Emiliya Zhivotovskaya is a fellow positive psychologist and the founder of the Flourishing Center, which strives to make the world a better place by teaching people the skills of resilience and positive psychology.

After immigrating from the Ukraine at the age of 6 to escape Communism and Chernobyl, Emiliya had to face severe obstacles like the death of her brother, her mom`s cancer, and living in a new country, which led her to develop an intense curiosity around the power of the mind and what it takes to live a flourishing life. After getting her Master`s degree in Positive Psychology, she is now pursuing her PhD in Mind-Body medicine and a leading voice in the fields of wellbeing and resilience!

Max Out Insights:

The stories we tell ourselves affect how we feel about our lives. Is what you`re telling yourself on a daily basis serving you or disempowering you? What new story could you create that would give you more peace and happiness in your life?

PERMA-V – Positive emotions, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning, Achievement, and Vitality are all pathways to happines.

How many positive emotions do you experiene on your daily basis? How about your net positive/negative?

How engaged do you feel every day? Do you have experiences of Flow and opportunities to stretch yourself?

How is the quality of your relationships? Do you have people around you that love and you support you and vice versa?

Do you experience meaning and purpose in your life?

How much do you get the things you want out of life? Are you able to set goals, build the right habits, and achieve what you want?

How is your physical body feeling? Are you fully nurturing your body through nutritious foods and envigorating exercise?

After traumatic events, not everyone responds the same way. Some people struggle. Most people are resilient and get back to normal. Others experience post-traumatic growth and actually grow stronger and better BECAUSE of the adversity they faced. If you`re struggling with trauma of any kind, especially professional help, social support, creating a more empowering story, and setting small, daily challenges can help.

Mental Mastery comes down to 3 key skills: The self-awareness to notice when you engage in unhelpful thoughts or emotions, the self-compassion to understand where they come from and not beat yourself up, and the self-care to take active control of your thinking and choose helpful over unhelpful.

Happy people reframe failures as opportunities for learning and improvement, while unhappy people view them as personal failures that mean they are not good, smart, beautiful, talented, etc. enough. Developing a growth mindset and looking FORWARD to failures as a stepping stone to success is key.

Max Out Quotes:

„So much of our wellbeing depends on our thoughts, our belief systems, and the lens through which we see the world.“

„We create our own stories and therefore our own realities.“

„Mastering the mind is the ability to identify your thoughts in real time, choose thoughts that are useful, and redirect thoughts when they aren`t.“