Modern psychology has adapted this concept to describe a life built around growth, contribution and meaning. Research consistently shows that people who pursue intrinsic goals, such as autonomy, mastery and connection, experience greater life satisfaction and psychological resilience than those driven primarily by status, money or pleasure. Purpose-driven behaviour activates internal motivation systems, creating a sense of stability that external rewards cannot sustain. Another cornerstone of positive psychology is the Character Strengths and Virtues framework. This model identifies six universal virtues expressed through twenty-four measurable character strengths, including curiosity, kindness, perseverance and gratitude. These strengths function as psychological resources. They help individuals cope with adversity, pursue meaningful goals and maintain emotional balance under pressure. When people regularly use their strongest traits in daily life, engagement and motivation increase. Your strongest traits are what define you - yet often we suppress them… for the sake of your mental health, don’t. Gratitude has been shown to improve mood and reduce depressive symptoms. Compassion and forgiveness strengthen social bonds and reduce physiological stress. This body of research makes one thing clear. Happiness is not passive, but instead is built through intentional, value-driven behaviour repeated over time. Within the PERMA framework, purpose plays a central organising role. It connects the web of emotion, cognition and behaviour into a coherent system - it's the microconidia of mental wellbeing - without the pursuit of purpose, we as humans are failing are duties to live. Purpose transforms short-lived pleasure into lasting satisfaction by giving daily effort meaning. It acts as both a motivator and a regulator. People with a clear sense of purpose persist longer through difficulty, recover more effectively from setbacks and maintain greater emotional stability during uncertainty. Neurological research supports this time and time again. Purposeful activity activates dopaminergic reward circuits, similar to positive emotions, but with stronger and more sustained involvement of the prefrontal cortex. You remember that region responsible for planning, self-control and meaning-making. In simple terms, purpose trains the brain to stay engaged, resilient and forward-focused.

Positive psychology is often misunderstood despite its overly simplistic name. It sounds like forced optimism or motivational slogans, but it is neither of those things. At its core, positive psychology is the study of what makes life worth living. In fact, its true definition is the scientific study of human flourishing, focusing on strengths, virtues, and conditions that enable individuals, communities, and organisations to thrive, moving beyond fixing what's wrong to building what's good for a meaningful and fulfilling life. Pretty awe-inspiring stuff i can admit. It emerged in the late 1990s through the work of Martin Seligman, to whom some crowned the godfather of the movement (yes, I'm extremely jealous of this nickname), following his earlier research into learned helplessness (more to come on this, don't you worry!). Rather than asking only how people break down or develop mental illness, it flipped the question. How do people stay well. How do they actually build resilience, and what actually helps individuals and communities function at their best over time. Seligman's work was the first time someone really looked beyond the standards and practices which were in place and explored the deeper meanings of life and its impact on our mental health. The key shift here in Seligman’s work is focus. Traditional psychology has done an incredible job of understanding dysfunction, trauma and disorder - really thriving off the nitty gritty side of our mental health, but positive psychology zooms out and asks what sits on the other side of that. It argues that well-being is not simply the absence of distress or the pursuit of pleasure. Nope, it’s not as black and white as that. Instead, it is built through engagement, connection and purpose. In other words, people feel mentally stronger not just when they feel good, but when they feel involved in something meaningful, connected to others and aligned with what they value. Importantly, this is not about positive thinking or pretending everything is fine, as is prescribed through standard British culture. Positive psychology is evidence-based. It studies how emotions, behaviours, strengths and values interact to create sustainable wellbeing. Research consistently shows that people are more resilient when they use character strengths like gratitude, kindness and perseverance. Acts such as volunteering are linked to lower rates of depression, practising gratitude improves life satisfaction, and actually spending money on others reliably increases happiness more than spending it on yourself (so stop being so damn frugal all the time, geeez). Social connection plays a central role too. Happiness spreads through social networks, and physical connection releases oxytocin, strengthening trust and emotional bonding.None of this is abstract. These are measurable effects with clear implications for how we live day to day. One of the most important contributions of positive psychology is its focus on purpose. Happiness, in this framework, is not a fleeting emotion. It is a processeResearch into goal setting and eudaimonic well-being shows that having a long-term goal or sense of direction acts like a psychological compass. It gives daily effort meaning, even when things are difficult. Purpose activates motivation systems in the brain and strengthens psychological resilience over time. People with a clear sense of direction tend to recover faster from setbacks, report higher life satisfaction and even show better physical health outcomes. When effort feels connected to something bigger, it becomes easier to tolerate discomfort and persist through challenge.

