How to use Positive Psychology Techniques to Improve Happiness

Positive psychology was created after World War II when veterans were returning home. Psychologists found that the veterans had more success in coping with post-traumatic stress when they focused on positive experiences versus their negative experiences during war. This started a new way of approaching treatment for people with mental disorders, but it is also helpful for people without mental disorders as well. Positive psychology techniques can aid people in achieving goals and promotes an overall sense of well-being which increases happiness.

Instructions

• 1

  Identify your strengths and weaknesses. In order to know what to focus on to improve happiness you must first identify the things that you want to change. It is also important to identify your strengths, as you will use these to tackle your weaknesses.

• 2

  Choose one goal to start. Look at the areas of your life where you might want to improve your happiness. Examples of these areas are: work life, relationships, health, family or your overall mental state.

• 3

  Writing is a useful tool in therapy.

  Spend 20 minutes per day writing about your life. Focus your efforts on reflecting on your specific goal, but do not limit your thoughts and try to write down things as they come to you. This gives you something tangible to review later to identify thought patterns and negative themes.

• 4

  Visualize your goal. When you visualize yourself achieving your goal, really focus on details (your surroundings, who is with you, how you feel).

• 5

  Retrain your thoughts to be more positive. By changing the way you view the world, you are opening yourself up to new experiences. For every negative thought you might have, try to replace it with five positive ones. You should not only do this when working toward your specific goal, but also as a general practice to increase happiness.