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Originally posted in our December 2022 Top of Mind Newsletter. Trauma-informed practices in psychology, therapy, education, and many other fields are becoming increasingly popular. Researchers have thoroughly documented the impacts of trauma, hence the importance of trauma-informed practices. But in positive psychology, these practices take on an even more hopeful spin.  In this episode from the Psychology Podcast with Scott Barry Kaufman, psychologist Dan Tomasulo discusses his work in creating hope, something he calls learned hopefulness.…

Originally posted in our November 2022 Top of Mind Newsletter. When considering how to get into a state of flow or to use effectuation, perhaps the most important first step is to focus on what we individually have control over. Are you focusing on what others do to you, or are you looking at how your choices and behaviors guide you into the future? These types of questions are central to understanding one’s locus of control. …

Originally posted in our November 2022 Top of Mind Newsletter. Effectuation, or as we at ELI, like to say, “go in order to know,” is a crucial feature of an entrepreneurial mindset. For decades, MBA students and budding entrepreneurs have learned to analyze market research, create a business plan, and look for ways to predict all outcomes for a future endeavor. But for most entrepreneurs making a go of it on their own, the exact opposite…

Originally posted in our November 2022 Top of Mind Newsletter. Have you ever found yourself in a state of near effortless focus? Where you aren’t paying attention to your phone or other tasks and instead are hyper-concentrated on a particular project or job. This situation is what it is like to be in a state of flow.  Long-time followers of our work at ELI will know that the “Godfather of Flow Psychology,” Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, has profoundly…

Originally posted in our October 2022 Top of Mind Newsletter. To conclude this month’s Top of Mind newsletter, we visit an ecological experiment set in a desert called the biodome. In it are, seemingly, the perfect conditions for growing fruits, vegetables, and trees, and it was a place where humans could live happily for months at a time. “When the trees grew to a certain height, they would topple over. It baffled scientists until they realized…