Today’s Guest:

Professor Martin Seligman joins me on this episode of the podcast.  Regarded as one of the founding fathers of positive psychology, he  is the director of the Penn Positive Psychology Center, and the Penn Master of Applied Positive Psychology program.  He is also a leading authority and author on  resilience, learned helplessness, depression, optimism, wellbeing and flourishing.

Should wellbeing be a world goal?   Marty explains why he believes the time has now come for governments to use the theories and measurements developed by positive psychology in their policies and programs to increase the wellbeing of the population.  He addresses critics of positive psychology research, the practical steps governments and workplaces can take to improve wellbeing, and why his theory of learned helplessness may be wrong.

Connect with Martin Seligman:

Website – http://authentichappiness.org

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You’ll Learn:

• [03:55] – Martin shares his hopes for wellbeing as a world goal, and his PERMA model of wellbeing – positive emotions, engagement, relationship, meaning and achievement.
• [05:51] – Martin talks about the ways governments can measure wellbeing with psychometric accuracy.
• [09:03] – Martin shares his confidence that governments can make lasting changes with increasing PERMA wellbeing with little expense.
• [12:17] – Martin states that your positive emotional system is built around the question, “what works?”
• [13:49] – Martin discusses the importance of measuring and being accountable for wellbeing in the workplace.
• [17:45] – Increasing wellbeing at work can decrease the occupational safety dangers caused by depression, anxiety, and anger.
• [18:41] – Martin explains how his original theories on learned helplessness may have been wrong.
• [20:44] – Martin talks about when you sometimes need to take a pessimistic view in the workplace.
• [22:10] – The Lightning Round with Martin Seligman.

Your Resources:

• Martin Seligman’s books on Amazon
• Flourish – Martin Seligman
• Homo Prospectus – Martin Seligman
• 5th World Congress in Positive Psychology

Thanks for listening!

Thanks so much for joining me again this week.  If you enjoyed this episode, please share it using the social media buttons you see at the bottom of this post.  

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Special thanks to Martin for joining me this week and to the International Positive Psychology Association’s 5^th World Congress on Positive Psychology.

Until next time, take care!