In the late 1990's, Dr. Martin Seligman launched the Positive Psychology movement with his challenge to members of the American Psychological Association (APA) to expand their research from a strictly mental illness focus to include research into human well-being. From that beginning, positive psychology researchers have identified, codified, and scientifically measured the characteristics, environments, and activities that contribute to our happiness and well-being.
Under Seligman's leadership, positive psychology has not only helped us understand what it takes to be happier, it has made this information readily available to other scientists and lay-people alike. For the price of a good novel, we can purchase books that are written in plain language, filled with examples and exercises anyone can implement on the way to greater happiness and well-being.
Seligman's Authentic Happiness (Free Press, 2002) focused on happiness and becoming happier as the ultimate goals of human beings, echoing Aristotle's “Happiness is the meaning and the purpose of life, the whole aim and end of human existence.” Recently, Seligman and the researchers of positive psychology have expanded their target beyond the pursuit of happiness, by suggesting a broader goal for personal growth and development is to flourish.
What Does it Mean to Flourish?
According to Dictionary.com, flourish means to grow or develop in a healthy or vigorous way, especially as the result of a particularly congenial environment. A flourishing life of personal growth, health, and vigor, all occurring in a congenial environment becomes an attractive goal to pursue for personal development.
In a newsletter of April 2011, Seligman explained flourishing in more detail. Happiness as a goal, he noted, encompasses three components: positive emotion, engagement, and meaning. A flourishing life, according to Seligman, also includes contributions from relationships and personal accomplishment. Seligman notes that not all five components are necessary for flourishing, though it seems one might seek to grow in all five areas as a worthy personal growth goal.
Five Components of Well-being: PERMA
The five components of well-being are captured in the acronym PERMA, which stands for: Positive Emotion, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning and Purpose, and Accomplishment.
Positive Emotion: This component of well-being is simply the ability, opportunity, and experience of feeling positive emotions: happiness, satisfaction, joy, and the many other descriptors of good feelings. Positive psychologists have provided us with many proven and easily implemented methods for experiencing more positive emotions. An excellent source is Dr. Sonja Lyubomirsky's The How of Happiness (Penguin Books, 2007).
Engagement: Not the prelude to marriage, engagement in this sense is the opportunity to be fully engaged and completely immersed in activities. Scientists describe this as flow, a more common descriptor is "being in the zone." To be engaged is to be so immersed in an activity that you lose your sense of time, feel boundless energy, and function for long periods without eating or sleeping.
Relationships: The nature of a person's relationships strongly correlate to their happiness, health, and overall well-being. Improving relationships can bring greater happiness.
Meaning and Purpose: Having meaningful activities brings a sense of purpose and fulfillment to daily life. A sense of purpose often accompanies activities which contribute to something larger than self.
Accomplishment: If you're the kind of person who makes daily to-do lists, you probably recognize the satisfaction you receive from checking off each task when accomplished. Having goals and objectives to accomplish brings a sense of achievement and satisfaction to life, contributing to the feeling of well-being.
A Personal Growth and Development Goal: To Flourish
The latest research from positive psychology points us to five components of well-being with the acronym PERMA. Focusing your personal development planning on Positive Emotion, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning and Purpose, and Accomplishments offers potential benefits of happiness and overall well-being—flourishing.
Jerry Lopper - IPPA member, business and engineering degrees. Jerry's passion for personal development shows in 5 books, hundreds of articles & ...
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