Today, I read about the PERMA-V model of well-being, which I had never heard of before.
To organize the various components required for a ‘good’ life, the framework identifies six core factors that contribute to overall human well-being:
| Component |
Description |
Examples / Notes |
| Positive Emotion |
Feeling good and experiencing joy, gratitude, or contentment in daily life. |
Enjoying a nice walk, sharing a good meal, or feeling thankful. |
| Engagement |
Being fully absorbed in a task that matches one’s skills, often described as a state of “flow.” |
Losing track of time while working on a passion project or engaging deeply in a hobby. |
| Relationships |
Having strong, reliable, and supportive connections with friends, family, and community. |
Building trust, offering support, and fostering deep social bonds. |
| Meaning |
Belonging to and serving something larger than oneself, such as a community, cause, or faith-based group. |
Volunteering, religious participation, or contributing to societal betterment. |
| Accomplishment |
Achieving difficult goals pursued for their own sake, regardless of external rewards like money or fame. |
Mastering a skill, completing a challenging task, or setting personal milestones. |
| Vitality |
Added later to the model, this covers the physical foundations of well-being necessary to sustain the other elements. |
Eating well, sleeping adequately, and exercising regularly. |
I found it useful to think about these different areas to understand what could be improved on.
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That’s an interesting list and I hadn’t thought of it as a cohesive group of topics like that before.
I think I cover all bases to a lesser or greater extent but “M” (meaning) is a bit scant for me. I’m a member of a few local sports groups but not really for the betterment of the community.
I’m not the churchy type, nor would I be the sort that pitches in with the local events / committees [shudders at the thought]. So perhaps lack of activity in this area would be better for my well-being than actually getting involved. 
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It’s really funny, I have the feeling that the AI summary was made for a young professional with lots of disposable income, free time and even a bit of boredom. Or I remember being fully funded by parents in university, what difficult goal should I pursue for its own sake?
Work sometimes delivers this, being comfy in home office allows some parts of the brain to shut off and flow. This is the thing I’m good at. Hobbies (running, the bike), they require full awareness of the environment and time. And I suck at running and riding the bike, I do it because I like it, not because it matches my skills.
Engagement: Being fully absorbed in a task that matches one’s skills, often described as a state of “flow.” Losing track of time while working on a passion project or engaging deeply in a hobby.
The accomplishment one is myself 20 years ago, some times wasting energy. These days, life drops several challenges regularly that if tangible results are not foreseen, I do not invest energy on it. The day only has 24 hours, and the week 7 days. What kind of challenges? Supporting family, someone needed a hip replacement. More family, someone with a lawsuit about labor contract terms. What do I know about that? Little to nothing, but it’s possible to read texts to learn and read people to come with a strategy. I can’t complain because everything is self-imposed 
There is also a tail risk in succeeding at well-being, one might become a monster to others because all I do has been optimized for good. It’s not uncommon to meet people out there who inhabit a world of perfection, while the world is imperfect. It never ends well.
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Isn’t that commonly known as “Insta-Tik” or somesuch..?
The last two I’ve met has been in the corporate world. No social media stars. Only, people disconnected from messy world of work.
Back to the topic, wait a min…where are children in the list? It’s sadistic to tell parents about “six core factors to well-being” when they’re in survival mode.
Well, my current inability to balance demands of life with work and kids is what brought me to this framework. Job and kids have had an adverse effect on R and V. While arguably providing some M this will be for a limited time until the kids become adults and go their own way which will leave another gap.