01 Feb PERMA and Purpose

In Chapter 8 of the textbook, the authors focus on the power of having a life purpose. In coaching, that is one, if not the most important, idea you could help your coaching clients clarify. Many people today are not clear on what their life purpose is.
Positive psychology has something significant to say about this. You may remember it from the previous course when we referred to it by the acronym PERMA:

· Positive emotion—increasing positive emotions, which includes happiness but also includes more

· Engagement

· Relationships—developing deep and meaningful relationships

· Meaning—finding meaning and purpose in our lives

· Accomplishment—achieving our goals by recognizing, developing, and applying our strengths and talents

Upon successful completion of this assignment, you will be able to:

· Construct a life purpose statement from questions used in a potential life coaching session.

Background Information

Martin Seligman, the father of positive psychology, believes that these five elements form the base for having a life purpose. When a person is deliberately pursuing them, Seligman would say they are flourishing.

In this assignment, you will apply these five PERMA categories to life coaching.

Read the following scenario and then respond to the questions that follow:

Ricardo is a 45-year-old male who has worked for his father in the construction industry for the past 20 years. He has become increasingly unhappy in his job and wants to work toward another career. But he doesn’t know exactly what he would like to do and is concerned that switching careers at this point would not enable him to make the income he currently has to support a family of six.

Your task is to help Ricardo develop a life purpose statement by asking him pointed questions.

Instructions

1. Read Chapter 8 in your textbook, Becoming a Professional Life Coach: Lessons from the Institute for Life Coach Training.

2. Watch the YouTube video Purpose and Life From Title: TEDTalks: Rick Warren—Living a Life of Purpose “Purpose and Life”:

3. In a three- to four-page paper, respond to the following:

a. In addition to Meaning, which of the other PERMA factors would you focus on to help Ricardo begin to explore his purpose as he moves forward with his life? Explain.

b. Develop at least eight questions (one from each of the eight categories below) used in Assignment 2.4 that might help Ricardo gain insight and clarity into his larger purpose. Follow each question with a rationale of why you would choose that question and how you would use it. Here are the eight categories of questions:

i. Probing

ii. Clarifying

iii. Goal-related

iv. Expanding

v. Support

vi. Action

vii. Possibility

viii. Emotional

c. Finally, develop a tightly worded paragraph that states an example of what Ricardo’s purpose statement might be after your coaching session with him. You can take some liberty here since it is not an actual conversation you are having with a person. But, make sure that the purpose statement is congruent with the scenario and the questions you posted to gain clarity.