At Boldly we are serious about bringing you evidence-based teachings and techniques.
All of the teachings and practices featured in our meditations, programs, courses, and experiences are drawn from Western Philosophy, Ancient Wisdom, Neuroscience, Physics and Positive Psychology.
Paper discussing habit formation and its integration into Evidence-Based Psychological Treatments (EBPTs), as well as clinical takeaways. Core takeaways from the paper center around the claim that the integration of EBPTs with habit formation leads to better outcomes. The focus here is on understanding habits as independent of goals, cued by specific contexts, learned via repetition, and characterized by automaticity.
Unique Effects of Setting Goals on Behavior Change
This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to assess the unique effects of goal setting on behavior change, as well as to identify the circumstances and individuals for whom goal setting is most effective. The analysis showed a small but positive effect of goal setting on behavior change. Further insight gathered from moderator’s response revealed that goal setting was particularly effective when the goals were challenging, public, and set as group goals. There was also minor evidence to support that combining goal setting with external monitoring by others without feedback and delivering it face-to-face enhanced its effectiveness. The study concluded that goal setting is a valuable technique for behavior change interventions and suggested ways to optimize its effectiveness.
What (and Why) is Positive Psychology?
This paper defines Positive psychology as “the study of the conditions and processes that contribute to the flourishing or optimal functioning of people, groups, and institutions.” the movement has rapidly expanded in the past 20 years as researchers noticed how much more resources are used to study disorders and dysfunction. Positive psychology doesn’t encourage ignoring the negatives in life; it aims to study the positive or optimal functions of human existence. This includes topics such as secure attachment, optimism, love, emotional intelligence, intrinsic motivation, gratitude, forgiveness, awe, inspiration, hope, curiosity, and laughter. This is all done with the aim of one day mapping the domain of optimal human functioning.
Positive Psychology and Gratitude Interventions: A Randomized Clinical Trial
This study conducted a randomized clinical trial involving 1,337 participants to assess the impact of a gratitude intervention on well-being and mental health. Participants were divided into three groups: gratitude, hassles, and neutral events. The gratitude group practiced daily gratitude listing for 14 days. Results showed that the gratitude intervention increased positive affect, happiness, and life satisfaction while reducing negative affect and depressive symptoms compared to control groups. Similar changes were observed between the gratitude and neutral events groups. The study acknowledged limitations, including a high dropout rate for online interventions, and suggested a further investigation into online intervention characteristics.
Increasing Well-being through Teaching Goal-Setting and Planning Skills
This paper used brief psychological intervention to develop goal-setting and planning (GAP) skills in order to see if it would increase psychological well-being in a non-clinical sample. The intervention was tested in two separate studies: one involving group sessions and the other involving individual completion of the program. Both groups showed significant improvements in subjective well-being compared to the control groups. The findings suggest a causal link between goal-setting and planning and well-being and that these skills can be learned and applied to enhance overall well-being.
Personal Goal Setting as a Mediator of the Relationship Between Mindfulness and Wellbeing
This study investigates the relationship between mindfulness, well-being, and personal goal-setting. The study involved 114 university students who completed questionnaires assessing mindfulness, well-being, and the reasons behind their personal goal pursuits (extrinsic, introjected, identified, or intrinsic). The results indicate that mindfulness was associated with more autonomously motivated setting goals. This autonomous goal setting, in turn, positively influenced participants’ well-being. The study suggests that being attentive and aware is linked to pursuing goals with greater autonomy, which contributes to enhanced well-being.
The Importance, Benefits, and Value of Goal Setting
This article gives a comprehensive overview of the benefits of setting goals. It outlines why it is important and beneficial, as well as showing ways it is beneficial in areas such as personal performance, motivation, learning, mental health care, and business.
Effect of Breathwork on Stress and Mental Health
This paper is a meta-analysis of 12 randomized controlled trials, a total of 785 adult subjects. The effects analysis across all participants yielded a significant small-to-medium mean effect size. This means that individuals practicing breathwork experienced lower levels of stress than those of the control conditions. Furthermore, the self-reported anxiety and depression of the experimental participants were significantly altered compared to controls. This shows that consistent breath work may increase quality of life and reduce levels of anxiety and depression in low to moderate-risk individuals.
