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    Flourish: A Visionary New Understanding of Happiness and Well-being
    Flourish: A Visionary New Understanding of Happiness and Well-being
    Flourish: A Visionary New Understanding of Happiness and Well-being
    Audiobook9 hours

    Flourish: A Visionary New Understanding of Happiness and Well-being

    Written by Martin E. P. Seligman

    Narrated by Jesse Boggs

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    About this audiobook

    From the bestselling author of Learned Optimism and Authentic Happiness comes “a relentlessly optimistic guidebook on finding and securing individual happiness” (Kirkus Reviews).

    With this unprecedented promise, internationally esteemed psychologist Martin Seligman begins Flourish, his first book in ten years—and the first to present his dynamic new concept of what well-being really is. Traditionally, the goal of psychology has been to relieve human suffering, but the goal of the Positive Psychology movement, which Dr. Seligman has led for fifteen years, is different—it’s about actually raising the bar for the human condition.

    Flourish builds on Dr. Seligman’s game-changing work on optimism, motivation, and character to show how to get the most out of life, unveiling an electrifying new theory of what makes a good life—for individuals, for communities, and for nations. In a fascinating evolution of thought and practice, Flourish refines what Positive Psychology is all about.

    While certainly a part of well-being, happiness alone doesn’t give life meaning. Seligman now asks, What is it that enables you to cultivate your talents, to build deep, lasting relationships with others, to feel pleasure, and to contribute meaningfully to the world? In a word, what is it that allows you to flourish? “Well-being” takes the stage front and center, and Happiness (or Positive Emotion) becomes one of the five pillars of Positive Psychology, along with Engagement, Relationships, Meaning, and Accomplishment—or PERMA, the permanent building blocks for a life of profound fulfillment.

    Thought-provoking in its implications for education, economics, therapy, medicine, and public policy—the very fabric of society—Flourish tells inspiring stories of Positive Psychology in action, including how the entire U.S. Army is now trained in emotional resilience; how innovative schools can educate for fulfillment in life and not just for workplace success; and how corporations can improve performance at the same time as they raise employee well-being.

    With interactive exercises to help readers explore their own attitudes and aims, Flourish is a watershed in the understanding of happiness as well as a tool for getting the most out of life. On the cutting edge of a science that has changed millions of lives, Dr. Seligman now creates the ultimate extension and capstone of his bestselling classics, Authentic Happiness and Learned Optimism.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherSimon & Schuster Audio
    Release dateApr 5, 2011
    ISBN9781442339064
    Author

    Martin E. P. Seligman

    Martin Seligman, PhD, is a professor at the University of Pennsylvania, director of the Positive Psychology Center, and former president of the American Psychological Association. He received his BA in philosophy from Princeton University, and his PhD in psychology from the University of Pennsylvania and holds ten honorary doctorates. He was named the most influential psychologist in the world by Academic Influence. Along with writing for numerous scholarly publications and appearing in The New York Times, Time, Newsweek, and many others, he is also the author and coauthor of over thirty books, including Flourish, Authentic Happiness, and Tomorrowmind.

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    Reviews for Flourish

    4/5

    164 ratings14 reviews

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    • 5/5
      A gift to those who read it, our society, and the world. A discourse on optimism and how it can impact every area of life for the better.
      Guy E. Earle Happy Hour the Other Side of Depression podcast
    • 5/5
      It’s amazing

      At the beginning of the book I was depressed because of some temporary failures.

      But now I feel FLOURISHING !
    • 4/5
      There is a lot of really great information in this book. Sometimes the narration was a little long and boring, but totally worth it in the end.
    • 5/5
      Great book if you like Marty Seligman’s work this is definitely his best book up to date in my opinion.
    • 3/5
      Perhaps a little dry or academic for some, but he writes the way he does because positive psychology has yet to find full acceptance as a credible branch in it's field as he points out. The book could likely be condensed into a few articles, but again I believe the book was written to persuade people to take it seriously --I know I do. As a result I have signed up to their site so I can identify what my own character strengths are, so in order to "flourish." It's about happiness loosely but more about fulfillment in general. The bedrock of the theory he summarizes as PERMA. Positive emotion, engagement, positive relationships, meaning and accomplishment (i.e. our need for mastery). It is about enabling a person rather than just solving their ills, a very different approach to psychology.
    • 4/5
      Great ideas on well-being and positive psychology, backed with extensive research and a website to test yourself along the same variables they use in the book. Highly recommended to educators, parents, and military men and women and their families.
    • 3/5
      This book was a DNF for me, and I think it's because the inforamtion is presented in a very dry, academic tone. Or maybe I was coming at the book from the wrong direction. As someone working through depression, I know what happiness means to me, and yeah, it matches what the author said about positive emotion, engagement, etc., pretty well. But I didn't get the feeling that there was any information here that would HELP me find those things. Merely the author's explaining his research and his views. I'm sure it's an excellent read for some, and I may revisit this title.
    • 4/5
      Dr. Seligman pioneered positive psychology and his work on quantifying happiness was presented in his book Authentic Happiness. After reviewing his work in light of additional findings, he's expanded his theory. To really flourish, an individual needs a high level of well-being of which happiness is just a small part. Flourishing is the true goal of positive psychology.

