PERMA Audit
Last week on the podcast, we discussed the PERMA Framework and how each letter represents an essential element of well-being.
Today, I've got something special for you – a fantastic activity to ponder on your well-being journey! Summer's in full swing, and it's the perfect time to do a little self-audit.
Take a moment to think about how you're feeling, what's making you tick, and what areas of the PERMA Framework could use a little boost right now. This simple exercise can work wonders for your happiness and sense of purpose. So go ahead, give it a shot! Take time to reflect and see what aspects could use some love and attention. Embrace the summer vibes and make it a personal growth and happiness season!
On this episode, you’ll hear…
My journey of discovering and embracing the PERMA framework in my life and work
How to manifest a genuine desire for best-case scenarios
The importance of collaborative happiness and understanding
Your weekly assignment - The PERMA Audit
Resources
Ready for more?
Listen in:
-
** This is a raw, unedited transcript
Chaili Trentham 00:00
Last episode, I introduced wellbeing theory to you all, by way of the perma framework, which was developed by Dr. Martin Seligman. And I referenced his book flourish, which let me give you a little backstory, their book flourish was written back in 2011. And I picked it up during COVID. And it really became foundational for some of the work I was doing with organizations virtually, to talk about what it looks like to bring your whole self to work. And really, where for years, I had focused on leadership development only, and I integrated the field of positive psychology in the ways that I broke down leadership development and leadership strategy. But really, COVID gave me an opportunity to step back and begin to start integrating all of the research in positive psychology as a starting point and as the foundation because what we really did in that season was, I personally as leader began to unpack what am I doing with my life? And who are the people that I need to be close to right now? And what is the work that really has meaning and purpose to me? And how do I dig deeper into that? Because life is changing, and the world is changing around us. And I am only in control of myself, and I am here with my family doing that in the middle of a global pandemic. And so how do I respond appropriately. And so I picked up the book flourish, and really dug into it. And I will say that this book is like a handbook for the field of positive psychology, and Dr. Martin Seligman, his work has really been so impactful in all of the research that has come out of it. For me, I really connected to this idea that we have to be talking about happiness and well being more collectively within our organizations and dug into that in a way that I hadn't before. And the reality is, I am an optimistic person, I always have been a Pollyanna type when it comes to hard moments. And with early on in my career with crisis management moments, I would joke with my husband, when I would get home is debriefing my day, have I my jokes get really good in hard scenarios, because I want to lighten the mood for people and show them it's gonna be okay in in really hard moments where we're managing a crisis across an organization. And I have to tamp that down sometimes and balance that because my, extroverted Enos that shows up with teams and my positivity and optimism can sometimes come across as insincere or inauthentic in that moment, when really, I just do truly believe things will work out for us, when we have that attitude of how can we grow? How can we get better? How can we work towards a positive outcome. And because of that self awareness that came up early, early, I was in college, when I had one of the people I was leading at the time in my performance review, wrote, she's just always so happy. And I don't think somebody can be happy like that all the time. And I cried when I got that eval handed over by my boss at the time, which is so silly looking back on that now. But it was a good moment of self reflection of realizing that even though it was authentic to me, for that person in whatever interaction we had had, it had felt perhaps toxic or had felt insincere or inauthentic. And so it really became part of my personal development, to figure out how do I show my sincerity and my optimism? How do I show my, my genuine desire for best case scenario and best outcomes, without minimizing the experiences of the people around me? And in that, this research really helped me unpack some of the science behind how we do that, and how we approach happiness collectively, and create some common language around it so that it's not just oh, you know, Shaylee, as a leader is extroverted and shows up as bubbly and optimistic, which is partially true. But how do we look at the whole picture? And how do we break that down? And how do we look at that for an individual who is not bubbly and optimistic, right? How do we look at that for somebody who has had really hard experiences and so they may be looking at a situation with extreme caution or looking at the reality of a scenario and being very present in that moment, which I promise you is just as important as having the optimistic person on the team.
And so the perma framework, the concepts around flourishing and thriving, all of it, create some some shared theory and framework around having these conversations as a whole and as a team. And that's helpful because when we begin to understand how one another how we work with one another on a team, within an organization, even within family units, or amongst friends and relationship, to have an understanding of where we are in certain areas is significant. And to be able to share language so that we can talk about it more clearly, more fluidly with less judgment. And instead, with more understanding, I think that is a way where we can begin to see an opportunity for growth together and collaborative happiness and understanding.
So I want to give an activity with the permit framework so that you can begin to mind some of this theory that I was going through as well or mine your experiences to understand them through this theory. As I was doing, because I really pulled out that permit framework, and I was getting ready for a, I was doing a workshop with a team. Like I said it was during COVID. And so I was pulling out a lot of the research, I was getting my deck updated. And in that process, I realized, oh, I have to believe in this. And I have to understand how I'm doing and all of this before I can guide others through this. And so that's what we're going to do right now.
