Positive Psychology
Exercises
The aim of this resource is to explore five brief and quick
exercises that research has found to increase wellbeing and life
satisfaction (Bolier, 2013).
1) Expressing Gratitude
Expressing gratitude daily or as a one off has shown to increase wellbeing, there are a few ways
to show gratitude.
Here are two different exercises to express gratitude:
• Write a letter and send it to someone that you are grateful to, or who has made a difference
to your life. Think about writing to thank someone who you have not thanked previously.
• Write a daily gratitude diary and list the things that you are grateful for that day. These could
be big or small things that you are grateful for. For example, you may be grateful for the sun
shining on your desk, that your coffee was relaxing and enjoyable or that you have submitted
a paper.
Research has found that expressing gratitude is very beneficial for wellbeing.
2) Kindness Journal
This exercise allows you to think about what is good in the world and your life. Kindness
reflection can help to increase happiness and wellbeing.
Write a kindness journal daily of the kind acts or gestures that you have witnessed or done
personally in the day. This could be something small, such as you held the door open for
someone or someone asked how you were.
Research has found that acts of kindness is also beneficial for wellbeing.
3) Three Positive Things
Write down and reflect on three positive things that have happened each day over the course
of a week. These positive things could be small or large, such as “there wasn’t a lot of traffic on
the roads on the way to university”, “I wrote a paragraph today on my thesis”, or “I submitted
my thesis”.
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4 ) Finding Your Character Strengths
This exercise explores your character strengths using a 25-minute questionnaire. Positive
psychology states that everyone has character strengths, and that these are built up of six
different virtues; wisdom, courage, humanity, justice, temperance, and transcendence.
Everyone has different amounts of these virtues, some greater and some lesser (Seligman,
2011). This questionnaire explores the six different virtues of your character and your strengths.
Please visit the “Positive Psychology Center” website to access the questionnaire.
5) Best Possible Self Exercise
This exercise can be completed daily by imagining yourself in the future achieving your best
possible outcome. Imagine your career goals, your personal goals or skills that you would like to
develop. What is the best possible thing you could imagine happening to you in your life?
The exercise only takes 10 minutes to complete each day. If it would be helpful to you to revisit
your thoughts, you could also consider writing down your best possible self in a diary.
Example:
Imagine that you have completed your PGR studies and you have become doctor. Imagine
handing in your thesis. Collecting the doctorate award. Imagine how you would feel. What you
would do next? What career would that allow you to do?
The purpose of this exercise is to imagine the future and the different possibilities you could
have (Peters, 2013).
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Research and References
Expressing Gratitude
Bono, G., & McCullough, M. E. (2006). Positive responses to benefit and harm: Bringing forgiveness and
gratitude into cognitive psychotherapy. Journal of cognitive psychotherapy, 20(2), 147.
Emmons, R. A. (2007). Thanks!: How the new science of gratitude can make you happier. Houghton
Mifflin Harcourt.
Emmons, R. A., & Mishra, A. (2011). Why gratitude enhances well-being: What we know, what we need to
know. Designing positive psychology: Taking stock and moving forward, 248-262.
Ouweneel, E., Le Blanc, P. M., & Schaufeli, W. B. (2014). On being grateful and kind: Results of two
randomized controlled trials on study-related emotions and academic engagement. The Journal of
psychology, 148(1), 37-60.
Kindness Journal
Buchanan, K. E., & Bardi, A. (2010). Acts of kindness and acts of novelty affect life satisfaction. The
Journal of social psychology, 150(3), 235-237.
Otake, K., Shimai, S., Tanaka-Matsumi, J., Otsui, K., & Fredrickson, B. L. (2006). Happy people become
happier through kindness: A counting kindnesses intervention. Journal of happiness studies, 7(3),
361-375
Three Positive Things
Rippstein-Leuenberger, K., Mauthner, O., Sexton, J. B., & Schwendimann, R. (2017). A qualitative analysis
of the Three Good Things intervention in healthcare workers. BMJ open, 7(5), e015826.
Seligman, M. E., Steen, T. A., Park, N., & Peterson, C. (2005). Positive psychology progress: empirical
validation of interventions. American psychologist, 60(5), 410.
Finding Your Character Strengths
Linley, P. A., Nielsen, K. M., Gillett, R., & Biswas-Diener, R. (2010). Using signature strengths in pursuit
of goals: Effects on goal progress, need satisfaction, and well-being, and implications for coaching
psychologists. International Coaching Psychology Review, 5(1), 6-15.
Proyer, R. T., Gander, F., Wellenzohn, S., & Ruch, W. (2015). Strengths-based positive psychology
interventions: A randomized placebo-controlled online trial on long-term effects for a signature
strengths-vs. a lesser strengths-intervention. Frontiers in psychology, 6, 456
Best Possible Self Exercise
Meevissen, Y. M., Peters, M. L., & Alberts, H. J. (2011). Become more optimistic by imagining a best
possible self: Effects of a two week intervention. Journal of behavior therapy and experimental
psychiatry, 42(3), 371-378.
Peters, M. L., Meevissen, Y. M., & Hanssen, M. M. (2013). Specificity of the Best Possible Self intervention
for increasing optimism: Comparison with a gratitude intervention. Terapia psicológica, 1(1), 93-100.
Bolier, L., Haverman, M., Westerhof, G. J., Riper, H., Smit, F., & Bohlmeijer, E. (2013). Positive psychology
interventions: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled studies. BMC public health, 13(1), 119
Written by Ann Kirkman
Produced by University of Derby, Student Minds and King's College London
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