Week of Empathy

Empathize, yo.

It's official: empathy is a hot topic!  Just ask Dan Pink.  Good thing we're ahead of the curve here at The Happy Homunculus.  Last week, we pumped some cognitive iron with a focus on making our compassion-muscles as big as possible.  During this homunculus-sanctioned "Week of Empathy", we engaged in six Daily Mind Games designed to test and improve our ability to think about other people.  The Homunculus knows that if he thinks about thinking, he can change the way he thinks: so why not think about thinking about other people?  Say whuh?

In case you missed it, why not catch up?

Week of Empathy

Day 1: Simple Relationship - Think about someone who makes you happy

Day 2: Complex Relationship - Direct compassion at a complex someone

Day 3: Subordinate - Show empathy to an employee

Day 4: Superior - Show empathy to your boss

Day 5: Dependent - Give support to a loved-one

Day 6: Self-Empathy - Be nice to yourself

Last week's final challenge, "Self-Empathy" may have been the hardest of all for some us; however, being patient with our own shortcomings is going to be a critical skill to take into next week when we work on self-motivation.  During the upcoming Week of Motivation, we're going to be applying strategies outlined in an awesome book - Motivational Interviewing: Preparing People for Change.  The approaches described in Motivational Interviewing were formulated (and tested) to help people deal with substance abuse problems, but are applicable to any situation where an increase in motivation is needed before an change in behavior can occur.  While Motivational Interviewing was written for counselors (not a general audience), we're smart cookies and are going to try to extend the framework to our self-motivation goals.  Let's do this.

FYI - If you buy the book via the above link, you'll be supporting The Happy Homunculus - thanks for the help!

Links: View other Weeks of Metacognition