Leading Oneself with Personal Excellence

Kicking off our first week in this course, we will examine our pursuit of happiness and how it may be a flawed pursuit. Many people, when asked what they want from their life, will state they want to be happy. But are we happy? Unfortunately, statistics show most of us are struggling to find true happiness. We will explore ideas like the paradoxical pursuit of happiness, happiness models and the hedonic treadmill to help us develop a better approach to finding subjective wellbeing.

In a world that is doing its best to steal our attention, focus is rare, distraction the norm. This week we take a look at how to maximize our focus when it matters most. You will come away with a better understanding of how our brains are designed for instant gratification. This often does not serve us well. Delayed gratification, patience and focus can become superpowers.

Building on the work we did in the last module, we now turn our attention to motivation, procrastination and flow state. Each of them is intertwined and often overlapping each other. You will learn what causes procrastination, which will surely surprise you. What happens when motivation fails us? What is flow state and how can we achieve it more often for superior motivation.

In a society where it seems “shaming, blaming and complaining” have become endemic. It is imperative to learn to practice personal accountability, agency and self-efficacy. All of which have been shown to increase our sense of wellbeing. Distress levels increase when we feel like we have lost control of our lives. We will discuss the dichotomy of control to understand what we control, and that which we don’t. This week we will discuss how you can become the captain of your ship.