When I tell employers they can improve their employees’ performance, motivation and engagement at work and, at the same time, reduce the number of sick days, make them better team players and better able to cope with adversity, they always ask: “How?”

I tell them: It’s simple, make your employees happy.

At that point, employers usually start to get worried because they think, as many people do, what makes people happy is having more money. So they are greatly reassured when I tell them that research into happiness is showing that money and better physical circumstances don’t necessarily have a lot to do with how happy people are. Then managers will ask how they can make their staff happier.

My response is: Teach your staff to be happy with positive psychology.

Some companies are initially resistant to the idea that happiness can be learnt while others have misconceptions about positive psychology and think it is some kind of new-age healing or pop psychology. But I point out that many of the world’s great universities – Harvard, Cambridge and many others – do award degrees in positive psychology as a recognised and respected field of scientific study.

Modern research into positive psychology meets the most fundamental benchmark of reputable science in that it is based on empirical and replicable scientific studies. In other words, different scientists and researchers in different parts of the world have conducted the same experiments and found the same results. What they found is people can learn to be happy and optimistic, and that happy and optimistic people are more engaged and productive at work.

Positive psychology is not so much a new kind of psychology as it is a new way of looking at the purpose of psychology. For much of the 20th century, psychologists concentrated on fixing problems and their goal was to return people suffering from an emotional low to their normal state.

But positive psychology is more concerned with helping to lift people above their normal state to a state of thriving. It takes normal as a baseline and helps people to improve on it. As Martin Seligman, the father of positive psychology, puts it: “The aim of positive psychology is to catalyse a change in psychology from a preoccupation only with repairing the worst things in life to also building the best qualities in life.”

In that respect, positive psychology is following the general trend in physical medicine over the past 30 years. Once doctors thought their role was to patch us up when things went wrong and either remove or fix the damaged parts. Now most doctors think in terms of preventing the more common ailments and raising the general level of health. The new model in physical medicine is “optimal health”. This means not settling for a basic level of functional health with no major problems but actively striving to be the healthiest you can be by eating wisely, taking supplements and exercising regularly.

Positive psychology is the optimal health equivalent
for the mind. It does for the mind what exercise, vitamin supplements, and a healthy diet do for the body. It helps to
keep you performing at the optimal level and prevent common work problems.

With proper guidance and training, amazing results can be achieved. But even without a trainer or coach, you can still take the first steps on your own and see the difference. Try these three simple tips and see what a difference they can make in your life.

1. Stay connected: Don’t shut yourself off from emotional contact with others. Enjoy spending time with your family and friends. Make time to be with them.

2. Add meaning to your life: Whether it is babysitting your grandchildren, nephews or nieces, doing volunteer work or writing a book, look for things to give your lifesome meaning.

3. Express gratitude: We too often take life for granted. Learn to appreciate and savour the wonderful things in life – from people to food, from nature to a smile, and give thanks for them. Before going to bed, make a note of two things to be grateful for that day.

Many of us already set aside a little time each day to look after our physical health. It is about time more of us did the same for our emotional and psychological health.