Harvard Business Review, Daniel Gilbert, Annie McKee, Gretchen Spreitzer & Teresa Amabile
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One of those early books that influenced Jim was Seligman’s Flourish. A psychologist and former president of the American Psychology Association, Seligman was responsible for defining the term “PERMA,” the root of many positive psychology research projects around the world. The acronym stands for the five elements essential to lasting contentment:
Positive emotion: Peace, gratitude, satisfaction, pleasure, inspiration, hope, curiosity, and love fall into this category.
Engagement: Losing ourselves in a task or project provides us with a sense of “disappeared time” because we are so highly engaged.
Relationships: People who have meaningful, positive relationships with others are happier than those who do not.
Meaning: Meaning comes from serving a cause bigger than ourselves. Whether it’s a religion or a cause that helps humanity in some way, we all need meaning in our lives.
Accomplishment/achievement: To feel significant life satisfaction, we must strive to better ourselves