Can Positive Psychology help us achieve professional closure? I believe so. In this post I will show that the What Went Well method does wonders in shifting the focus from the negative onto the positive.
Pause and Reflect
The end of a professional relationship can be a challenging time. Especially if you enjoyed the work and felt “this is it.” Once the buzz of putting crazy hours in is over, and the feeling of being engaged subsides, it’s no wonder people feel lost. That’s the withdrawal syndrome kicking in. Unless you have a new, equally exciting opportunity waiting in the wings, adjusting to the new reality can take a while. I know because that’s how I felt after parting ways with the project I joined last October.
Nevertheless, that challenging time, the sweet “in between” moment, is a great opportunity to regroup, assess and learn. To have a long, honest look in the mirror and see where should we improve as individuals. Nothing good can emerge from a place of darkness and it’s essential to dismiss the testimony of a bruised ego. It will always look for the negatives. Instead, we need to be proactive about engaging in the activities that broaden our horizons and allow us to grow.
Shifting
And that’s where the What Went Well method comes in handy. Introduced by Martin Seligman in his book Flourish, and commonly known as 3 Good Things, its purpose is to shift our attention from the negative experiences to positive. By doing so, it increases our well-being. How is it done? By writing down three things that went well and why they went well. Creating a physical record of what you wrote is key to the success of this exercise, regardless of the medium. Some people prefer to write down what went well in their journal, others like to type them on their laptops.
This exercise was originally recommended to be completed before going to bed and only focused on the events of one day. However, it can be applied in other circumstances too. I am aware of its successful applications in teaching, seminar reviews and the brainstorming sessions evaluations. Therefore, I am positive it will be effective in my case too.
What Went Well
When looking back at the last six months, I notice three themes emerging. Seemingly separate, they are in fact interconnected and building up on themselves. I am grateful for working on creating something new and the synergistic energy of working with others. I appreciate the ability to use my strategic and big-picture thinking on scaling down initially vague concept into specific deliverables. And – finally – I am profoundly grateful for the relationships developed and nurtured. These would be my “what” from the “what went well” phrase. Now let’s dig deeper into the second part of the exercise – “why.”
Creating Something New
One of my top strengths is creativity, and for as long as I can remember, I’ve been seeking opportunities to apply this strength in my life. I treat every activity (and challenge!) as a new project and seek novel ways in which they could be approached. Whether it’s a magazine, journal, website, book, article, piece of clothing (yes, I like making my own clothes!), or a relationship crisis – there are always ways to do things slightly differently.
Positive psychology has taught me that well-being correlates with the regular use of creativity at work. Therefore, I consciously pursue projects that would harness my creativity. The “newness” of the last project and its unlimited creative potential were its strongest selling points. The fact that it was within the domain of health and healthcare, so dear to my heart, was just a cherry on top.
Strategy and Big-Picture Thinking
Creating without a clear purpose seldom yields practical results. While I enjoy the occasional doodling session or a stream of consciousness type of writing (or knitting rows that never convert to a wearable piece of garment), I find much greater joy in channeling my creativity into a concrete application. Scaling down the idea of serving the aging and caregiving population through the B2B2C model was definitely a great intellectual challenge.
I will be forever grateful for the chance of laying foundations for the editorial component of that project. Developing from scratch the style guidelines and writing the project’s mission statement was fun. And so was the co-designing and implementing of the editorial calendar. Fine-tuning the voice of the brand wouldn’t be possible without the help of an amazing copy editor and equally talented writers.
But the most significant example of my conceptual thinking would be the philosophy behind the print magazine and its editorial structure. I remember how much fun I had coming up with the overarching themes, sections, subsections, descriptions etc. Making sure that the content between the covers will be attractive, informative and coherent. At times, this felt like working on a secret recipe for an invisible glue. Searching for a way that would transform a collection of articles into a complete magazine. While I might not have been there to push the first issue through the finish line, I still feel proud. The structure I had come up with is still intact and this gives me a sense of accomplishment.
Relationships
None of the above would have been possible without the amazing people I worked with. In those short 6 months I have had a chance to connect and get to know incredible, talented and inspiring individuals. As much as I enjoy introverting, being reminded how much joy there is in building and nurturing relationships was long overdue.
When I was recruiting and interviewing writers, I managed to overcome my strong dislike to talking on the phone. I even started to appreciate the efficiency of the phone calls! Despite the deep-seated insecurities around English not being my first language, I managed to communicate clearly with the writers. If anything, my accent has helped me to appear more authentic and real. While I never pretended to be a copy editor, I have received plenty of confirmation that I am a darn good structural and developmental editor. Not only were the writers open to accepting my guidance, briefings, edits and suggestions, they’ve kept reaching out after I left the project.
One of the signs of an enriching, growing relationship is when a person becomes a better version of herself as a result of the relationship. When she forgets her limitations and even surpasses them. I feel so blessed for connecting with two amazing people who have inspired me and helped me grow.
Linda Rapini, incredible art director, who was there with me at the every step of the conceptual phase. Linda has brilliantly translated my initial vision for the magazine into a spectacular, crisp design that pushes the envelope on many levels. Sue Nador is a gifted writer and a natural storyteller. She has reminded me that the writer-editor relationship is a two-way street and that the best stories are a collaborative effort.
I feel blessed that these two relationships continue beyond the project and enrich my life in many ways.
Summary
There are obviously reasons why I’m not with the project anymore. But I make a conscious decision on looking at this experience through the personal development lens. What you focus on grows, we’ve been told. So, I choose to give my attention to the things I’ve enjoyed the most: creativity, rewarding relationships, strategy and conceptual thinking. I can only hope that this little exercise, my What Went Well entry, will shift the energy. And by doing so, help me attract more of what I enjoy in my next endeavour.