Positive psychology coaching - developing your abilities

If you are interested in finding out more about developing your abilities in some of these areas, contact us today.

Playing to your strengths and being in flow

The godfathers of positive psychology Martin Seligman and Mihály Csíkszentmihályi focused upon two core elements:

• Strengths coaching; and

• Flow theory

When people identify, celebrate and use their unique character strengths, they feel more engaged, energised and happier. A helpful analogy is to think of a sports team with each player slotting into roles that fit their unique talents.

Finding, celebrating, sharing and using your strengths

Martin Seligman developed the Values in action inventory (VIA) at the University of Pennsylvania. This is an online test that helps people identify and order their top 24 character strengths. For example, these include honesty, teamwork, zest and energy, industry and so on.

There are many other ways to help people identify their own and each other’s top strengths and how to use and celebrate them. 

If we invest our energy into a strength, which gives us a buzz, we feel more intrinsically motivated to develop expertise in that area. Investing in a low strength might take us from poor to mediocre.

Being in flow in life

Mihály Csíkszentmihályi’s Flow theory explores the world of optimal experience. His research indicates that counter-intuitively, we often choose low engagement activities, which undermine our happiness. To be in flow, he posits that we continually look for ways to develop mastery in an area and set our goals just ahead of our abilities. Set these goals too far ahead and we become stressed. Set our goals inside our comfort zone, and we become tired and apathetic.