[excerpted from, 9 Keys to Happiness: Positive Psychology ©2023]

Understanding and functioning within our strengths and virtues is our next key for increasing and maintaining happiness. In positive psychology, 24 universally valued character strengths are identified, within 6 broadly defined categories of virtue: wisdom and knowledge, courage, humanity, justice, temperance, and transcendence (Niemiec, 2019; Niemiec, 2023). Virtue is not values, and character is not personality; in a Venn diagram of our thoughts, beliefs, and actions, our character is the intersecting point.

In wisdom and knowledge, we find our creativity, curiosity, judgment and open-mindedness, a love of learning, and a flexible perspective. Because of courage, we know ourselves to be brave when needed, but also to be persistent, have integrity, and exhibit vitality. Our virtue of humanity contains our kindness, love, and social intelligence.

The virtue of justice brings us fairness, leadership, and social responsibility. By temperance, we hold the capacity to forgive and be merciful, along with qualities such as humility and modesty, prudence or caution, self-regulation, and self-control. And in transcendence, we are our best selves, in appreciation of beauty and excellence, gratitude, hope and optimism, humor and playfulness, and spirituality or a sense of purpose.

We humans are all of these things. We may not always feel creative, or hopeful, or courageous, or at times, not even that our life has a purpose or that we have self-control. These qualities are not all present to the same degree, and they’re fluid rather than static. Yet by virtue of being human (see what we did there?), we have these capacities. Happiness, then, is derived in and from each of these sources. We contain 24 sources of happiness. And each time we are exercising these strengths, at some level whether consciously or not, it brings us happiness because we know ourselves to be capable, and a decent human being.

In a study by Wagner et al. (2020), these character strengths correlated strongly with the PERMA model of positive psychology, beginning with positive emotions, as outlined in our introduction. While a lot of research has been conducted in this area, their study directly connects the 24 character strengths with wellbeing and positive emotions including happiness, optimism, and hope. It’s similar to the findings in a broad analysis of prior studies conducted by Schutte and Malouff (2019), and was supported by the later study of Smith et al. (2021). In the large study of 759 university students conducted by Bachik et al. (2020), these character strengths correlated strongly with positive emotions, in particular happiness and life satisfaction.

When we speak of strengths and a strengths-based focus, this includes not only our recognizable skill sets but also those areas in which we simply feel confident to some degree, and therefore includes a vast array of skills, anything that we can comfortably manage. This would incorporate, then, the skills of one’s working life; within one’s profession or job, there may in fact be numerous skills that we call upon in the course of a day. At home and in our personal lives, this is true as well; we may be good at remembering our friends’ birthdays, at cooking or cleaning, in bartering at the open market (not one of my particular skills), at communication, in keeping houseplants healthy. We are not skilled in everything, nor equally in those that we are, but we can feel confidence and thus a source of happiness in the skills that we possess.

The same is true of our character strengths. And once we understand this, and think deeply about how we possess each of these qualities and to what degree, we can better understand ourselves. Positive psychology focuses on these strengths partly as a means to develop our self-confidence and self-esteem; from this foundation, we continue to enhance and add to our skills, throughout our lifetime. This goes beyond a simple focus on the positive, and gives a concrete focus: something we know we’re good at doing, or a quality, characteristic, talent or virtue we know ourselves to possess.

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Exercises:

Foremost in this key is a self-assessment of these 6 virtues and 24 character strengths. Write the 6 virtues as headers on a sheet of paper, with each of the character strengths below; consider which are true strengths for you, areas in which you feel confident, and which could use a bit of a boost.

Similar to gratitude, a common exercise to achieve this is to keep a journal regarding our skills and virtues, or short of that, to engage in a brainstorming session and write down as many of each as we think we possess. (If the latter, it should be regularly repeated, in order to add to our lists.) Yet another way to work with this model is to look at each area and rate it for yourself — not with a number or placement ranking, but rather, whether you are under- or over-using this strength, or in a balanced and healthy way.

