One of the biggest domains of human science is psychology. It has so many branches and different aspects. When the word psychology comes into the picture, the only things that knock into our head are anxiety and depression. But there is another side to this too, that is positive psychology. You must have heard about this. If you want to know about this more, here’s little help to you.
What is Positive Psychology?
Positive psychology has been defined in different ways because of the different understandings of the concept. The most common meaning of positive psychology is pretty much simple. It is the study of things which makes your life worth living. It means, it deals with human thoughts and feelings. It includes a behavioral study and enhancing the quality of life.
5 Major Focuses of Positive Psychology
When looked at, positive psychology seems like a philosophical approach towards life. Many people confuse it with the concept of self-love and self-help. Though these are the parts of positive psychology, there are other focuses too. Have a look at the major focuses given below.
Self-Actualisation
The concept of self-actualisation is an inseparable part of positive psychology. This is related to using a person’s full strength and potential at maximum. Definitely, this varies from person to person. The potential here can be related to anything ranging from creativity, physical strength, will power, self-acceptance, etc.
Self-Esteem
How often do you hear or read “believe in yourself“? Almost every self-help book or story says this because it is important. To achieve what we want, self-esteem is the first thing one needs to Focus upon. This also helps you to be confident and perform well. There are many factors that influence self-esteem though, such as age, health, genetics, circumstances, etc. Many types of research suggest that self-esteem is directly connected to the well-being of a person and hence it is an important part of positive psychology.
Love/Belongings
Our friends, families, and relationships are important in order to have healthy mental health. Having someone for constant support and talk to is the necessity of the era that we are living in. Positive psychology majorly covers this area because having a healthy love life or relationships (romantic and other) is associated with well-being too.
Safety
Safety here refers to the guarantee! But guarantee of what? – Job, health, relationships, etc. For eg, if a person goes to work, he needs the guarantee that he is in a safe environment. It builds a positive outlook towards work and helps him stay focused. The same is with other things. So, this safety part needs to be assured. If not, this brings insecurities that might disturb the well-being of the person.
Psychological Part
Well of course, being a branch of psychology, positive psychology addresses the psychology part of everything like sleep, food habits, water intake, relationships, intimacy, etc.
Aims of Positive Psychology
What exactly positive psychology aims for? Is it only related to positivity in life or there are some other objectives too? To know more, read ahead.
Impact Positively on a Person’s Life
The main goal of positive psychology is impacting the client’s life positively using proper coaching. It is done through various exercises, positive emotions, and experiences.
Help Them Identify Their Strengths
As a part of self-actualisation, it is necessary for a person to identify their own strengths this is done by helping them to recognise their talents, goal setting, and motivation.
Sense of Happiness
People usually don’t realise that they have many reasons to be happy. Positive psychology aims to help them realise this fact using the feeling of gratitude, positive relationships in their life, and by enforcing a positive perspective in their life.
Acceptance
Accepting yourself as you are is one of the first steps towards well-being. Self-acceptance holds the same importance as of self-actualisation and self-love. Until and Unless you learn to accept yourself, you cannot expect others too. Hence, one of the aims of positive psychology is to develop the tendency of acceptance.
Purpose
To move further and achieve what you want, a purpose is necessary. It doesn’t have to be related to success only. The purpose of one’s life can be anything from being happy in life to being a millionaire. When you have a purpose, many things get aligned with it such as your attitude, your thoughts, and many times your body too. It increases your productivity and uses up your whole potential too.
Advantages of Positive Psychology
Till now, you must have realised how important positive psychology is and how it plays a role in a person’s life. There are many other advantages of positive psychology that are given below.
Shifting the Perspective
The quality of life can be improved with a positive shift in one’s attitude. Positive psychology plays the role of catalyst in inserting some optimism in a person’s life. Looking at things differently brings a whole new acceptance level in our life.
Boost in Self-Esteem
Knowing your worth and authentic self can keep you happy. Because it reduces the comparison you do with others and the feeling of jealousy. The confidence you gain can help you reach different heights, personally and professionally.
Improved Relationship
The positive outlook that you gain through positive psychology helps you in relationship enhancement. Because you start being more grateful and positive. Positive psychology helps to improve mood and keeps you away from negative vibes. It builds the attitude of helping each other and not compete with each other.
Self-Development
When the perspective is changed, along with the positive outlook, a person is more likely to focus on self-development instead of indulging in any other negative activities like self-doubt. Self-development includes all kinds of betterment in a person by training him/her about the positivity in life.
Positive Psychology Books
Reading definitely is one of the activities which keeps your mind active. To know more about positive psychology and to understand some concepts better, you can read the following books.
- The authentic happiness by Martin Seligman
- The positive psychology in a nutshell: The science of happiness by Ilona Boniwell
- Flow by Mihaly
- A primer in positive psychology by Christopher Peterson
- The how of happiness by Sonja Lyubomirsky
There are many other books you can read of similar authors and on similar topics but mentioned ones are to get started.
The Future of Positive Psychology
Positive psychology is more involved with life concepts. As far as the future is concerned, it looks like the human race is going to need this science. Our changing lifestyle is the factor that is going to help sustain positive psychology for years to come. This concept is being used in schools, offices, creative spaces etc and the aim is nothing but optimal human functioning. Looks like it will get collaborated with many other sciences. But at the same time, the same field is going to get the criticism as it has been getting.
Bottom Line
Positive psychology has a great potential to change our lives. Its impact enhances the quality of life and helps us realise many important things like self-actualisation, positivity, etc. If implemented rightly, it can give the ultimate sense of happiness and contentment. Hopefully, this blog helped you understand what positive psychology is and Why it is needed.
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