22 Dec Happiness is…knowing thyself
As we’ve done before, we’re very pleased to invite you to read this interesting article from Positive Psychology News Daily. Although it’s a little “technical” and written, probably, more for a professional audience, it’s still very readable and undoubtedly will be of interest to those of you who’re interested in finding happiness…and not just any happiness, your very own path to happiness.
Reverse Engineering Positive Psychology – by Orin C. Davis
One of the continual challenges of research is making it generalizable to the population at large. But, as people are quick to point out, what works for the general population might not work for a specific individual.
It is important to remember that, since research findings are designed to apply to a large group, they must be reverse engineered to the individual. The key to doing this is the Socratic maxim, _ã–Nosce te ipsum_ã _ã_ _ã–Know thyself!_ã
When you read about the Positivity Ratio, remember that 3:1 is the average across people. Some can manage with a ratio of 2:1, and others need something more like 6:1.
Think about yourself, your own needs, and how positive and negative events affect you. Are you more sensitive to one kind or the other relative to the people you know? If so, you are likely to deviate from the general 3:1 recommendation. For example, if positive events have a strong effect on you, while most negative events are like water off a duck_ã_s back, a 2.5:1 ratio might be fine. If negative events are highly salient to you, you might need more positive experiences to compensate.
Likewise, when undertaking exercises to improve happiness and subjective well-being, remember to adapt the instructions to your life. Don_ã_t throw them out, but remember that they are generalized and need some minor tweaking to work for you…
…if you’re still enjoying this, and want to read more about how to determine your very own happiness formula, then JUST CLICK HERE