“Happiness” is a topic of great concern to positive psychology, and many psychologists have studied and discussed it. This article will introduce knowledge related to happiness, share the five dimensions of happiness from Martin Seligman, the father of positive psychology, and discuss how we can practice it in reality to improve our happiness based on the reality of our lives.

The Origin of “Happiness”

With the changes of the times, social development and progress have also promoted a surge of cultural thoughts. People’s understanding of “happiness” is no longer limited to material or the desire for good luck. Background factors such as the stability of the family and the country have made We can pursue inner spiritual satisfaction based on certain food, clothing, and safety conditions, and our understanding of happiness is more diverse and profound.

“Happiness” is a state of satisfaction when human consciousness is aware of itself. It is different from “pleasure” and “happiness” in that it is a kind of continuous subjective cognition.

From a psychological point of view, “happiness” belongs to the category of positive psychology. As one of the main advocates of cognitive therapy, Martin Seligman’s theories and views no longer only focus on the darkness, fragility, and pain of human nature. On the one hand, it is based on the relevant theories of positive psychology, trying to help people explore ways to obtain happiness and help people establish and continue their happiness. What is slightly different from the mainstream perspective of past psychology is that he sees people’s inner flourishing. Endogenous resources encourage people to focus on their strengths and realize their self-worth.

The Five Elements of the Perma Happiness Model

In “Sustained Happiness”, Martin Seligman mentioned five elements to achieve a happy life, namely the PERMA model. “Sustained Happiness” is a work released after completing the book “Real Happiness”. It is an expansion of the book “Real Happiness” with related concepts about happiness.

After the release of the book “Real Happiness”, triggered a very extensive discussion. In the past, psychology mainly focused on psychology and mental illness, and related concepts about happiness have brought us a more novel perspective on thinking. It also injects new vitality into the development of psychology and plays a balancing and perfect role in psychological research.

In the book “Sustained Happiness”, Martin Seligman explains in detail the specific method of building happiness. The PERMA model is the abbreviation of the five elements of happiness in the book.

Martin Seligman believes that these five elements are intertwined and influence each other. If people can pay attention to these five elements and apply them to practical life, these five elements can be fully utilized, flourished, and fully experienced, and displayed, we can feel very comprehensive happiness.

Of course, we need to be reminded that the PERMA model is a theoretical hypothesis model. Our happiness will be affected by various factors. We can regard it as an ideal goal of PERMA, which aims to comprehensively consider the dimensions of happiness and add more meaning to life.

The PERMA model is an abbreviation of five phrases, which refer to:

• P=positive emotion positive emotion
• E=engagement investment
• R=relationship
• M=meaning
• A=accomplishment

How to Achieve Sustained Happiness Based on the Perma Model

Experience positive emotions and consciously capture “positive moments”

Positive emotions will make us feel the temperature of life. In this wonderful awareness, our perception of self-existence will become clear and bright, and positive emotions will also help us trigger various motivations.

This was also demonstrated in the research of Barbara Fredrickson, who found that when people experience positive emotions, our cognition will be expanded and curiosity about the world will be stimulated. Life satisfaction will also increase. The key is to be conscious of welcoming and embracing these small moments.

Sometimes, some unnoticed little things are the source of our positive emotions, such as a blooming flower, a sunny weather and other moments. We can try to capture these moments and record them. Writing may be a way to improve positivity. A good way to express emotions, words will help us see the good bits.

Try to be fully present and enter a state of flow

What makes us often feel contradictory is that we are unable to fully devote ourselves to our current goals, and when we rest, we feel very anxious because of this. Therefore, it is mentioned in the book “Sustained Happiness” that we need to make efforts for the things we desire, and sustained efforts can help us achieve happiness.

Today is an era of information explosion. Various “short, fast” entertainment methods bring us instant gratification, but they may also cause us to lose focus. Please feel the power of growth through practice, and use it when studying or working. Use your strengths to experience the state of flow.

Don’t close yourself off, feel the temperature of interpersonal relationships

In happiness research, the support of important social relationships is a source of improving happiness. We feel the warmth of others and feel “healed” in positive feedback, so relationships play an important role in this model.

Relationships themselves are about more than just being supported, but supporting others. Positive interactions are conducive to the continuation of healthy relationships, while bad relationships can sometimes even bring us great trauma.

Paying attention to relationships does not mean blindly pleasing or compromising, but it means adopting a positive attitude towards those who show genuine kindness to us.

Explore the meaning of life and find your own direction

The meaning is more like a lighthouse sailing in the vast sea. With a sense of direction and belief in our hearts, we can feel the weight of our existence. Therefore, happy people can often see the meaning of their lives. In the process of struggling forward firmly, the seeds of happiness will quietly grow.

The meaning of life can take many forms, such as finding your own career or academic ideals, etc. We don’t have to stick to a certain form. We can explore our own hearts according to our actual situation, so that our lives will become fulfilling.

Explore your potential and achieve personal achievements

Self-determination theory states that to achieve achievement, people must find their own clear goals. Committing to achieving clear and difficult goals leads to the highest levels of self-esteem and self-efficacy.

Therefore, after exploring our own potential, establishing our own goals, and overcoming various difficulties through our own efforts, we will feel happy. Seligman considers achievement to be one of the key factors in his model of happiness.

Monism and Pluralism in “Happiness”

Earlier, in our discussion of happiness, there were some discussions of monism and pluralism.

Monism uses one variable to make broad deductions, and people often discuss “happiness” from a monist perspective. As mentioned above, our understanding of happiness seems to be too simple.

For example, some people will say that marriage can make people happy, that is, marriage is the only way for people to obtain happiness or the only element that defines happiness. This kind of assertion will narrow the width of our understanding of happiness and make people lose it.

Therefore, Seligman proposed the PERMA model to explore ways to obtain happiness from multiple perspectives and dismantle the elements of happiness more concretely.

As a reminder, the task of positive psychology is to describe the actual ways people pursue happiness, not to prescribe those ways. As a theoretical hypothesis, the PERMA model is difficult to achieve 100% for every element.

This model is proposed to allow us to see various possibilities for developing happiness, instead of demanding that we be perfect in everything. We can work towards these directions with a positive attitude.

Conclusion

Life should be a wilderness, not a track.

Although life has an end, we can have infinite possibilities in this process. Please do not give up your desire for happiness, and please strive to make yourself a happy person, because “happiness” may be a subject that will accompany us throughout our lives.