EPs, Are You Flourishing at Work?

Optional: you may want to begin with my ‘flourishing audit for EPs' to gain insights into your own flourishing at work.

'Flourishing’ is presented as a theory of well-being, which has 5 key elements: Positive emotions, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning and Achievement (PERMA; Seligman, 2011; Figure 1). 

Seligman (2011) argues that well-being is a construct (rather than a ‘real thing’), which is made up of several measurable elements. He uses the analogy of ‘the weather’, a construct that cannot be measured, but is made up of several measurable elements, such as precipitation, UV index, and wind speed. 

The PERMA model (Figure 1) is originally intended as a holistic model of well-being. I consider it a helpful framework through which to reflect on our flourishing at work, and to consider how to live our best lives as EPs. 

Figure 1: Graphic based on Seligman’s (2011) PERMA model

Below I have outlined some self-reflection questions (which link with my audit tool) for Educational Psychologists to consider how they are ‘flourishing’ in their careers: 

Positive emotions 

  • Do you experience enjoyable, positive emotions at work, or when thinking about work? 
  • Do you experience pleasure and enjoyment in-the-moment whist at work? 
  • Is there a feel-good factor to your work? 

 

Engagement 

  • Do you feel focused and ‘in flow' at work? (My blog on ‘flow’ is coming soon: Sign up to my mailing list here) 
  • Do you feel like you are applying your strengths to your work? 
  • Does your work align with your skillset and abilities?
  • Do you have an appropriate level of challenge?  

Relationships 

  • How do you get on with others at work? (Colleagues, team members, senior leaders, service users) 
  • Do you have a sense of belonging at work? 
  • Do you have positive connections with others in your wider network? 
  • Do you feel like you have ‘found your tribe’ in your EP career? (Like-minded people who share the same interests and values) 

Meaning 

  • Do you feel like your work has meaning? 
  • Do you feel a sense of purpose in your work? 
  • Do you feel like you are making a difference? In what way? How do you know? 
  • How do you feel about the impact of your work? 

Achievement 

  • Do you feel a sense of personal/professional growth in your work? 
  • Are you learning?
  • Are you setting and achieving goals in your career? 
  • Which accomplishments are you most proud of? 
  • Are you ready for your next challenge in your career? Do you know what that might look like? 

Are you interested to learn more about yourself and your flourishing at work? You can complete my ‘flourishing audit for EPs’ to gain further insights. 

Would you like to improve your sense of flourishing at work? It’s my mission to support EPs to live their best EP-lives. I do this through 1:1 coaching, groups and workshops. Find out more about coaching and sign up to my (infrequent, but very interesting!) mailing list. You can also get in touch to explore how I can support you to live your best life and flourish at work. 

 

Autumn Offer: I’m offering 10 x FREE 30-min coaching slots to the first 10 EPs to email me and request a slot. I’ll make you a personalised snazzy visual wheel (see example in Figure 2 below). We can explore what this means for you and what next steps you might take. We can arrange a mutually convenient time to ‘meet’ via Zoom. I look forward to connecting with you soon 😊 

 

Figure 2: Example of a personalised ‘snazzy’ wheel with ratings for 'now' and your 'preferred future'

(bonus visual resource available for my 1:1 coachees) 

References

Seligman, M. (2011) Flourish. London: Nicholas Brealey Publishing 

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