If you don’t feel confident in assessing yourself, there are various websites which provide such assessment of character strengths. One of the more well known is the VIA Character Strengths site.

Whenever we face an area of shortcoming, or make a mistake or a poor decision, though of course we must try to learn from this, we can focus also on all those areas in which we’ve discovered we’re skilled, and / or the virtues we know ourselves to possess. And we can keep working to enhance the areas in which we don’t yet feel strong enough. We must remember self-compassion as well; while we all have the capacity for these character strengths, we don’t have all of them to the same degree – and each of us has those which are less strong, areas in which we can improve.

And so, we have a strengths-based model for living, including our virtues, and an effort to gain clarity on our strengths and virtues and how we may be under- or over-utilizing some of them. The key to happiness, then, is in knowing more clearly our character strengths – those areas in which we have some measure of confidence – and in our capacity to enhance those that aren’t yet strong.

References:

Bachik MAK, Carey G, and Craighead WE (2021). VIA character strengths among U.S. college students and their associations with happiness, well-being, resiliency, academic success and psychopathology.  Journal of Positive Psychology 16:4, 512-525. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2020.1752785

Niemiec RM (2019). Finding the golden mean: the overuse, underuse, and optimal use of character strengths, Counselling Psychology Quarterly 32:3-4, 453-471. https://doi.org/10.1080/09515070.2019.1617674

Niemiec RM (2023). Mental health and character strengths: the dual role of boosting well-being and reducing suffering. Mental Health and Social Inclusion. https://doi.org/10.1108/MHSI-01-2023-0012

Schutte NS and Malouff JM (2019). The Impact of Signature Character Strengths Interventions: A Meta-analysis. Journal of Happiness Studies 20, 1179-1196. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-018-9990-2

Smith BW, Ford CG, Erickson K et al. (2021). The Effects of a Character Strength Focused Positive Psychology Course on Undergraduate Happiness and Well-Being. Journal of Happiness Studies 22, 343-362. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-020-00233-9

Wagner L, Gander F, Proyer RT et al. (2020). Character Strengths and PERMA: Investigating the Relationships of Character Strengths with a Multidimensional Framework of Well-Being. Applied Research Quality Life 15, 307-328. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11482-018-9695-z

[excerpted from, 9 Keys to Creativity: Positive Psychology ©2023]

Judgment and open-mindedness, as mentioned, are considered the same character strength in positive psychology, as one must be openminded in order to see an issue from alternate perspectives and make an impartial judgment, or change one’s previous opinion or decision. They are indeed related, but for our purposes separated out – and open-mindedness is our next key to creativity.

It’s perhaps a bit easier to understand how this quality relates to increased creativity. Creativity, after all, is a form of opening one’s mind and letting the ideas and concepts flow. In this key, however, we’ll look specifically at openness, and psychological flexibility.

First, a word about openness.

In 5-trait personality theory, ‘the Big Five’, and the most common way of viewing personality though there are many, we have 5 essential traits: extraversion, agreeableness, openness, conscientiousness, and neuroticism, each with their polar opposite and many shades in between. The trait of openness – one who is open to new ideas (epistemic / cognitive curiosity) and experience (perceptive / sensory curiosity), and who’s also open to alternate viewpoints and indeed worldviews, is perhaps the most naturally creative. The person with a high degree of openness is not only curious and creative, but also insightful, imaginative, innovative, and comfortable with change.

According to Diessner (2019), this trait increases rapidly between the ages of 10-22, slowing and stabilizing around age 30. It remains stable to age 50, when it increases again over the next decade. One’s openness then begins to steadily decline from age 60 onward – though certain interventions for increasing openness have shown some promise in this age cohort, specifically tasks of inductive reasoning, while more research is needed.

And so, we cultivate openness and open-mindedness, in order to better access our creativity.