      This book provides a lot of research background to Seligman's findings. In fact, this is a fairly scholarly publication with 25% of the book being dedicated to end notes and an index. There's information about the history of positive psychology and how various features of personality are measured. We're finally presented with the definition of a flourishing individual which is someone who has positive emotions, is engaged and their life has meaning and purpose. They also need to exhibit three of the following traits: self-esteem, optimism, resilience, vitality, self-determination and positive relationships.

      The book provides insight into how the concept of a flourishing life can be worked into everything from politics to education to medicine. It also provides some exercises for how we can increase our own level of well-being. While the bulk of the book was somewhat clinical in nature, it provides a great introduction to positive psychology and its practical applications.
    • 4/5
      Great ideas on well-being and positive psychology, backed with extensive research and a website to test yourself along the same variables they use in the book. Highly recommended to educators, parents, and military men and women and their families.
    • 3/5
      To be happy, you gotta think happy.

      It's an interesting book, and there are a lot of ideas to get out of Seligman's book. It's a bit of a read in that you really have to sit down and think hard about what he's saying. It reads almost like a textbook; maybe less like a research paper. There are a couple of good exercises that I found I might want to try with other people.

      Ultimately, it's about consciously being positive. He points out many correlations, and even causations, on a person's resiliency and optimism, and its impact on mental health. To some people, this may seem like a no brainer. But to others, it's a completely new way to discover how to improve their well-being. So if you're looking for some ideas on how to help your happiness flourish, as well as looking for some results and analysis to back up the information, then take a read.
    • 3/5
      I'd give it four stars except the actual writing style was very difficult to get through, especially the first couple chapters. He actually loosened up and wrote less aggressively statistically once he'd settled into the book. The ideas he pushes are really interesting, I look forward to seeing more from his "movement" of psychology and I plan to use some of the ideas in my life. Just don't expect a really wonderful writing style and just take the actual info out of it. (It could very probably have been condensed down into a couple articles.)
    • 4/5
      Learning to flourish In the eight years since publishing Authentic Happiness, Martin Seligman has continued to refine his understanding of positive psychology. “Being in a state of mental health is not merely being disorder free; rather it is the presence of flourishing” he tells us as he makes his case for flourishing as perhaps the wisest goal for humanity.Flourishing—increasing our well-being—is characterized by these five elements:1.Positive Emotions—The pleasant life, positive affect, feeling happy,2.Engagement—Flow, getting lost in your work,3.(Positive) Relationships—other people, 4.Meaning – Belonging to and serving something bigger than yourself, and5.Accomplishment—completing tasks and projects.These can be recalled using the mnemonic: PERMA. His previous Authentic Happiness theory include only the first two of these.Exercises described in the book that can increase well-being include:1.Gratitude Visit—Recall someone who was kind to you but who you never properly thanked. Write out a one-page note thanking them in depth. Visit that person and read the entire note to them.2.Random acts of kindness—Just do something unexpected and kind to others. He bought $10 of penny stamps and handed them out to the people standing in a long line at the post office3.What Went Well (Three Blessings)—Every night for the next week set aside ten minutes before going to sleep. Write down three things that went well today and why then went well.4.Apply your signature strengths—Take the VIA Survey at the AuthenticHappiness.org website to identify your signature strengths. Then find a new way to apply and exercise those strengths.5.Respond Actively and Constructively when hearing something good has happened to someone you care about.This is not frivolous happy talk. Seligman is a careful and experienced researcher. The book describes and references rigorous studies that measure and demonstrate the effectiveness of these approaches and methods. He is also candid and cautious in identifying preliminary results and areas where more research is needed. “There is no reason to believe that faking positive emotions will work to improve health,” he admonishes. Flourishing is not a façade, it is a profound transformation. Much of the book describes programs that are increasing flourishing of young people at the Penn Resiliency Program, the Strath Haven High School, and the remarkable Greelong Grammar School in Australia. Two chapters describe his work to increase resiliency of soldiers as part of the “Comprehensive Soldier Fitness” program now being deployed throughout the US Army. This includes training in “Post-Traumatic Growth”—gaining positive insights after experiencing a tragedy—which seeks to reduce the incidence of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. These sometimes indulgent narratives provide a snapshot of his work in progress while they strengthen his key thesis that flourishing can be taught.Encouraged by success in teaching people to flourish, he challenges us with a bold “moon shot” goal for positive psychology. “By the year 2051, 51 percent of the people of the world will be flourishing” he credibly predicts. It is only a matter of will, engagement, meaning, and accomplishment!Read this book, practice the exercises, and become one of the 51 percent he calls PERMA 51.
    • 3/5
      This book was a DNF for me, and I think it's because the inforamtion is presented in a very dry, academic tone. Or maybe I was coming at the book from the wrong direction. As someone working through depression, I know what happiness means to me, and yeah, it matches what the author said about positive emotion, engagement, etc., pretty well. But I didn't get the feeling that there was any information here that would HELP me find those things. Merely the author's explaining his research and his views. I'm sure it's an excellent read for some, and I may revisit this title.
    • 3/5
      Not a textbook, which is good, and often states illuminating ideas, esp. the difference between being happy and flourishing. Well worth reading, although there is a lot of irrelevant details about the author's history in establishing and justifying the field of positive psychology and his students. His points would have been more emphatic and memorable without the superfluous details.