How Can Positive Psychology Change Your Life? | Guest Post by David Shields
While positive psychology has many definitions and means many different things to different people, the most common and generally accepted definition is “positive psychology is the scientific study of what makes life most worth living.” Positive psychology is a way of studying human thought that prioritizes the positive over the negative. In a world that is full of anxiety, depression, and other mental issues, a scientific approach to studying the human mind that focuses on the positive rather than the negative is incredibly important. Experts in positive psychology have discovered many ways that applied positive psychology can help people improve their lives. Read on to find out more about the study of positive psychology, and how it applies to you and your life.
What is Positive Psychology, Exactly?
What makes the study of positive psychology different from other scientific approaches to studying the human mind, including thoughts and emotions, is its focus on more positive aspects of thought. For example, this approach focuses more on one’s strengths rather than their weaknesses. Another value that is held in positive psychology is the common goal to help everyone. For example, while many other ways of thought focus solely on helping those who are struggling in life move to a stable point, those who have gone through positive psychology programs know that it is also important to help those who are merely stable move up to greatness. These views, as well as many others, are what make positive psychology different from many other approaches to studying the human mind. Read on to find out more about how applied positive psychology can help you and your life.
How Can Positive Psychology Apply To You?
Positive psychology is not only a field of study. In fact, when applied, positive psychology can greatly improve one’s life. Its goal is to help everyone live their best lives and flourish. Positive psychology concentrates more on positive events, experiences, and feelings rather than the negative ones. While many people’s goal is to try to ‘repair’ bad or negative things, positive psychology encourages you to rather focus on building up the good feelings and experiences. Experts, who have gone through positive psychology programs to receive their positive psychology certificates, have been able to make many discoveries in the field of positive psychology. Many of these discoveries apply to the average person, even if it may not seem like it. For example, professionals in the field of applied positive psychology have discovered that wealth has much less to do with happiness than many seem to think. In fact, those who spend less of their time in pursuit of wealth are often much happier than those who allow the pursuit of money to take up too much of their time.
Something else that professionals in positive psychology have discovered is how much of an impact gratitude has on one’s happiness. Gratitude is one’s ability and willingness to show appreciation for something someone else has done for you, which is something many people seem to lack in this day and age. However, experts in positive psychology have discovered that showing more gratitude is directly linked to how happy you are! Interestingly, both being shown gratitude and showing gratitude can boost happiness, which means it is beneficial to both people involved!
In conclusion, applied positive psychology can greatly help you improve your life. While positive psychology is a field of study that not many people know about, it can change one’s way of thinking and help one flourish when it is applied properly. Though anxiety, depression, and other mental and emotional issues are incredibly common in our world, a scientific approach to studying the human mind that prioritizes the positive experiences and feelings over the negative ones is the first step in helping people improve their lives and mental health.
Consulting an expert in positive psychology, one who has received their positive psychology certificate, may be a good idea for someone who is interested in the field of study but may have little to no experience. Though there is much more to be learned about the field of applied positive psychology, doing research is the beginning to understanding.