Wednesday 18 November 2009

PSYCHOLOGY: Making Change Fun

How's about encouraging people to change their behaviour by making it fun in the moment? 66% more people took the stairs over the escalator when the stairs were turned into a giant piano. - watch "Escada Piano" on YouTube (less than 2 mins view time). This is real world psychology at it's best. What if we could all make the changes we most want or need to make in our lives, more fun? What do you need to change?

Whilst you're on YouTube, check out my latest film about having fun and being happy - "Jessica Chivers with Rock Choir"

Thursday 5 November 2009

PSYCHOLOGY: Body Image Shocker

Thumbing through the London Evening Standard on Tuesday night was cheered by header "London girls happy with their body image." Thought the use of 'girls' was probably akin to my use of 'girls' in mass e-mails to my thirty and forty-something pals. Was then appalled to discover girls as young as seven had been surveyed by the Girl Guides (as part of its centenary celebrations no less) on how they feel about their bodies. What an absolute disgrace. The Girl Guides should know better, and if they don't who does? If there's one way to get girls thinking about how they feel about their bodies it's to sew the seed that it's something they should be thinking about. At seven girls shouldn't have 'feelings' about their bodies. It's just plain wrong. Am I supposed to be happy that "...almost one third said they were 'very happy' with the way they looked, against 20 percent nationally." Well I'm not. I've got a one year old daughter who'll be seven before I know it and I absolutely don't want anyone surveying her feelings about her body. And what about the other two thirds? How do they feel about their bodies. Let's leave body image alone because chances are, if we stop talking about it in such a mass-market way, some of the issues might go away of their own accord. As Elle "The Body" MacPherson commented recently "When I'm obsessing about the outside it means I'm unhappy on the inside. I've learnt you can't fix the way you feel by fixing the shell." I applaud her honesty. Do check out the good work done by b-eat.