Positive Education and PERMA - From Reflection to Action
- Kristijan Musek Lešnik
- Nov 8, 2025
- 4 min read
Updated: 3 days ago
Wellbeing isn’t a waiting room; it’s a practice. It's built moment by moment as a result of tiny, daily actions for Relationships, Positive Emotions, Engagement, Meaning, and Accomplishment that lead to better relationships, more hope, more focus, clearer purpose, and steady progress.
PERMA model is:
simple,
universal, and
easily applicable to everyday life.
Its five pillars — Relationships, Positive Emotions, Engagement, Meaning, and Accomplishment — are not abstract theories. They are part of our daily experiences. We all know what good and difficult relationships feel like. We’ve all felt moments of flow — being completely absorbed in something that mattered. We’ve all tasted the joy of achieving a goal, whether small or great.
Another important advantage of the PERMA model is this: it gives us a framework for reflection and gentle, practical change. It can help us plan small, intentional steps to improve not only our well-being but also the well-being of those around us.
Used thoughtfully, the PERMA model can become a powerful tool for improving the quality of life in a classroom, in a school, and in the wider community.
Why Start Now?
Our well-being depends partly on external circumstances. But it also depends on personal choice and intention. No matter what life brings, we always have the power to be co-creators of our relationships, feelings, sense of meaning, joy, experiences, and goals.
We can wait for happiness to come to us — or we can take the initiative and build it piece by piece. Each area of the PERMA model offers a place to begin: small, simple steps that, with a bit of focus, can gradually transform how we feel and how we live.
Relationships — What Can I Do Today?
Call someone you haven’t spoken to in a long time.
Write a letter or send a postcard.
Email a former teacher and tell them what you learned from them or how they inspired you.
Thank someone who once helped you and tell them how they influenced your life.
Compliment someone you know only briefly but who made a strong impression on you.
Give at least one hug today — or three this week.
Ask for help if you need it.
Offer help to someone who might need it.
Positive Emotions — What Can I Do Today?
Start a gratitude journal — write down one thing you’re thankful for each day.
Notice your language: how many positive vs. negative words do you use?
When entering a room, a class, or meeting colleagues, begin with something kind or uplifting.
Before sleep, recall three pleasant moments from your day and relive the feelings.
In the morning, pause and ask: Why will today be special?
Reflect on who or what puts you in your best mood — and share that with others.
Consider how your emotions affect the people around you.
Spend more time with people who make you feel good — consciously make room for them in your week.
Engagement — What Can I Do Today?
Try something new — you might discover a new source of joy.
Take time for at least one activity you truly enjoy.
Recall a moment when you were so absorbed in something that time disappeared — and share that story.
Change something about a routine task that bores you.
Start something you’ve always wanted to do but never found the time for.
Meaning — What Can I Do Today?
Become or remain part of something bigger than yourself — a group, team, or community.
Do something kind for others.
Talk with someone about past challenges — what they taught you and how they shaped you.
Reflect on a time when you felt deep excitement or anticipation — what made it meaningful?
Recall when you last experienced flow and why.
Think of the person who comes to mind when you think of love.
Consider what causes or projects you willingly devote your effort to.
Ask yourself: If I had one day, one month, or one year gifted to me — how would I spend it?
Imagine how you’d like your loved ones to remember you.
Accomplishment — What Can I Do Today?
Write down your most important goals — long-term and short-term — and plan your next steps.
When nearing one goal, start thinking about the next.
Learn or discover something new every day.
Choose one area where you already feel skilled — and work to get even better.
In Essence
We don’t have to wait for the “right moment” to start improving our well-being. Each small, conscious action — a phone call, a kind word, a moment of gratitude — can create ripples of happiness.
PERMA model reminds us that flourishing isn’t built overnight. It’s built one mindful choice at a time — in relationships, emotions, engagement, meaning, and accomplishment. It reminds us a simple truth: A good life doesn’t just happen... it’s created — moment by moment, choice by choice.
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© dr. Kristijan Musek Lešnik & GrowHumans.
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