Dr Martin Seligman is the Director of the University of Pennsylvania Psychology Center and founder of Positive Psychology, a relatively recent branch of psychology which studies positive emotions, positive character traits and positive institutions in order to help people and communities lead happier lives.
Dr Seligman believes that there are three types of happiness: the pleasant life, the good life and the meaningful life.
The Pleasant Life
He defines the pleasant life as being the ability to have positive emotion and appreciate the pleasures of life, such as enjoying your favourite food, having fun with friends, going shopping, sex, etc.
The Good Life
The Good Life
For Seligman, the good life consists of a life filled with “flow" which can be defined as a state in which “action and awareness are merged.” It’s being so immersed in what you’re doing that you lose track of time and feeling. You’re completely focused on the task at hand and nothing will distract you from it. You can have flow when you discover your unique virtues and "signature" strengths and you start using them creatively to improve your life.
The Meaningful Life
Seligman believes the meaningful life is achieved when you find a deep sense of fulfillment by using your signature strengths not for an individualistic purpose, but for a purpose greater than yourself.
In Seligman's view, each of these three types of happiness has its importance in people's lives. However, in order to have a long-lasting feeling of fulfillment, he believes we need to gradually get to the third type of happiness, which forces us to go beyond our individualistic desires, and use our strengths to serve others.
"Just as the good life is something beyond the pleasant life, the meaningful life is beyond the good life."
"Optimism is a tool with a certain clear set of benefits: it fights depression, it promotes achievement and produces better health."
Martin Seligman
"Just as the good life is something beyond the pleasant life, the meaningful life is beyond the good life."
"Optimism is a tool with a certain clear set of benefits: it fights depression, it promotes achievement and produces better health."
Martin Seligman
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