There’s a great deal of research to support this. Tan et al. (2019) found that openness enhances creativity, mediated by our internal motivation. Gocłowska et al. (2019) found openness and novelty seeking, or curiosity, contributes to greater creative performance. And a meta-analysis of multiple studies performed by Zare and Flinchbaugh (2019) indicated that openness to experience was a strong predictor of creativity. In a study of adolescents conducted by Dametto and Noronha (2021), the trait of openness showed a strong relationship with the positive psychology character strengths of creativity and curiosity, along with that of appreciation of beauty and excellence found in the virtue category of transcendence.

 Psychological flexibility relates closely to openness. And while neither of these was developed within the positive psychology framework, they’re nevertheless closely aligned. Psychological flexibility is the ‘superpower’ of mental health, and the pinnacle of emotional health and wellbeing; specifically, it’s the ability to remain in the present moment despite challenges or discomfort, in order to pursue one’s goals (Doorley et al., 2020) and values (Waldeck et al., 2021).

We can think of psychological flexibility also as adaptability; while they aren’t precisely the same, there’s a good deal of overlap (Waldeck et al.). As well, it’s a measure of coping skills in its reference to the ease with which one handles change and uncertainty, and is closely aligned with life satisfaction (Lucas and Moore, 2020). Psychological flexibility has also been shown to increase engagement or flow, creativity, and openness (Kashdan & Rottenberg, 2010).

So, how can we develop openness to experience, and psychological flexibility?

Take a walk in an area you haven’t walked in before. Stop to consider the graffiti and street art. Talk to a stranger along the way. Read a well-written article or webpage of ideas that differ from your own.

Observe your emotions with curiosity and distance, becoming more comfortable with those that aren’t positive or pleasant. Consider deeply why you believe something and whether alternate beliefs or views could also be true.

Set a goal of learning one new thing each day. Some days, this may just be something new about yourself.

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Exercises:

First, boost your confidence and relaxed state; do something familiar and easy, for which you have some talent or skill. Then, change one aspect so that it becomes a bit less familiar and more challenging. And repeat.

When traveling, stay with locals. Engage them in conversation if possible. Observe. Contemplate. Or, stay at a hostel (no matter your age), and talk with other guests from a range of countries and cultures.

As an alternative to travel, we can access cultures different from our own in other ways. Watch foreign films with subtitles, from a range of other countries. Try foods from other cultures which aren’t already familiar to you. Read translated books of authors from other countries (not just those who also share your language). Listen to music from around the world.

Try a hobby or leisure activity that you’ve never done, even better if it’s in a category you’ve never tried in any form, and top points if it’s creative! And: repeat.

Have a conversation with someone whose opinions, or entire worldview, differ from your own. (Agree on some ground rules first, such as active listening without interruption, remaining calm, listening carefully, agreeing in advance to disagree rather than attempt to convince — but to respectfully hear one another’s views.)

Consider your daily, and life, routines. And make some changes.

Gain some distance from your internalized self-criticism. Every time you notice it, change it. Let “I’m so stupid” become “That was stupid” and then become “Occasionally I do a stupid thing – like everyone.” We can, and should, learn from our mistakes – but we don’t have to take them on as character flaws.

Do things that make you feel uncomfortable. (This is another version of, Get out of your comfort zone.) Start small. But try to do something out of your routine, and perhaps a little uncomfortable if only because of its unfamiliarity or your lack of skill, every day. Or as often as possible.

Let this become your mantra: Try one new thing today. Make one change in routine. Consider one new idea or perspective.

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References:

Dametto DM and Noronha APP (2021). Study between personality traits and character strengths in adolescents. Current Psychology 40, 2067–2072. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-019-0146-2

Diessner R (2019). Bountiful Beauty: Increasing Appreciation of Beauty. In: Understanding the Beauty Appreciation Trait. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-32333-2_9

Doorley JD, Goodman FR, Kelso KC et al. (2020). Psychological flexibility: What we know, what we do not know, and what we think we know. Social & Personality Psychology: Compass 14: 1-11 e12566. https://doi.org/10.1111/spc3.12566

