You think you’d be happier with more money, more love, more time...more, more, more. If that’s what you’re thinking, then you’re confusing pleasure with happiness. And, here’s the rub, pleasure doesn’t produce happiness. Any addict can attest to this.

So, what does make us happier? Martin E. P. Seligman, the leading psychologist in the positive psychology movement christened in 1998, is trying to figure this out. As new as it is, his movement is gaining momentum. It may be because he believes we all have the raw material, just as we are, to cultivate a happier life. Now, that seems promising. 

Just as You Are

The positive psychology movement is not about turning everyone into bubble-headed Stepford people. It is not about positive affirmations or meditation mantras. If those work for you, then great. But this is about looking at yourself closely. More specifically, it’s about looking at what’s important to you - at what gives your life meaning - at what gives you deep fulfillment.

Seligman contends that happiness is a skill that can be practiced and improved upon. So, your personality is the roadmap to your very own personal happiness. Go figure. And hey, if you’re prone to it, you may even laugh more once you start exercising your happiness triggers.

Shoulda, Coulda, Woulda

Positive psychology is actually something of a misnomer. It’s really just psychology without the negative connotations. No more saying, "I should and I would if I could." Positive psychology turns the focus away from how and why things go wrong and turns to face how and why things go right.

The aim of all psychological inquiry is to find a way to live a more engaged and meaningful life. Feeling deep satisfaction and fulfilling your dreams is basically the positive way of saying you are sick of feeling cranky and unhappy.

The movement is serious science dedicated to rigorous research. Critic of the movement say it is akin to frivolous self-help advice that tells people to smile more and they’ll feel better. However, scientifically speaking, positive psychology views the development of happiness from an evolutionary standpoint. Happy people are healthier and live longer. They make better mental connections, hence they improve systems and solve problems quicker and in new ways. They have more energy for other people and contribute to the betterment of society. Certainly it's a worthy pursuit whose value will be determined over time.

Modern Psychology: Where’s the Money

After World War II funds for psychology and psychiatry were poured into scientific research and development to help returning soldiers cope with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Since then, the focus of (and money for) the study of mental health has been on treating pathologies.

However, before this national emergency, the psychological community was prepared to study and develop methods to help mentally healthy people lead better lives for the betterment of society. Seligman, a leader in the study of learned helplessness, has finally turned the focus away from victims and toward the empowered. He is now a leader of "Learned Optimism."

Learned Helplessness

Consider learned helplessness for a moment. The basis idea is that your thoughts on an issue are the main factors in determining your behavior. So, for example, if everything you do to make your life better is pointless, then you will eventually stop doing anything to make your life better.

The simple idea beihind learned helplessness can be applied to our belief about our psychologies. Because the focus on psychology has always been on the negative, we have learned that we are suffering from some mental disorder. ("I'm sad, so I must be depressed.") This belief determines our behavior. We turn to the latest drugs or therapies to fix the problem.

You’re Not Broken

Positive psychology wants to change the learned premise of traditional psychology. We are not broken (or most of us aren’t). We are just focusing on the so-called broken parts because that’s what we know the most about. We’re in survival mode, clinging to our perceived weaknesses instead of identifying with our total being - strengths and weaknesses alike. So, in the mix of human psychology, there is goodness and disease. There is joy and distress. There is happiness and depression. We are not the sum total of our weaknesses.

The Three Paths: The Big Picture

Let’s step back and look at some happy lives. Seligman has identified three paths of happiness which he’s titled the Pleasant Life, the Good Life, and the Meaningful Life. The Pleasant Life focuses on pleasure. Happiness in the Pleasant Life is fleeting. The Good Life focuses on satisfaction from work, recreation, or some other activity. This happiness can be, and often is, lasting. And the Meaningful Life's contentment comes from being of service to humankind. The happiness of this life is also lasting.

What Makes Us Happy?

Psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi uses the term "flow" to describe the experience of engaging in the kind of activity that is personally gratifying. When you experience "flow," time and space become irrelevant. You lose track of the clock and your worries fall away. "Flow" is total immersion in a task.

Writers, painters, scientists and other creative types often describe this phenomenon when discussing their work. However, it is a universal human experience. Childcare providers, stockbrokers, and laborers experience it as well. It is the single best indicator of your life’s passion.

Maybe you can’t pinpoint an activity that puts you in the "flow." Or you can identify it, but you don’t know how to incorporate it into your life. Life Coaches, self-help books, and psychotherapists who focus on positive life changes are all trying to help individuals identify their "flow" activities. You probably already know what it is. If not, find it and get on with your life.

Quick Fixes: Materialism and Grudges

To start on the path to happiness, drop some of your negative baggage off the first steep cliff, never to be recovered. First, forget about the Joneses. Use your own yardstick to measure success and happiness. And forgive. Grudges are poison and wastes of mental energy.

