Improve Your Wellbeing with Positive Psychology

With our fast-paced lives, there's a tendency to focus on chasing our goals while typically being more critical than kind to ourselves. More often than not, we struggle to establish clear boundaries between a work-life balance, and this may result in burnout or a decline in mental health and wellbeing. It also means we may miss out on fully appreciating the small moments of happiness and success in life. That is where positive psychology comes in!

Positive psychology is an evidence-based movement that is founded on the study of understanding how to achieve 'optimal human functioning' – the best possible state that facilitates the greatest opportunity to thrive. The aim of positive psychology is to enhance your individual personal potential and improve wellbeing by promoting the positive elements of life.

The benefits of positive psychology 

• It creates an optimistic outlook and attitude to life. 
• It improves self-esteem. 
• It helps develop resilience towards adversity. 
• It enhances relationships with others. 
• It supports you to find meaning and engagement in life. 
• It helps decrease symptoms of poor mental health (e.g. anxiety and depression)
• It increases life satisfaction. 

Positive psychology is for everyone!

There are no limiting factors or excluding criteria, however your individuality may influence how you incorporate this into your life. Ways of approaching life through the lens of positive psychology can be adapted and personalised to assist you in whatever your goal may be. Read our suggested strategies below.

Positive psychology strategies

1. Act on your signature strengths
There is evidence that supports the development of more positive character strengths as an effective way of improving quality of life and decreasing symptoms of depression. This is achieved through directing deliberate attention towards what you do best. It is beneficial to think about your signature strengths in-line with your psychological requirements. This approach can be structured around the PERMA-H model, as a way of using your strengths to promote:

• Positive emotion
• Engagement
• Relationships
• Meaning in life
• Achievements
• Health 

For example: for 'achievements', you may review and set your personal goals, ensuring these are realistic and compliment your capacity. This example is beneficial as effective goals can increase motivation and self-belief.

2. Keep a gratitude log
The experience of gratitude can be described as a feeling of wonder, admiration, and appreciation directed towards something or someone, for example, towards a person for their helpful action or an appreciation for the beauty of nature. Keeping track of things that you are thankful for, is an effective way of promoting positive emotions and highlighting meaning in your life.

3. Develop optimism
Optimism describes a positive attitude towards life. Identifying the good things in life can boost happiness and encourage a more positive outlook. You can do this by:

• Engaging in optimistic self-talk. Encourage regular chats with others and personal check-ins focused on the good parts of the present day. 
• Managing your expectations. Set realistic goals, designed around effort and capabilities rather than results. 
• Reflecting on your day. Keep a regular record (e.g. in a daily journal, or a daily ‘three good things’ log) of your achievements, people, or things you are grateful for and your strengths which have supported you to be your best self.
• Challenging your inner-critic. Take responsibility for yourself, recognise failures as lessons, and show kindness towards yourself. These are ways of adapting a pessimistic perspective into a more positive one. 

4. Self-care
Regular exercise, a balanced diet, and getting enough hours of sleep each night are ways to ensure your body is in the best state to enhance your opportunity to thrive. Try bringing 'Hygge' into your life, to increase happiness and improve your wellbeing. Hygge is a cultural phenomenon from Denmark which  promotes the practise of routinely prioritising being 'cosy', relaxing, and embracing the quieter pleasures in life. The impact of Hygge is reflected through reduced stress levels and improving quality of life and is understood to be a contributing factor to Denmark’s status of one of the happiest countries, according to the United Nations.



Practising positive psychology might feel challenging at first. That is okay! It may also take some time to learn which strategies are the best fit for enhancing your potential and improving your wellbeing. Don’t be put off by these factors. Research in the area of positive psychology shows that it can increase happiness, provide a sense of direction, and help identify opportunities for success.

Can you see where positive psychology might improve areas of your life?

More about positive psychology

For more about positive psychology and how it can be used to improve your life, download our latest free booklet, "Positive Psychology – Realise Your Potential" >