Gocłowska MA, Ritter SM, Elliot AJ et al. (2019). Novelty seeking is linked to openness and extraversion, and can lead to greater creative performance. Journal of Personality 87, 252-266. https://doi.org/10.1111/jopy.12387

Kashdan TB and Rottenberg J (2010). Psychological flexibility as a fundamental aspect of health. Clinical Psychology Review 30:7, 865-878. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2010.03.001  

Lucas JJ and Moore KA (2020). Psychological flexibility: positive implications for mental health and life satisfaction. Health Promotion International 35:2, 312–320. https://doi.org/10.1093/heapro/daz036

Tan CS, Lau XS, Kung YT et al. (2019). Openness to Experience Enhances Creativity: The Mediating Role of Intrinsic Motivation and the Creative Process Engagement. Journal of Creative Behavior 53, 109-119. https://doi.org/10.1002/jocb.170

Waldeck D, Pancani L, Holliman A et al. (2021). Adaptability and psychological flexibility: Overlapping constructs? Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science 19, 72-78. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcbs.2021.01.002

Zare M and Flinchbaugh C (2019). Voice, creativity, and big five personality traits: A meta-analysis, Human Performance 32:1, 30-51. https://doi.org/10.1080/08959285.2018.1550782

[excerpted from, 9 Keys to Integrative Wellness: Personal Growth ©2023]

Sleep is that other area our grandmothers taught us was essential to health. And, one of the most underrated.

I lived for several years in South Korea, statistically one of the world’s most late-night cultures. And I’ve long suspected that it’s also one of the most sleep-deprived. (Students attend academies well into the evening, then come home to some hours of schoolwork; adults in corporate and government jobs often have mandatory work-related dinners, followed by drinks at a second location, then singing in the karaoke, then a trip to the sauna.) Sadly, the country also has exceedingly high rates of depression and suicide, and to my mind, the two factors are not entirely unrelated.

Sleep is one of our key areas of integrative wellness, for physical as well as mental health and overall wellbeing. Well beyond rest and restoration, it’s a time for healing; our cortisol production is reduced which allows growth hormones to be released, directly related to the physical healing of bones and tissues. Blood flow increases, carrying oxygen and other nutrients to all areas of the body and notably, to the brain – as when we’re lying down, gravity doesn’t work against it. Inflammation is reduced; proteins are produced, which directly relate to the body’s overall energy. Yet, as with nutrition and exercise, it’s still too often overlooked by medical doctors. (A prescription for more – and better – sleep would be nice.)

And then: there are dreams. (Psychologists, and indeed, humans in general, like to make much of those. We’ll come back to it in a moment, too.)

Sleep hygiene, all that we can do to ensure the quality of our sleep, is especially important. (You probably know: darkened room, plenty of air circulation, cool temperature, optimal mattress / pillow, and as quiet as possible – or perhaps with a steady background sound of your choice.) A good indication that the quality of our sleep is lacking: when we don’t feel refreshed upon waking, no matter how much or little we sleep.

We can’t always guarantee interruption-free sleep, nor is it actually necessary. Those with young children know well about interrupted sleep (in my case, it’s a cat), as do those who live in urban settings where sudden noise in the middle of the night isn’t uncommon (ditto) – and, as we age we may also need nighttime bathroom visits. So what do we do?

First: we sleep in intervals, just as a cat or dog, or indeed any other mammal not tied to a work schedule, would do. This is more natural anyway; so, once awakened, stay up for a bit. If not answering the call of one’s child, instead you can read, get up and do a few stretches, meditate, listen to some music, or think (but don’t ruminate). Watching video, however, is not recommended; the close and flickering light convinces the mind that daylight has arrived.)

Secondly, we make good use of those dreams, material floating up from our unconscious and our brain’s attempt to make sense of it. If you awaken for any reason, it may well be mid-dream when recall is most likely. Immediately jot down a few key details; then, after you’ve taken care of whatever awakened you (that visit to the baby or trip to the bathroom), return to your dream notebook (yes, keep one for this sole purpose) and let those initial key details serve to prompt your memory as you write down as much detail as possible. Save the analysis / interpretation for the next morning; just capture the dream for now.

