Use Positive Psychology.

A Quick Note

This is an attempt to re-formulate the 3 Basic Ingredients of Human Flourishing post in a more defined and focused manner.

What is “Human Flourishing”?

Although there is no simple, uncontroversial answer to this question, I’ll provide an outline of human flourishing and its 3 foundational elements in this post.

For individuals, human flourishing can be defined as a state of optimal functioning and experience ¹.

Positive psychology research suggests that there are three separate yet intersecting routes that lead to optimal well-being: (1) pleasure, (2) self-actualization, and (3) flow ².

1. Pleasure (Positive Emotions)

This route to optimal well-being suggests that people should maximize pleasure while minimizing pain. In everyday conversation, people refer to this notion of optimal well-being as “happiness” ².

In order to maximize pleasure, people can attempt to attain goals which they expect will provide positive emotions. For example, to feel contentment, a person may decide to eat a delicious piece of chocolate cake. Then, to feel joyous, they might watch their favorite comedy.

Essentially, this route to optimal well-being is about feeling good - as much as possible.

2. Self-Actualization (Positive Meaning)

This route to optimal well-being suggests that people can reach their true potential by self-actualizing, or developing and using their unique strengths in pursuit of a goal that is congruent with deeply held values ².

This means that optimal well-being is not just about satisfying chocolate cravings.

Let’s look at Michael Phelps. I think it’s a safe bet to say that he deeply values Achievement and that he possesses the strength of Persistence. Michael Phelps can be considered an individual who is self-actualized because he used and developed his strength of Persistence in order to achieve a goal (winning several gold medals) that was congruent with his value of Achievement.

Essentially, this route to optimal well-being is about the process of living a meaningful life.

3. Flow (Positive Actions)

Flow is a psychological state in which people are fully engaged in an intrinsically enjoyable and challenging activity ³. Most hobbies (for example, playing an instrument, sports, video games) fall under the category of activities that lead to flow.

Beyond hobbies, people might leverage flow most effectively by using it as a bridge between the other two components of human flourishing (pleasure and self-actualization) ⁴. This could be done by selectively engaging in flow producing activities that lead toward the attainment of a value congruent goal.

Summary

People flourish when they are in a state of optimal well-being, which is composed of pleasure (positive emotions), self-actualization (positive meaning), and flow (positive actions).

I hope this post gave you a clearer understanding of optimal well-being. Obviously, there is much more to human flourishing and the processes that lead to it than I’ve written.

As usual, feel free drop a comment if you have any questions or suggestions.

P.S. I’ll be putting up some more actionable and detail oriented posts soon. Stay tuned. :)

Note: For an update to this post, read Human Flourishing = Pleasure + Self Actualization + Flow

Research from positive psychology suggests that a combination of three components leads to human flourishing: (1) positive emotions, (2) positive actions, and (3) positive meaning ¹.

1. Positive Emotions

This component is also referred to as the pleasant life. It’s about maximizing pleasure while minimizing pain. Positive emotions can be about the past (gratitude), present (savoring), or future (hope).

Attempting to increase positive emotion as much as possible is not just shallow hedonism. For example, the Broaden and Build Theory stipulates that positive emotions lead to long-term individual growth because they build people’s personal and social resources ². The increase of resources in turn, leads to more positive emotions. In essence, there is an upward spiral of continuous growth.

Unfortunately, there seems to be a preset limit on how far we can exploit this positive-emotion-fueled growth; up to 50% of your level of happiness may be determined by your genes ³.

Still, it may be worthwhile to maximize positive emotions because that leaves a full 50% that is not genetically determined. And as previously stated, positive emotions lead to long-term benefits which may also increase opportunities for enhancing the other two components of human flourishing: positive actions, and positive meaning.

2. Positive Actions

This component is also referred to as the good life. It’s about doing activities that result in flow: a psychological state in which people are fully engaged in an intrinsically enjoyable and challenging activity ⁴.

People engage in flow producing activities just for the activity’s sake; not for external rewards like money or social acceptance. Just engaging in the activity is rewarding enough.

However, a person will not necessarily feel positive emotions while immersed in a flow inducing activity. For example, an artist will probably not feel joy as he struggles to find just the right shade of red. Instead, he might actually feel the negative emotion of frustration. Nonetheless, after completing his newest work of art, he will probably say that painting it was fun.

Furthermore, different people will intrinsically enjoy different activities. That’s because flow producing activities require people to use their unique strengths ⁵. For example, a person with the strength of creativity will probably enjoy creating art, whereas a person with the strength of social intelligence will probably enjoy meeting new people.

That means that people should understand their specific strengths and then, as much as possible, engage in activities that utilize those strengths.

3. Positive Meaning

This component is also referred to as the meaningful life. It’s about using your unique strengths in service of something “larger than yourself” ¹. When you exploit your specific talents and skills to pursue goals that service the greater good, you add meaning to your life.

For example, Al Gore uses his talent as a public speaker to increase awareness about and drive solutions for solving the climate change crisis.

Final Thoughts

In this post I’ve highlighted how research from positive psychology points to three three basic ingredients that lead to human flourishing: (1) the pleasant life, (2) the good life, and (3) the meaningful life. For the sake of clarity, each component was only explained in general terms. In future posts, I’ll attempt to fully explain each component with specific details.

If you have any questions, thoughts, or criticism, feel free to fire away in the comments!

Note on diagram: Although the diagram at the top suggests a clockwise direction in which positive meaning influences positive emotions which influence positive actions, a counter-clockwise direction is also possible. Furthermore, the relationship between each component is not necessarily linear; for example, positive emotions do not necessarily have to influence positive actions first and in order to influence positive meaning.

Because research currently being conducted by positive psychologists is unveiling the secrets of how people can live well.

The central question posed by positive psychology is:

What makes life worth living? ¹

People have been trying to figure out the answer to that question since the beginning of time. Often, the answer has suggested fixing human weaknesses as opposed to amplifying human strengths; it’s been merely about surviving in life as opposed to thriving in life.

Significantly, positive psychology recognizes that the absence of suffering does not automatically lead to a fulfilling life. Thus, positive psychology research is about the factors and processes that lead to human flourishing ¹.

Furthermore, I feel the emergence of positive psychology is an exciting development because it’s the scientific study of human flourishing. The importance of this cannot be overstated; it’s what distinguishes positive psychology from 99.99% of the bullcrap you’ll find in the “self-help” section at your local bookstore.

In creating this blog, my purpose was not to arrogantly tell people how they should live their life. Instead, I created this blog because I’m certain there are other people out there, who, like me, share an interest in answering the question: what makes life worth living?

I think learning how to apply the principles of positive psychology is a step toward answering that question.

Hi there! :)

I’m Omar Ganai, and I’m keenly interested in Positive Psychology - the scientific study of human flourishing ¹.

On this blog I’ll be focusing upon how research findings from Positive Psychology can be applied by striving individuals to achieve their potential.

Obviously, this is a huge undertaking. There is much to write about, and I hope you’ll join me as I delve into how you can use “the science of happiness” to achieve what you want in life!