Authentic Happiness

"At last, psychology gets serious about glee, fun, and happiness. Martin Seligman has given us a gift--a practical map for the perennial quest for a flourishing life."

~ Daniel Goleman, author of "Emotional Intelligence"
commenting on "Authentic Happiness" by Martin Seligman

Martin Seligman is changing the world. As the former President of the American Psychological Association and Founder of the revolutionary “Positive Psychology” movement, he and his colleagues are literally creating a science of happiness. It’s amazing stuff.

I recently studyied with “Marty” and 300 other professionals (from academic researchers to therapists, coaches, and philosophers) as part of his “Vanguard Authentic Happiness Coaching” class. We’re the first lucky group to get his tutelage in the science of happiness and I think you’ll enjoy this quick overview of his book and the concepts we’re discussing!

Hope you enjoy.

thinkhappiness.

 
A Quick Look at a Great Book

A quick overview of the trends in psychology:
Over the past fifty years, psychological research has been primarily focused on mental illness. In fact, for every one hundred articles published on mental illness, there was only one published on mental health. We now have a much better understanding of depression, schizophrenia, and other "negative elements" of human behavior; unfortunately, we made much less progress toward scientifically understanding the elements of health and optimal living.

Although many psychologists have explored positive elements of human behavior, it was Martin Seligman who, as the President of the American Psychological Association in 2000, launched an aggressive initiative to scientifically understand happiness and other positive emotions. He and his colleagues labeled this new branch of research "Positive Psychology."

Basically, they figured that although we were pretty good at taking someone from -9 to -3 to 0 through pharmacology and psychotherapy, it was time to focus on understanding how to guide someone from 0 to +3 to +9. It's pretty exciting to look at the scientific research that is being conducted on subjects such as the value of self-awareness, goal directed behavior, altruism, gratitude and other aspects of optimal living.

A quick overview of the book:
In his recent book, "Authentic Happiness," Seligman boils down Aristotle's "good life" into a simple formula (ridiculously simple but backed up by some impressive philosophical and scientific data).

His formula for the "good life"? Know what he calls your "signature strengths" and "use these strengths every day in the main realms of your life to bring abundant gratification and authentic happiness."

He establishes the (obvious!) fact that the more time we spend doing what we are good at, the more pleasure we experience in our lives. The trick, of course, is to follow Socrates' wisdom to truly "know ourselves" and then properly apply that knowledge to our daily lives.

In his book, Seligman provides clues to both. His book provides a self-assessment test (that can also be accessed online for free--see link below) that helps you discover your "signature strengths" and also discusses how to create a life and work environment that allows you to utilize these skills more often.

I've had a number of my clients and friends take the test. In half an hour, the test will generate your top strengths. The results won't be shocking, but there is something powerful about being able to clearly articulate what you're best at (which, by the way, is usually what you're most passionate about).

In my experience, as we gain more and more self-awareness, it becomes that much easier to create a life that allows us to express ourselves most fully--and experience the most happiness.

Seligman also differentiates jobs vs. careers vs. callings. He discusses the differences between knowing and utilizing your strengths to create a life in which you are pursuing your calling rather than just performing a job that pays your bills or a career that provides the quickly fleeting satisfaction of job advancement. Good stuff.

For those in the crowd who feel they know exactly who they are and what they enjoy and are successfully doing this, more power to you! You can still learn from the book as Seligman also discusses the importance of empowering your employees and co-workers to express their strengths on a more consistent basis.

He articulates a point that many of us have sensed intuitively: the fact that "Our economy is rapidly changing from a money economy to a satisfaction economy." He notes that corporations that promote the attainment of satisfaction for their employees (achieved by enabling them to do what they do best) will overtake corporations that rely on monetary reward. And, of course, he provides some valuable advice on how to help your employees attain that elusive satisfaction.

That wraps up the overview of the book...

For those interested, my signature strengths are:

1. Hope and Optimism: I believe I can create anything I want in my life and I also believe that anyone else can do the same;
2. Wisdom: I love understanding life and people look to me for perspective;
3. Creativity: I enjoy finding creative solutions to problems;
4. Energy: I have a lot of it!
5. Kindness and Generosity: I get a lot out of helping people.

 My work as the Chief Business Guy (and Chief Philosopher) here at Zaadz is a direct expression of these strengths.

What are your strengths? How are you building your life around them?

 
Resources to check out:

You can buy the book here:

You can check out the Authentic Happiness web site where you can take the free online strengths assessment along with a battery of other self-assessments. Highly recommended!
http://www.authentichappiness.org

Martin Seligman's Research Alliance web site where you can get more info on the scientific research currently conducted in positive psychology.
http://www.positivepsychology.org/

Seligman has also written a book called "Learned Optimism" in which he articulates and extols the virtues of optimism and teaches us how we can "learn optimism." Themes of this book include: "The pessimist views bad events as pervasive, permanent, and uncontrollable, while the optimist sees them as local, temporary, and changeable. Pessimism is maladaptive in most endeavors: Pessimistic life insurance agents sell less and drop out sooner that optimistic agents. Pessimistic undergraduates get lower grades, relative to their SAT scores and past academic record, than optimistic students. Pessimistic pitchers and hitters do worse in close games than optimistic pitchers and hitters, etc."

 
My (very brief) thoughts on the formula:
As we discussed, Seligman defines Aristotle's "good life" as knowing your "signature strengths" and using "these strengths every day in the main realms of your life to bring abundant gratification and authentic happiness."

For the record, Aristotle himself, in his "Nicomachean Ethics," stated that the path to happiness is to live with virtue (aka excellence/areté).

In its simplest form, I think that we will be unhappy to the extent that we are doing less than what we are capable of. In my mind, a combination of Seligman and Aristotle makes the most sense. Clearly, you must know who you are and what your strengths are. But, you also must live with excellence (areté). To the extent you are doing your best at what you are best at, you will have little regret or anxiety and a lot of happiness.

And, the most important question: what do you think?

In sum, I think you'll enjoy the book. Hope you enjoyed the quick look.