A note about dream interpretation: most psychologists agree that blueprints for same are worthless; meaning attributed to the symbology of one’s dreams is highly subjective, so your own understanding of your dreams is all that matters. This does invite a careful analysis, however, rather than quick interpretation based on some scheme, and a dream journal can be particularly useful. When analyzing your dream material, you may also wish to consider any recurring themes or stories. Your unconscious is working hard to bring such material into your conscious, waking mind, making it especially significant.

You’ll learn to cherish those wakings in the middle of the night. Lucid dreaming, the ability to direct our dreams for a specific purpose, relies on a waking period in the night, an approximate 20 minutes in which we remain awake, then a ‘programming’ or planting of a certain thought or image in our minds as we return to sleep.

The third critical bit, however, is just that: resumption of sleep. As we embrace and even utilize shorter intervals of sleep through the night, we want to ensure that we can indeed return to sleep, a struggle for some of us. Everything you’ve already done to encourage sleep hygiene, as mentioned, will help, as will taking that break, getting out of bed to write in your dream notebook or read or think; you’re more likely to become sleepy again as a result. You may also want to consider meditation in order to resume sleep; additionally, you can engage a recording of steady sound at 40 Hz pure tone binaural beat, both healing and soothing.

And so, for integrative wellness we first recognize the immense value of good and sufficient sleep, ensuring our regular engagement with same (no late night videos or gaming!). We understand that sleep interruption can be rich and precious time if used wisely. And we know how to return to sleep once more, even utilizing it in lucid dreaming for an exploration and self-programming of the unconscious.

One more aspect to consider, while understanding that humans are biologically prone to be either owls (late-night) or larks (early-morning): the period between dawn and sunrise. This is natural liminal time, between night and day, especially conducive for personal growth and accessing our unconscious. Whether you actually rise at dawn, simply awaken then and linger in bed until sunrise, or set an alarm for dawn and engage in 30 minutes of journal-writing, dream analysis, meditation, or deep thinking, then returning to sleep at sunrise, this time period is worthy of consideration. (As a side note, though unrelated to sleep, the period between sunset and dusk is equally liminal and can also be utilized for inner work – shadow work especially, a Jungian concept, in which we can use means such as imagery / visualization and journal-writing to reveal and explore suppressed aspects of ourselves.)

And so: like a cat, sleep in intervals and embrace those moments in between for what they are: liminality, rich with material of the unconscious. And, like a cat, learn to resume sleep easily thereafter. And even more: like a cat, cherish the value, the integrative health benefits, of sleep.

And of dreams.

[excerpted from, 9 Keys to Befriending Stress: Personal Growth ©2023]

Our fourth key: storytelling.

We humans are storytellers by nature. Not only does story convey information, emotion, and possible comedic relief; it’s a primary method of social bonding.

In times of stress, we talk with a friend or even a stranger, tell them what’s going on – our story – and we already begin to feel better. In telling our story, we may also see possibilities for reframing, as we choose how we portray our story. We don’t tell it only to ourselves but to others, and in times of stress as our body increases oxytocin production – the ‘social hormone’ directly connected to empathy – we’re biologically compelled to reach out.

Common wisdom has it that it’s better, healthier, to express what we’re experiencing than to keep it to ourselves. By giving voice to our stressful experience, as the stress itself via oxytocin compels us to do, we already begin to experience positive benefits. Not only are we more likely to remain healthy despite the stressor, but we’re also releasing its emotional content.

And let’s talk about restorative narratives – the very basis of psychotherapy and counseling.

The restorative narrative is one that tells a story from a strengths-based position; it focuses on what’s gone well in otherwise distressing events, on how communities come together in times of crisis, on the resilience of the human spirit. It’s not a false rendition, nor a selective one; it’s simply a matter of focus. In a word: reframing. Perspective. Storytelling in a way that encourages healing.

