household (and son, Telemachus) while the story’s namesake was off to war. As you know, a mentor is thought of as someone who advises, guides, advocates, facilitates, and functions as a role model. Notably, […]

If you are a regular reader of this newsletter, you know that at the end of each “Words on well-being” column, we ask that you consider sending in any wellness-related ideas or aphorisms that inspire you (and which you feel might be inspiring to your colleagues). After our last column on the topic of perseverance, […]

Thomas Edison, in the process of inventing the light bulb, allegedly said, “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” In so musing, Edison anticipated the so-called “10,000-hour rule,” made famous in Malcolm Gladwell’s book Outliers (2009), which argued that establishing mastery over a subject requires at least that many hours […]

I’d mentioned in a previous For Your Health column a recent trip I undertook to the Far East. The trip reminded me of the Japanese art form known as kintsugi, sometimes referred to as “golden repair.” Here, flaws in ceramic works are repaired with lacquer mixed with gold or silver powder. The repair of such […]

Having just returned from a conference in Japan, let me first say Konnichiwa! As you know, it’s wonderful to learn from other cultures. For the past couple of years, I have been interested in the concept of “ikigai,” a word formed from the Japanese “iki” (life) and “gai” (worth, or benefit). As you can see from […]