➤ Lesson 1: Happiness as an Emotion begins by defining the big picture of happiness as the overall experience of meaning, life satisfaction, and pleasure. Then we explore the concept of pleasure more deeply through “emotional granularity,” a model of understanding emotions on two dimensions—as pleasant or unpleasant and high or low energy. Lastly, we make the connection between a larger vocabulary for emotions and our subsequent actions.

➤ Lesson 2: Happiness as Life Satisfaction makes the case for identifying and using strengths as a key lever for life satisfaction. We discuss the difference between character strengths and skills or talents, and practice the Reflected Best Self exercise, expanding our view of strengths by seeing them through the eyes of another.

➤ In Lesson 3: Happiness as Meaning, students learns about happiness in the most enduring way—as meaning in life. The definition of meaning is laid out, as well as the latest evidence on meaning as more commonplace and accessible, differentiating the BIG meaning in life with everyday meaning. We explore personal meaning through an image-based exercise developed by one of the leading researchers on meaning in life.

➤ Lesson 4: Integrating Happiness pulls all three aspects of happiness together into one integrated model. Seeing the overlap of all three, students get a multidimensional view of happiness, so they can concentrate efforts at the intersection of pleasure, strengths, and meaning.

➤ Lesson 5: The System of Wholebeing Happiness explores the possibility of dissension between pleasure and meaning, and the paradox of holding the whole of it from a systems-thinking view. We discuss the concept of a growth mindset, and how we can use the “genius of the AND” to acknowledge the challenges of aspirational meaning and being mindful of present pleasure. The lesson closes with an invitation to hold a “growth heartset.”

➤ Lesson 6: The Relational Network of Happiness dives into the impact of social connections in our well-being. We review the work of Christakis and Fowler, pointing to how connections spread constructive and destructive norms. Students are introduced to emergent properties—the characteristics an entity gains when it becomes part of a bigger system. The lesson ends with a mapping process of connections, looking for the ecosystem that supports well-being.

➤ Lesson 7: The Happiness Biofeedback System examines the dynamic interplay between body and mind. Emotions are not all physical (just in your body), nor all cognitive (just in your head). It’s a complete mind/body experience. Students practice using physical sensations as a biofeedback tool for emotional regulation, self-understanding, and deliberately cultivating positive emotions.

➤ Lesson 8: Inspiring Flow ties SPIRE together with the definition of happiness as pleasure, strengths, and meaning. We review the concept of flow, along with the six factors that define the state. Students examine when flow arises in their own life, and the circumstances that help facilitate it.