Watch – Energize Your Life: How to Boost and Better Manage Your Energy

energy purpose cast

In this PurposeCast Dr. Vic Strecher explores personal energy management with Dr. Jim Loehr: world-renowned performance psychologist, author, and coach. Dr. Loehr has written over 17 books including the national best-seller The Power of Full Engagement. Co-founder of the Human Performance Institute, he has helped hundreds of top performers in sports, business, and medicine. In this conversation, you’ll learn why Dr. Loehr says “The ultimate measure of our lives is not how much time we spend on the planet, but rather how much energy we invest in the time that we have.”

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Register – WELCOA Idea Collective Event: Workplace Resilience

Vic Speaking at WELCOA

Workplace Resilience takes center stage in Q1 of WELCOA’s Idea Collective series, and they’ve asked Kumanu Founder and CEO Vic Strecher, PhD, MPH, to share his expertise during week 3 of the series. Dr. Strecher will share his insights on how to use data-driven solutions to help employees take charge of overall wellbeing and improve resilience. Later in the week, Dr. Strecher join Stuart Chittendon, Founder of Squishtalks & host of the podcast Lives, for a Fireside chat to dive deeper into the topic.

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Watch – Bouncing Back: Embracing Tiny Habits that Strengthen Resilience

PurposeCast logo

Key to your wellbeing is resilience – the inner strength and ability to bounce back from adversity – often stronger than before. Those who lead resilient lives maintain a set of habits that help them meet life’s challenges, stay focused on what matters most, and enjoy more fulfilling and healthier lives. We often know what changes we seek but, what keeps us from achieving greater resilience and emotional wellbeing in our own lives?

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Watch – Finding Purpose in Times of Uncertainty

times of uncertainty podcast

Looking to unlock your organization’s potential during this time of uncertainty and head into 2021 with a clear vision and a motivated workforce? Join Robert E. Quinn as he hosts our Founder and CEO, Vic Strecher, Ph.D., MPH, to learn more about the science and practice of building purposeful, thriving organizations. Together, they’ll explore the current scientific research illustrating the positive impact an authentic and well-communicated purpose can have on individuals, teams, and organizations, as well as some keys to help you unlock your own potential.

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Work Just Got Purposeful

Our world is at a turning point, and your people are pulling through for you every day during complicated times. Our next Livestream Event, Work Just Got Purposeful, offers purposeful steps to take—and the science behind them—to help your people find more meaning, foster more inclusion, and create greater engagement in work, and in life.

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PURPOSE INTO ACTION – OUR PLEDGE

At Kumanu we stand in solidarity with those who speak out and protest against the social, economic, and racial injustices that damage lives, communities, and our country. We believe, at our core, that diversity makes us stronger, more innovative, more impactful, and more whole. 

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Work Just Got Personal

work just got personal infographic

As the initial shock wears off and we begin to settle into a new daily rhythm, many of us are asking: how do we feel more in control when things around us seem out of control? How do we create new routines to help us be at our best for those who rely on us? How do we stay productive, focused, and positive?

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Being Purposeful: Applying Yourself to What Matters Most with Vic Strecher

vic on harvesting happiness

Being Purposeful: Applying Yourself to What Matters Most

Dr. Strecher joined joined Lisa Cypers Kamen on her podcast Harvesting Happiness to discuss what it means to be Purposeful, and to engage in a discussion about the latest scientific research into the physical and emotional wellbeing benefits of living a Purposeful life. This episode was recorded at the University of Michigan Ross School of Business Positive Business Conference.

Harvesting Happiness

● Dr. Strecher explains why people who live with purpose or are more purposeful live longer. [2:11]

● Is it impossible to be sustainably happy hedonically? [8:40]

● Dr. Strecher describes what it is like to ignite purpose in others. [15:52]

● Bringing love into the lives of college students and young people can reduce suicidal thoughts and help them flourish. [22:29]

● Considering your death can lead to living your best life every day. [29:56]

● How do you build more purpose-driven organizations? [35:29]

● Attaining work/life purpose through SPACE. [41:35]

● How volunteering during a gap year can add purpose to your life. [47:02]

Posttraumatic Growth and Living a Purposeful Life

an infographic featuring the five benefits of having a transcendent purpose

Posttraumatic Growth and Living a Purposeful Life

Kumanu Founder and CEO Dr. Vic Strecher shares his insights on the role purpose plays in our lives during these complicated times, COVID-19, and Posttraumatic Growth

1. “I discovered that I’m stronger than I thought I was.”
 
2. “I changed my priorities about what is important in life.”
 
3. “I established a new path for my life.”
 
These three statements are part of a larger scale measuring Posttraumatic Growth. The media loves to talk about Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), but can we grow from stress? The answer is clear: absolutely. Research studies have demonstrated posttraumatic growth after earthquakes, tsunamis, war, cancer, and loss of loved ones. We can also grow from our experience with COVID-19.
 
Let’s look at Statement 1. Friedrich Nietzsche famously said: “That which does not kill us makes us stronger.” Are you dead? If you’re reading this, perhaps you can stop and reflect on the what you might learn from the COVID-19 experience. What have you done that you feel has been successful in diminishing the effects of COVID-19? How will this experience make you more aware and better prepared for future pandemics (which will almost doubtlessly occur)? In psychology, this ability is called self-efficacy, and the strongest way to build self-efficacy is through previous accomplishments. How will you become stronger as a result of this experience?
 
Now let’s turn to Statements 2 and 3. Taking a fresh look at what matters most in your life, and establishing a new path, is all about purpose. And what if it was a self-transcending purpose? What if life is less about the NCAA basketball tournament, and more about finding new ways of interacting with your family? What if life is less about stripping the shelves bare of hand sanitizer, and more about helping other people and healthcare and community organizations cope with the extraordinary challenges they face?
 
Research has demonstrated that people with self-transcending purpose produce more antibodies (which come in handy in a pandemic). Strength of purpose, produced through regular compassion toward others — even those we don’t like —  has been shown to increase telomerase, the fuel of our telomeres – the chromosomal “caps” that keep our DNA (and us) healthy. 
 
One thing we know about COVID-19 is that people are differentially susceptible to its effects. We don’t know whether having a self-transcending purpose can buffer the effects of COVID-19, but it probably doesn’t hurt to try.
 
Stop and think about a time in your life when you experienced the greatest amount of personal growth? Was it when you were on the beach drinking martinis? Or was it from a period of great challenge? Consider using the challenge of COVID-19 to build strength and self-transcending purpose. Let’s grow from this experience.
 
Best,
 
Vic