When we experience positive emotions like gratitude, joy, pride, hope, love or inspiration, we can become more resilient, optimistic, open and accepting. Our wellbeing isn’t static, it ebbs and flows over time. But sometimes our negative emotions can put us in a downward spiral, making us feel overwhelmed or helpless. The good news is that an injection of positivity can help us to break out of that downward spiral.

• Dial up the positivity - take time to celebrate the little wins when they occur, either by yourself or share with others, and try to connect with nature – take a walk at lunchtime or watch the sunrise to help boost your positivity

• Dial down the negativity - knowing that we have a bias to negativity, taking steps to dial down the negativity is important for our positive emotions. It is important to learn from negative experiences, but not to continually dwell on them.

Strengths are things that we are good at and enjoy doing. Using strengths is important because it leaves us feeling satisfied and energised. Our strengths reflect our interests, resources, skills, talents and personality. They are shaped by our genetics and our upbringing. Despite the benefits of using our strengths, many people focus more of their time trying to fix their weaknesses rather than boosting their strengths. Or they tend to underplay their strengths rather than letting them shine.

One of the best ways to boost your engagement – being connected to activities and engaged in life – is to build on your strengths and use them more.

Research shows that there are 24 strengths that fall under six broad categories:

• Wisdom – creativity, curiosity, judgement, love of learning, perspective

• Courage - bravery, perseverance, honesty, zest

• Humanity – love, kindness, social intelligence

• Citizenship – teamwork, leadership, fairness

• Temperance – forgiveness, humility, prudence, self-regulation

• Transcendence – appreciation of beauty and excellence, gratitude, hope, humour, spirituality

There are lots of ways that you can build your strengths. For example, if you want to build your curiosity, try to read and learn something new each day. To boost your judgement strength, read or listen to something that takes a different point of view to one that you normally hold. Look for ways to help a colleague at work who is struggling to boost your fairness. In the same way that we can improve our physical health with regular exercise, we can boost our wellbeing by regularly exercising our strengths.

Humans are a social species, and social interaction is important to enable us survive and thrive. Conversely, social disconnection impairs brain function, leading to loneliness, anxiety, and impulsive behaviours. Relationships with others sustain us through tough times and support from a close network is an important antidote when we are feeling down. Our connection with others is often the spark that drives us. Think about how we celebrate our successes – it’s not alone and in isolation. We share the joy of our success with our family, friends or co-workers.

The link between wellbeing and relationships is a symbiotic one. Strong relationships build our wellbeing and resilience, and wellbeing strengthens our relationships, because happy, healthy people are generally better friends, family and co-workers. Research shows that performing acts of kindness for others produces an increase in our own wellbeing.

Strong and positive relationships are important because they:

• Help you to feel valued and accepted

• Build self-worth

• Create a sense of belonging

• Provide emotional support to you and others

• Provide an opportunity to share life experiences

Sometimes relationships can struggle because we often overestimate our ability to infer the motives and emotions of others, which leads to interpersonal misunderstandings, social friction and missed opportunities.

So what can you do to build and strengthen relationships? Strong relationships are about quality, not quantity, so taking 10-15 minutes to really engage and be present is important. Take the time to savour moments of connection with others.

Disconnect from devices and technology, and connect with your close network.

Why am I here? We all know that the meaning of life is 42. But what about meaning IN life? Aristotle said that happiness is the meaning and purpose of life. But is seeking happiness enough, or is there something more?

According to Laura King, ‘lives may be experienced as meaningful when they are felt to have a significance beyond the trivial or momentary, to have purpose, or to have a coherence that transcends chaos.’ The three key elements here are purpose, significance and coherence.

• Purpose is having goals and direction in life.

• Significance is the degree to which someone believes their life has value, importance or worth.

• Coherence is the sense that life has predictability and routine.

It is important to recognise that people interpret meaning or purpose in different ways. Some people find meaning in their work, achieving goals and pursuing success. Others find meaning in their relationships with family or friends, volunteering or being involved in their community. There is no right or wrong way to approach meaning.

What the research tells us is that pursuing meaning instead of pleasure or happiness boosts psychological health and wellbeing, with people likely to be more satisfied, less depressed and anxious, and more committed to work and their community.

Whilst meaning is important to wellbeing, there is also a risk of overdoing it. If our work becomes an obsession and it consumes all of our time, energy and resources, it can impact negatively on wellbeing. It is important to take regular breaks, not only on a daily basis, but also throughout the year. Try to delineate work from home, by leaving work at work.

Don’t overcommit yourself, and learn to set boundaries. Saying no is as important as saying yes.

It is often said that there is more to life than money and material things in the pursuit of happiness. That ‘something more’ is meaning and purpose. Directing our activities to enhance our sense of meaning is likely to be more beneficial to achieving the happiness that Aristotle was talking about.

Setting and achieving goals provides a sense of accomplishment which helps to build self-esteem and self-belief. We bask in the accolades that come from success, and that boosts our wellbeing. Of course, this doesn’t mean that we should become completely outcome focused, with an eye on the prize as the key driver to accomplishment and wellbeing. That’s because although part of achievement is tied to the outcome, it is also important to recognise that the effort that goes into reaching a goal in and of itself creates a sense of satisfaction.

Research suggests that achieving intrinsic goals such as connection and growth have a greater impact on wellbeing than chasing external goals like money, fame or status. We flourish when we work towards something just for the sake of the pursuit and self-improvement involved in the journey to achieve a goal that is driven by internal self-motivation. It is the perseverance and passion that provides this reward.

This links to the concept of a growth mindset articulated by Carol Dweck. People with a growth mindset not only value the outcome, but also the learning and effort involved in reaching that outcome. Not only does this help them to meet the inevitable challenges along the way, but it also helps to lower stress and anxiety, because they understand that set-backs and failure are steps along the way to success. By contrast, people with a fixed mindset focus on the outcome as the ultimate measure of success, because of their perception that people are born with a fixed set of attributes such as intelligence. Our fear of failure comes from fixed mindset, where failure signals that we have reached the limits of our fixed potential and there is no room for learning or growth.

Because achievement is linked with failure, there is a tendency to focus on self-criticism when we don’t accomplish the goal that we set for ourselves. This is where it is important to focus on self-compassion – owning mistakes rather than beating yourself up, seeking help rather than refusing because it might be a sign of weakness, or using the disappointment of a set-back to get curious and learn rather than feeling frustrated or embarrassed.

Finally, we often think of achievements as big things – graduating from university, a promotion at work, completing a major project. But accomplishments can be small things too, and anything where we have made an effort to achieve something should be celebrated. And that means it’s important to savour the small wins along the journey, and not just focus on the end result.

The final pillar of the PERMAH model of wellbeing is Health. Things like sleep, healthy eating and physical exercise are important components of the health pillar. Not only is our physical health important for our wellbeing, but sleep/rest, nutrition and exercise are critical for maintaining our energy levels, which provide us with the ability to work on the other five pillars.

Here are some tips to help you boost your health:

• Sleeping well: try to avoid big sleep-ins, to help maintain your sleep schedule

• Eating well: minimise junk food and binge eating, and plan for nutritious snacks to keep you energised.

• Drinking well: stay well hydrated and try to minimise alcohol consumption.

• Moving well: get up and move around every 60-90min, particularly if you are mostly seated during the day.

• Resting well: use mediation or mindfulness, or just take time to be in the moment.