Positive Psychology: Take these 12 steps to a happier you: Sonja Lyubomirsky

Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Take these 12 steps to a happier you: Sonja Lyubomirsky

Daily Mail a daily in England gives away the most important text in the book???

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/you...n_page_id=1908

Quote:

Take these 12 steps to a happier you

By SONJA LYUBOMIRSKY (Taken from the book by DM )» Last updated at 18:21pm on 7th December 2007

STEP 1 - Show gratitude (* There's a lot more to gratitude than saying "thank you." Emerging research shows that people who are consistently grateful are happier, more energetic and hopeful, more forgiving and less materialistic. Gratitude needs to be practised daily because it doesn't necessarily come naturally.)

STEP 2 - Cultivate Optimism

STEP 3 - Avoid overthinking and social comparison
(* Many of us believe that when we feel down we should try to focus inwardly to attain self-insight and find solutions to our problems. But numerous studies have shown that overthinking sustains or worsens sadness.)

STEP 4 - Practice kindness

STEP 5 - Nurture social relationships

STEP 6 - Develop coping skills

STEP 7 - Learn to forgive (* Forgiveness is not the same thing as reconciliation, pardoning or condoning. Nor is it a denial of your own hurt. Forgiveness is a shift in thinking and something that you do for yourself and not for the person who has harmed you. Research confirms that clinging to bitterness or hate harms you more than the object of your hatred. Forgiving people are less likely to be hostile, depressed, anxious or neurotic.

* Forgive yourself for past wrongs. Recognising that you too can be a transgressor will make you more empathetic to others. )

STEP 8 - Find more flow (* "Flow" was a phrase coined by psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi in the 1960s. It means you are totally immersed in what you are doing and unaware of yourself. Happy people have the capacity to enjoy their lives even when their material conditions are lacking and even when many of their goals have not been reached.)

STEP 9 - Savour the day

STEP 10 - Commit to your goals (* People who strive for something personally significant, whether it's learning a new craft or changing careers, are far happier than those who don't have strong dreams or aspirations. Working towards a goal is more important to wellbeing than its attainment.)

STEP 11 - Take care of your soul (* A growing body of psychological research suggests that religious people are happier, healthier and recover better after traumas than nonreligious people. ...
* Find the sacred in ordinary life ...)

STEP 12 - Take care of your body

"The How of Happiness" Sonja Lyubomirsky - TalkRational

Sonja Lyubomirsky

link: http://lyubomirsky.socialpsychology.org/

Positive Psychology given credence by Academia:

Positive psychology is the scientific study of the strengths and virtues that enable individuals and communities to thrive.

Commentators on the subject Martin Seligman and Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, note that:

"The field of positive psychology at the subjective level is about valued subjective experiences: well-being, contentment, and satisfaction (in the past); hope and optimism (for the future); and flow and happiness (in the present).

At the individual level, it is about positive individual traits: the capacity for love and vocation, courage, interpersonal skill, aesthetic sensibility, perseverance, forgiveness, originality, future mindedness, spirituality, high talent, and wisdom.

At the group level, it is about the civic virtues and the institutions that move individuals toward better citizenship: responsibility, nurturance, altruism, civility, moderation,tolerance, and work ethic."