Flourish

Three of the ideas you’ll keep

The Clif summary of Flourish pulls out 7 insights. Here are the first three.

1. Seligman abandons his own earlier theory that happiness (life satisfaction) is the goal, because it over-weights cheerful mood; he replaces it with **well-being**, a construct measured by five separately-pursued elements rather than a single feeling.
2. The **PERMA** model names those elements: Positive emotion, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning, and Accomplishment. Each is pursued for its own sake, is defined and measured independently, and none is reducible to the others.
3. The goal of positive psychology shifts from raising life satisfaction to increasing **flourishing**. Where a nation once measured only GDP or reported mood, Seligman argues public policy should target well-being itself.

The other 4 — and the full 11-minute summary — are in the app.

What’s inside: 8 chapters

The whole summary runs about 11 minutes, read or listened to.

1. From Happiness to Well-Being
2. The Five Elements: PERMA
3. Positive Emotion and the What-Went-Well Exercise
4. Engagement, Signature Strengths, and Flow
5. Positive Relationships and Active-Constructive Responding
6. Meaning, Accomplishment, Grit, and Measuring Nations
7. Learned Optimism and Building Resilience
8. Positive Health and the Future of Flourishing