“The good life consists in deriving happiness by using your signature strengths every day in the main realms of living. The meaningful life adds one more component: using these same strengths to forward knowledge, power, or goodness. A life that does this is pregnant with meaning, and if God comes at the end, such a life is sacred.”
~ Martin Seligman from Authentic Happiness
As the former President of the American Psychological Association and Founder of the revolutionary “Positive Psychology” movement, Martin Seligman and his colleagues are literally creating a science of happiness. It’s amazing stuff.
I’m a huge fan of his work and actually studied with “Marty” and 300 other professionals (from academic researchers to therapists, coaches, and philosophers) as part of his “Vanguard Authentic Happiness Coaching” class in 2003. We were the first lucky group like that to get his tutelage in the science of happiness and it was a lot of fun to dive a little deeper into his work.
Before we get going with this Note, I want to *strongly* recommend you go online and bookmark AuthenticHappiness.com the next chance you get. I think you’ll dig playing around with all the amazing self-assessment tests they offer for free. My recommendation: Start with the “signature strengths” test and have fun getting to know yourself better with scientifically valid tests on everything from gratitude and meaning to optimism and “grit.” Fun.
For now, let’s kick this note off with a little background on the trends in psychology and why Dr. Seligman’s work has been and continues to be so important. Then we’re gonna dedicate the rest of our time exploring your signature strengths and playing with ways to help you rock ‘em more consistently in greatest service to the world!
“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
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