What is Positive Reinforcement?

Institute Editorial Team 05/22/2023

Learn how to harness this powerful principle to improve your life and the lives of others. Positive reinforcement is the process of increasing the future probability of some behavior by following that behavior with a pleasant or desirable consequence (Scott et al, 2017). In other words, positive reinforcement is when you act or behave in a certain way, get something that you like, and then become more likely to act or behave in that way again. When you log in to Instagram and see that your latest post has received a lot of likes and comments, you may find yourself checking Instagram more often. Similarly, when you visit the vending machine and get a delicious snack, you may find yourself making more trips to the…

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Categories: Digital Library, Self-care, Wellness & Personal Growth

Tags: self-care, Stress Management, Trending, wellness

Institute Editorial Team

5 Exercises for Practicing Self-Compassion

Have you ever beat yourself up or said unkind words to yourself? If you’re like most of us, your answer is probably “yes.” Especially as women, we tend to be our own worst critics, and we usually treat ourselves in cruel ways that we’d never treat other people!But there’s a different way. Self-compassion is the practice of being kind and understanding with ourselves — not only when we succeed, but when we fail, too. Here, we’ve compiled 5 exercises you can use to start practicing self-compassion. These practices are based on extensive research by Dr. Kristin Neff, a psychologist who specializes in self-compassion. Try to incorporate them into your daily schedule as much as possible. You can use these 5 exercises at any time, day…

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Gina Messina, Ph.D. 02/28/2022

woman looking up at sky thinking, showing mental performance

Mental performance and you: 10 things you need to know

Our mental performance, how we think, analyze, and perceive the world, influences how we work, tackle challenges, relate to others, manage stress and more. Where we choose to put our focus has a tremendous impact on how we feel and perform in our day-to-day lives. Julie Jones, Mental Performance Coach and Institute instructor, specializes in helping people boost their mental game, and in teaching them how mental training, positivity and self-awareness can help us do better in our jobs, our personal lives, as leaders, as athletes, and as members of the community. As a former Division I softball coach, Julie specializes in training athletes in mental performance techniques. The same brain strategies that can help a softball player improve her swing can help us all…

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Institute Editorial Team 08/02/2021

32 Words of Kindness for the Important People in Your Life

Let’s take a look at some words of kindness we can use to bring more kindness to the people closest to us. We may think that saying something nice and saying something kind are the same thing, but kindness is a bit more multifaceted. Let’s use an example. Maybe you’re at a family party that your cousin hosted. She made a huge feast for everyone at the party, but you can tell that she’s exhausted and seems like she might need support. Let’s say your sister is the nice one, but you’re the kind one. What do you think each of you would say to your cousin? Your nice sister might say, “thanks for the food!” But, maybe you say, “it must have taken you…

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Institute Editorial Team 02/10/2023

How to care for yourself while taking care of others

Caregivers, this is for you. Even before the pandemic, more than 16% of the US population was providing unpaid care to an adult 18 years or older, including family members with Alzheimer’s or dementia. Women make up about 75% of those caregivers, and they put in the work while juggling jobs, children, and ongoing domestic-task overload. With nearly 23 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the US, caregivers are under additional pressure to care for and protect their loved ones. If you’re a caregiver, the stress may seem relentless, and you may be: having trouble sleepingunder/over-eatingself-medicating with alcohol or drugscanceling (or not even booking) your own doctors’ appointments That’s because when you’re a caregiver, caring for yourself tends to happen only after everyone else’s needs…

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Institute Editorial Team 01/24/2021

Want to change something in your life? Here’s how to train your brain.

How do you become that person who works out three times a week? The one who doesn’t get distracted when she’s trying to get something done? The one who manages to read for pleasure or get enough sleep or start a new side hustle? You get there by building habits. When you turn exercise, going to bed early, or carving out time for reading into a habit, that’s when you end up sticking to it. Getting there, however, is the tricky part because change is hard, even if it’s good for us. Sometimes especially if it’s good for us. We spoke to Julie Jones, Mental Performance Coach and Institute instructor, to get some insight into making those positive changes a little easier. “Change happens for…

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Institute Editorial Team 01/24/2021

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