Dr. Martin Seligman, a psychologist at University of Pennsylvania, and one of the
founders of the Positive Psychology movement breaks down happiness into three
components:
The Pleasant Life - This can be reached by having as much positive emotion as possible and learning how to magnify the intensity and duration of your pleasures. There is a genetic set range for positive feelings, but people can learn skills to live in the top part of this range. Fortunately, there are two other paths to well-being that anyone can pursue and positive emotions are the least crucial aspect of happiness.
The Engaged Life - This is achieved by becoming absorbed and immersed in your work, love, friendship and leisure. The key to having more engagement is to identify your strengths and develop a plan for implementing them into your life.
The Meaningful Life - This involves going beyond the self, by using your strengths to belong to, and serve something, that you believe is larger than you are.
It has been repeatedly been found that one who pursues all three lives (pleasure, engagement and meaning) has the most life satisfaction, with engagement and meaning being by far the biggest contributors to fulfillment.
