ABSTRACT
377Much of the material related to stress focuses on when you are operating at your worst: those times when you feel a loss of control, initiative, or peace. Yet many of the strategies and skills you learned throughout this course are useful not only when recovering from adversity, but also to enhance your performance in every dimension: in physical or mental fitness, emotional experiences, the spiritual world, or relationships. In other words, much of what you learned can be employed not only to fix what is wrong, but to enhance what is going right. Stress often represents a hormonal surge in your body to provide extra strength, heightened perception, and peak performance during times when you need them most. When you can feel your hands Key Questions in the Chapter
What are the distinguishing features of positive psychology?
How is positive psychology related to managing and preventing stress?
What are signature strengths?
How can you identify your signature strengths?
What are well-being and mental health? What are the main dimensions of mental health and well-being?
What are the determinants of happiness and subjective well-being?
What is the connection between human strengths and well-being?
What are the strategies for producing peak performance?
What are the elements of a proactive approach to managing and preventing stress?
What are the characteristics of flow experiences and what are the conditions that produce these experiences?
Why has the subject of lasting change often been ignored?
What sabotages lasting change?
What can you do to inoculate yourself against stress in the future to prevent relapses?