Through storytelling, we gain more understanding of what we’re experiencing. We see that we have choices, that we aren’t victims. We see aspects that were heretofore hidden to us, revealed as the story progresses. We deepen our awareness. We look for significance, trying to make sense of what’s happened, is happening, as a means of restoring our presence of meaning when it’s been shaken – or shattered. We may let go of old values and habits, embracing a new way of being and set of values instead.

We also choose how we portray ourselves in the story. Are you in reality a victim? Are you a hero? A bystander? Someone waiting for the future, or dwelling on the past? One who can’t let go of mistakes previously made? A character who is capable of seeing multiple perspectives? Or, as narrator of your story, perhaps you naturally tell it from the perspective of more than one character?

Storytelling is one of the key elements in personal growth as a result of stress and our response to it. How we tell our story, how we write it as we go along, is ours to decide; we are the author. The stressful event seems to come from the outside, and propels us into this story that we may very much not have wanted to be living; yet, while we cannot change the precipitating event, what happens next – and, how we tell this story to ourselves as well as others – is in fact in our hands.

It’s by storytelling that we take our reframing to another level. We don’t live in fantasy. We simply choose the perspective we’re taking, and we develop it, character by character and event by event.

By now, we’ve learned to adopt a stress-as-beneficial mindset; we’ve worked to reframe unhealthy or faulty thought patterns, and we’ve practiced mindfulness for emotional regulation. All of these help us in determining how we’ll tell this story – our perception of and response to what’s happened – for the rest of our lives.

Our section on reframing, in fact, ended with the idea of storytelling, in viewing our stressful circumstance as a movie and determining its plot twists – alternate perspectives and outcomes. Storytelling now takes this to its next logical step: we consider those plot twists along with all the characters involved, the precipitating event, characters’ responses to it, and how the story finally concludes.

There are several ways one can go about this. First, of course, we tell our story to others. We rarely experience stress in isolation; there may be others experiencing the same event, such as the loss of a loved one, or there are those who are supporting us, in such case as a debilitating diagnosis. We may turn to a support group or a therapist. We don’t tell it in story fashion – there’s no actual ‘in the beginning’ or ‘and they all lived happily ever after’. Rather, we simply talk about what’s going on – which is indeed our story.

We can also write it down, and this is highly recommended. If you don’t particularly like writing or have a preference for audio or video recording instead, this is another equally helpful approach. Above all, in this case, we write or tell our story only to ourselves. We aren’t writing a blog or social media posts (though those can be other forms for sharing one’s story with others); in this exercise, we’re telling our story only to our deep mind, in how we choose to see and frame it, what we truly think of its characters including ourselves, our fears and uncertainties, all those dark and truthful corners we may be leaving out of the story – as well as the hopes we dare not speak aloud to others just yet. This isn’t meant to replace the previous but to be parallel to it; there’s the story we tell others and the one we tell ourselves, as we also carefully note the similarities and especially the differences between the two.

Speaking aloud when telling one’s story to oneself is another method to utilize, in which we talk into the mirror (for looking into one’s own eyes is a means to access the unconscious). We’re thinking, speaking, and hearing our story all at once, as we note discrepancies and feelings we didn’t know we had. (Of course, this isn’t entirely different from audio or video recordings in lieu of writing – except for looking into one’s own eyes which, trust me, can be profound.)

You may also wish to employ imagery, and we’ll be looking at this in greater detail as one of our later keys. Here, in telling your story, you may wish to quiet your mind, focus on your breathing, and then, with eyes closed, imagine your story (or the parts that you can), as a movie, with its various outcomes. Imagine you’re at a theatre, sitting in the back row, watching others who are watching the movie of your current stressful circumstance; include all that detail regarding characters, settings, plot twists, and then near the end: let your audience choose from several alternate endings, much as we have in some movies today. Explore what those alternate endings might be – and see in your mind’s eye which outcome the audience, neither emotionally involved in the story nor invested in its outcome but objective, would choose.

Storytelling. Tell your story, to yourself and to others, as a way of exploring potential benefits and personal growth – including several alternate endings.