By now, it should be clear that exercise does not support mental health in isolation. A combination of community, positive habits and goal setting all support the mental health journey, and alongside this, the importance and value of medication and therapy cannot be understated, despite their systemic flaws. Exercise works because it changes the conditions in which recovery happens. Endorphins sit at the centre of that process. They act as natural mood regulators, and their role becomes especially important in chronic pain and mood disorders, where the nervous system is already under sustained pressure. Chronic pain is not just uncomfortable. It keeps the body in a heightened state of alert, increases stress hormones, disrupts sleep and slowly erodes emotional resilience. Imagine breaking your leg, you get put in a cast - over time it gets sweaty and begins to itch, constantly. Now replace that itch with lingering, intense pain. It is a constant scratch you can never itch, slowly wearing you down. Over time, this creates a feedback loop where pain, anxiety and low mood reinforce one another, which in turn feeds into a cycle of somatic pain. Endorphins have this ability to interrupt that loop by reducing pain sensitivity while calming emotional reactivity at the same time. That shift does not eliminate the problem, but it lowers the baseline level of distress enough for recovery to become possible rather than overwhelming. Take this as an example. A true feat of endurance and cognitive chaos in many senses, a story that should never have happened due to its relative preposterousness. If you have not already had the pleasure of being introduced to the madman Dion Leonard, let me do so. During the brutal 155 mile Gobi March ultramarathon, which follows the traces of the infamous conqueror Genghis Khan across Mongolia, Australian endurance runner Dion set off on this gruelling challenge.. which we will refer to as crazy decision number one. He was not just battling distance and terrain, which was inevitable given the races geographical location, but as the race continued, he began dealing with extreme heat, worsening dehydration and mounting injury to his foot and ankle which he sustained early on. By the halfway point, his feet were so badly blistered that the soles had disappeared, replaced by blood and raw skin, his ankles were swollen and his body was under every conceivable amount of strain imaginable. Under normal physiological conditions, this is where most people stop. As a on-looker, you would likely respect them for their effort and completely understand their decision to quit, most likely followed up by a enormous round of applause. Yet Leonard kept moving, (crazy decision number two).

By this point in your life, you have probably heard of endorphins. But just in case you have not, it is worth slowing down and actually understanding what they do and why they matter so much for both physical performance and mental health. Endorphins are natural opioids produced by the brain. They are released during things like exercise, laughter, stress and yes, even sex (sorry to get all 50 shades on you now). Their job is simple but powerful. They bind to opioid receptors in the brain, which helps block pain and increase feelings of pleasure. Chemically, they create effects similar to morphine, just without the side effects or addiction. This is why people can push through discomfort during a tough workout or feel an emotional lift after moving their body. The brain is quite literally changing how pain and pleasure are experienced in real time. If there has been a consistent theme throughout everything we have covered so far, it is that movement plays a central role in restoring mental health. A big part of that comes down to endorphins. When you exercise, endorphin production increases, helping to reduce pain, lift mood and create a sense of emotional stability. This is not just about feeling good for a few minutes. On a chemical level, endorphins help calm anxiety, support dopamine regulation and build emotional resilience over time. If I told you that you had the ability to naturally numb pain and improve your mood on demand - your internal super power lets call it -, you would probably think I was exaggerating. But that ability exists in everyone. It just needs to be triggered. When endorphins are released, people are capable of pushing further physically, handling stress more effectively and experiencing a sense of mental clarity that feels almost euphoric. These are not hidden talents or rare traits. They are built into your biology, waiting to be switched on through movement. As we have discussed rigorously, regular physical activity has a direct and measurable impact on anxiety. It is not a question but a fact. A large part of its positive impact comes down to its effect on endorphin release. Rodrigues and Barbosa (2025) found that people who engage in consistent movement show significantly higher endorphin levels alongside a clear reduction in anxiety symptoms. This is not about extreme training or chasing exhaustion to the point of burnout. Nope. The benefit comes from regular, consistent exposure, teaching the nervous system to settle rather than constantly brace for stress. Aerobic exercise appears to be especially effective because it influences more than one mood regulating system at once. Yilai et al. (2025) showed that steady aerobic activity increases both endorphin and dopamine levels, an incredible contribution to mood boosting. Enthusiasm aside, this combination matters. Endorphins reduce pain and emotional tension, while dopamine supports motivation and reward processing. Together, they create a more resilient emotional baseline, where stress is easier to manage and anxiety is less likely to spiral.

These cultural norms that nourish their mental health do not stop at saunas and getting outdoors. It is embedded in everything they do, even down to how they treat time. In Finland, it starts with a very real seasonal reality that shapes how people think about their day-to-day lives. Winters are long and dark, while the days are short and heavy. If you think you have it bad in the UK, try adding six feet of snow and hurricane winds to your complaints. Summer, on the other hand, is idyllic, light, long and full of energy. When half your year looks completely different to the other half, you naturally begin treating time more consciously. You work when you need to, and you rest properly when your body asks for it. The culture makes space for that rhythm instead of fighting it. In most Western countries, and even more so in Asian cultures, this flexibility is far from apparent. Systems feel stiff, suffocating and overbearing. Overwork is treated like a badge of honour. Long hours are celebrated, burnout becomes normal, and anyone who slows down is judged for lacking ambition - when you say it out loud, how nuts does that sound? Finland has taken a completely different route. They understand that rest is not indulgent. It is necessary, and they have built rest and recovery into the structure of their society. Workers in Finland rank in the top three EU countries for the lowest average weekly working hours, yet their productivity per hour outperforms many of Europe’s larger nations. Employees receive a legal minimum of five weeks of paid holiday each year - that's 35 plus days yearly, and uptake of said holiday is almost universal. Finland also offers one of the most generous parental leave systems in the world, providing more than twelve months of shared paid leave. The national work culture discourages after-hours emails, and the result is a country that reduces burnout before it even has the chance to start. Flexibility is not a perk for managers. It is standard for everyone. Because of this system, over 85 per cent of Finnish workers report being satisfied with their work-life balance, compared to an EU average of roughly 60 per cent.