My MAPP (Master of Applied Positive Psychology, University of Pennsylvania) alumni is very active in organizing talks by speakers who are doing cutting-edge research in this field. Today’s talk featured Sonja Lyubomirsky, who is Professor of Psychology at University of California. She has just published “The How of Happiness” which offers a comprehensive guide to understanding what happiness is, and isn’t, and what can be done to bring us all closer to the happy life we envision for ourselves, using strategies that are scientifically proven to be effective. I ordered the book from Amazon last week and hopefully it will arrive before this weekend so I can devote the whole weekend to reading it.
One of the topics she talked about was the importance of “fit” in selecting the happiness strategy or intervention. The strategy must fit with the individual’s personality, interest or goal. For example, gratitude or the three-blessings exercises are scientifically proven to work in increasing one’s happiness but is not a good fit for Sonja herself. However, focusing on the present moment is something she finds easier to do. So how does one know which intervention is a good fit?
You can evaluate based on :
a) A match to your strength or your weakness
b) Your personality
c) Your goal.
Let’s go back to the gratitude exercise as an example. One of the strategies is to write a gratitude letter every week but not sending it. If you are someone who is artistic, instead of writing a letter, you might choose to express it in a painting , which is a better fit for your strength. Another person might choose to talk it out with another person. Another person, whose goal is to work on better relationships, might choose to share his/her appreciation directly with the person concerned.
If you have read this book or intending to read it, I look forward to hearing your comments and ideas. Let’s learn together.