Positive Emotion: The main positive emotions I sought to cultivate through my intervention were confidence, which I built by educating myself on financial basics, and self-compassion, where I treated myself with kindness by recognizing the anxieties money can trigger.
Positive Connection: In terms of positive connections, I primarily focused on my father, who has a great store of financial knowledge and experience. I initiated conversations about money where I approached them with kindness and curiosity.
Positive Meaning: I realized upon reflection how important gift-giving is for me and how the ability to be generous with my money is one of my indicators of financial wellbeing. As it turns out, buying things for others is the one way you can in essence “buy happiness”! This intervention has given me the basis for long lasting positive effects on my financial wellbeing. I’m more confident in my ability to seek out resources and be able to make prudent financial decisions. More importantly to me, though, I have a clearer understanding of what money means to me, as something that I am able to spend in ways that increase my wellbeing. After performing this intervention, I was able to make a personal decision that posed a significant cost, but offered me a profound increase in my overall wellbeing — and feel confident in and proud of my decision to do so!
<1> McQuaid, Michelle & Lawn, Erin. Your Strengths Blueprint: How to be Engaged, Energized, and Happy at Work, 2014. <2> Niemiec, Ryan. Character Strengths Interventions: A Field Guide for Practitioners. Hogrefe Publishing, 2018. Alicia Haun is a content marketing intern at Riverbank Consulting Group. Alicia is a senior at the University of Michigan, where she also works with the Center for Positive Organizations at the Ross School of Business. Alicia is passionate about the field of positive organizational psychology and looks forward to helping work become a place of flourishing.
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