What is ‘flow’? How can you achieve more of it? How can it help you develop your skills and confidence? In this article we explore how to acheive greater well-being through flow, and some top tips for getting more flow in your life. “The best moments in our lives are not the passive, receptive, relaxing times… The best moments usually occur if a person’s body or mind is stretched to its limits in...

In the UK business community there is a growing interest in the topic of employee engagement, sparked by a government-commissioned report in 2009, Engaging for Success: Enhancing Performance through Employee Engagement. In November 2012 the report’s authors, David MacLeod and Nita Clarke, established a group called Engage for Success  (EfS) which describes itself as a “movement committed to the idea that the...

  I recently had the privilege of attending an Open University Business School ‘Business Perspectives’ Masterclass at which Ken Keir OBE,  the Executive Vice President of Honda Motor Europe, talked about the way innovation, the  lifeblood of the Honda company, drives its success. Even though he focused on Honda’s R&D philosophy, explaining for example how, in recessionary times, the company goes ...

Yesterday, the UK’s Office for National Statistics (ONS) published its first Annual Report on Measuring National Well-being (MNW). The MNW programme was set up in October 2010 in response to the acknowledgement that traditional economic measures of progress such as Gross Domestic Product (GDP) do not provide a complete picture of how society is doing. The stated aim of the MNW programme is to “develop and publi...

When I first came across the VIA Inventory of Character Strengths back in my 2007 MAPP class, I was curious to know whether all 24 strengths are the same in terms of their relationship to well-being. We’d read the 2005 research paper by Seligman and colleagues that suggests that using your strengths in new ways is an effective way to lastingly increase your well-being and alleviate depression. Then we were d...

During the recent London 2012 Olympic Games an unparalleled mood of optimism and hope swept across the United Kingdom. Even people who don’t love sports could not help being drawn into the anticipation and excitement, sharing the heroism of the medal winners and the heart-break of those who missed out, whether by a millimetre or a mile. Who could not be impressed by the sight of beaming Mo Farah winning gold in ...

Instinctively, a good teacher knows that a happy child learns more easily and bounces back more quickly from disappointments than an unhappy child.  It’s common sense that a happy teacher performs better than an unhappy one, and this has now been borne out by research at Birkbeck College at the University of London, which suggests that there is a link between teacher well-being and student attainment. But t...

Aaron Jarden has written a 130-page e-book, Positive Psychologists on Positive Psychology that explores topics that all positive psychologists, experienced or novice, researcher or practitioner, will find interesting. Not only does the book provide answers to basic questions, such as “What is positive psychology?”, it also addresses more challenging ones, such as When, where and how did positive psychology...

Journalist Charlotte Shepherd has written a fabulous piece about my new book, Positive Psychology: A Practical Guide, in the Wiltshire & Gloucestershire Standard this week. Positive Psychology A Practical Guide Wilts and Glos Standard 19-04-2012 ...

New for 2012! This special one-day workshop is a fun, practical taster of the science of Positive Psychology in which we share seven of the scientifically-proven tools to increase happiness. Date: Saturday 21st April 10.00 – 17.00 Venue: Engineers’ House, Clifton Down, Bristol BS8 3NB In this wholly practical day you will have the opportunity to try for yourself some of the highly effective habits whic...

I’m delighted to tell you that my new book Introducing Positive Psychology: A Practical Guide (Icon Books, 2012) has received endorsements from several academics and professional coach/trainers this month, including the following: Introducing Positive Psychology – A Practical Guide “Excellent – I couldn’t put it down … covers all the essential elements of positive psychology in practice, str...

My new book Introducing Positive Psychology: A Practical Guide (Icon Books, 2012) features in the Daily Express today.   Introducing Positive Psychology – A Practical Guide   ...