So grab a piece of paper or open up a new window, because this is the activity portion that I want you to think about. I want you to assess satisfaction in your life and your job, whatever it might be. But I want you to begin thinking about how this wellbeing theory plays into your work and what you do. And so write down perma down the left side of your paper, P E R M A, so we're going to use the perma framework. And then I'm going to give you some things to think about and your job is to lift on that left side of your paper. So you're going to stack those letters and you're going to give each one a ranking on 1 through 10. And this is a reflection exercise. So this can be helpful if you want to lead this with somebody on your team to or in a one on one can start a good discussion. But you're gonna rank one through 10, how you're doing on that scale. Okay, so one being low 10 being high, you're doing great on each of the five areas of well being theory, because when we put these together, it can give you a clearer picture of where you're at right now.
So P Remember, these are positive emotions, and I'm referencing back to the other, the podcast episode for this. So actually pause here and go back to that one if you didn't listen to it. But P is for positive emotions. This is how often you're feeling happy and joyful and positive. And when you're thinking about this in connection to work. This is to what extent do you feel content at work? And do you feel grateful for the work that you're doing? So rank on a scale of one to 10? How you're doing and positive emotions right now? And just go with your gut reaction? There is no right or wrong answer.
We're gonna move on to E. E stands for engagement. So when you're at work, how often do you find flow? Remember, this is full absorption and what you're doing, it's been so focused, that time stands still, everything falls away. And you are completely honed in on the task at hand. And the challenge or the task that's right in front of you, is perfectly matched to your skill set and your abilities or capabilities. And so you have found flow in that moment and are fully engaged in the work that you're doing. So how often are you doing that? Or how well are you doing that right now at work? And rank that on a scale of one to 10.
Next is R this is looking at relationships. So again, we're looking at this solely from work right now. But you can think about it across all of your life because you know, I take an integrated approach to everything, but looking at relationships. And thinking about it from work perspective. To what extent do you receive help? Do coworkers come alongside you? Or do you collaborate when needed? Do you like your co workers? Do you feel appreciated by them? Do you feel called to the work that you're doing alongside them? Okay, we know and I've said this on a podcast before probably but people will stay in jobs that they don't love. Or they'll stay alongside leadership teams that they don't feel super drawn to like a bad boss. And they'll stay longer than they need to in those organizations because of the people they work alongside. And they'll say, but I love my co workers. So I can't leave or but I love my team and so I can't quit now. So think about those relationships and rank that on a scale of one to 10
Next step, meaning to what extent do you feel so much purpose and passion in the work that you're doing? Is it meaningful? Is it valuable? Is it worth your time? Is it what pulls you out of bed in the morning? And do you feel like when you are working you are on your path towards the north star like Do you feel that that is purpose driven work that you're doing? Meaning is so significant in our motivation, and so on. On a scale of one to 10, how you feel in there on meaning?
And finally, accomplishment? This is how you feel about attaining goals? Are you hitting your work related goals? Are you hitting your life goals this can you can look at accomplishment. Again, we take an integrated approach so you can look at accomplishment off across every aspect of your life. We know that when people are feeling accomplished at work, they're feeling accomplished in their personal lives, too. There's a correlation there. So are your work goals that you're setting for yourself being accomplished? Are you finding achievements? How are you doing with those responsibilities? Or how are you feeling about that feedback you're getting look at it holistically, and rank it on a scale of one to 10.
And so when you're ranking this on a scale, this is obviously a subjective assessment and score that you were putting out there, zero to 10. But I want you to document it for you right now, not how you were feeling in at the beginning of the new year, when you had a ton of motivation to try something new, not thinking like, oh, well, it's just a really full season right now. So I'll put in my score for how I'll feel once the kids go back to school and it's spa, I want you to rank right now middle of summer, how you're feeling and all of these areas.
And then here's what you're going to do this is your homework, I want you to look at high scores and low scores. And I want you to circle if there is an area where you're like that is one that is already working well. And I'm doing good. And I want you to celebrate that. And really think through that experience and the why behind that high score, or maybe high scores plural
Then I want you to look at the areas with the low scores. And I want you to put a box around those ones. And I want you to think through and reflect on observations around those boxes. What area did you rank low? And I want you to think about do you want to improve that score? What would be meaningful to you about improving that score? And what would change? If you made a tiny shift in that area? Would the score go up immediately? Will it take some work? Is it something that is doable and possible for you right now in the season? Or does it need to wait and be planned for and executed at a later time? Really look at those scenarios. And your job is to dig deep into what you can uncover by this little wellbeing audit
Didn't take us long, right? That was a few minutes of instruction. The reality is you will never need to listen back to this. All you need to remember is perma framework, right perma down the left side of your page pull up perma framework on Google. And you can find a million graphics that remind you of what those five categories are. And you can do this little simple audit. But when we put all of those pieces together and when all of those five components and wellbeing theory are in place and locked in together, that's sort of the magic happens for you as an individual as a human as a leader. And so it's important that we take time to really do this audit to look at it and to identify the the boxes where we need to make improvement or make a change. And looking at those areas you've circled where you're doing a good job and where things are going well. And creating space to identify based on what you've observed based on the themes you've pulled out of that based on your emotions that are connected with all of that. What's next? That's your big question. What's next?
So I would love to hear from you shoot me an email, send a response to me, let me know if you did this activity and wasn't meaningful for you as a leader. Try it out with a teammate, do it together. Pull in somebody trusted. Do this together, reflect together and let me know what you find. Cheers.