For Dr. Seligman, the most effective strategy for long-term happiness is to cultivate your well-being. He affirms that the elements of well-being that we must cultivate are positive emotions, the capacity for commitment, positive interpersonal relationships, the search for meaning in our life and having objectives that give meaning and orientation to our existence. To achieve them you need to detect and know your personal strengths. To do this, Seligman suggests that you do the following exercise: «Write the story of that moment in which you gave the best of yourself.
It doesn't have to be something that changed your life, but it should have a clear and concrete beginning, middle, and end. Reread your story every day for a week, and ask yourself each time, "What personal strengths did I show when I did my best?" Did you show a lot of creativity, good judgment? Were you kind to other people? Loyal? Brave? Passionate? Were you able to forgive? Were you honored?
Writing your answers to these questions will put you in touch with what you are good at, explains Dr. Seligman. The next step is to decide how you could use those strengths in your daily life, intentionally organizing and structuring your life around them.