Now, as far as materialism goes, technically there’s nothing wrong with wanting beautiful things. In fact, "Appreciation of beauty and excellence" is a signature strength according to Seligman. As is the case with most of our personality traits, they can be spun to the positive or negative. So, "appreciation of beautiful things" can be brought to the dark-side when it mutates into "having beautiful things that are better than my friend’s beautiful things." You can still love Jaguars, Tiffany's jewelry, or a freshly painted house if you truly love those things.

Virtues and Signature Strengths: The Daily Grind

Once you have a big picture readjustment, the struggle to be happy comes in day-to-day life. Seligman’s Authentic Happiness website offers free personality tests to help you determine your strengths. Additionally, Values in Action (VIA), a non-profit organization dedicated to the science of positive psychology, also has free tests to help people determine their strengths.

Seligman’s test has broken-down the personality into 6 virtues:

1. Wisdom
2. Courage
3. Humanity
4. Justice
5. Temperance
6. Spirituality

Within these virtues, there are 24 signature strengths. To determine your signature strengths, Seligman has developed a 274 question survey that asks such questions as:

• I find the world a very interesting place.
• I am very aware of my surroundings.
• I never quit a task before it is done.

You rate each questions on a five-point scale as:

• Very Much Like Me
• Like Me
• Neutral
• Unlike Me
• Very Much Unlike Me

Signature Strengths

The purpose of knowing your signature strengths is help you to be true to yourself. Seligman is not proposing a cookie-cutter solution to happiness seekers. He doesn’t think people should mimic happy people they know to affect happiness themselves. The signature strengths show you your unique combination of abilities that can be used daily to make your life happier.

For example, one strength you might possess is a love of learning (you’ve read this article in that pursuit). Seligman’s Authentic Happiness website defines this strength thusly:

"Love of learning: You love learning new things, whether in a class or on your own. You have always loved school, reading, and museums - anywhere and everywhere there is an opportunity to learn."

If that sounds like you, then to make your life happier each day you can make a point to learn something new. 

24 Signature Strengths

Without taking any of these online personality tests, you probably have a good idea what your strengths are. You probably know if you’re more playful than others. You know that you’re a born leader. You know you forgive easily.

Use Seligman's list to surmise your signature strengths (or take the test). Really think about what's important to you. Knowing these things is at the foundation of your future happiness.

• Appreciation of beauty and excellence
• Bravery and valor
• Capacity to love and be loved
• Caution, prudence, and discretion
• Citizenship, teamwork, and loyalty
• Creativity, ingenuity, and originality
• Curiosity and interest in the world
• Fairness, equity, and justice
• Forgiveness and mercy
• Gratitude
• Honesty, authenticity, and genuineness
• Hope, optimism, and future-mindedness
• Humor and playfulness
• Industry, diligence, and perseverance
• Judgment, critical thinking, and open-mindedness
• Kindness and generosity
• Leadership
• Love of Learning
• Modesty and humility
• Perspective (wisdom)
• Self-control and self-regulation
• Social Intelligence
• Spirituality, sense of purpose, and faith
• Zest, enthusiasm, and energy

So, now what? Seligman proposes that we exercise, or implement, our signature strengths regularly to make daily life better.

Do Strengths Bring Happiness?

The VIA’s rigorous research has found that our personality strengths are directly correlated with our satisfaction in life. This is true for all of the identified strengths except for wisdom and knowledge. (The preponderance of glum philosophers may be the classic proof of this exception.) So, Seligman's advice to consciously use our signature strengths seems sound.

Signature Strengths in Action: Case Study

Take an example of a happy guy. Our happy guy is from Philadelphia and is known to everyone as Goldy because of his sunny nature. But, Goldy will admit that he wasn’t always cheerful and happy.

Goldy tested high on the happiness scale with his top three signature strengths being:

1. Hope, optimism, and future-mindedness
2. Zest, enthusiasm, and energy
3. Modesty and humility

When Goldy tells the story of how he decided to be a happier person, he reveals how he used all of these strengths to change his outlook on life.

He thought of the future (Strength #1):

"I didn’t want to be like that anymore. I was cranky and I didn’t want to be 80 year-old yelling at kids to get out of my yard."

He also called upon his humility (Strength #3):

"I was just taking myself too seriously. I had a good life and just didn’t have any business being so judgmental."

He has maintained a new outlook on life with his enthusiasm (Strength #2):

"I used to get into gossip. I just turned that into being excited about the good things people do.

You Can Be Happier Too

So, find work, a hobby, or an activity that puts you in the "flow." (If all else fails, try volunteering or see a life coach.) Then, know your strengths. Take the free online tests or use your best judgment. Live consciously by using your strengths. They are indicative of your values, your personality, and the things that are important to you. Exercise them everyday and see if you aren't more authentically happy.

External Links:

• Authentic Happiness - Using the New Positive Psychology to Realize Your Potential for Lasting Fulfillment
• Values in Action (VIA) - This groundbreaking work provides the backbone for Positive Psychology
• The Positive Psychology Center - The Positive Psychology Center promotes research, training, education, dissemination, and the application of Positive Psychology.