The Life Beyond Achievement

The Empty Self A decades-old critique of American psychology helps explain why focusing on just the self never seem to be enough. By Victor Counted • The Flourishing Journal • 9 min read You finally buy the thing you have wanted for months. For a few days, perhaps a few weeks, it works. Something inside you settles. There is usually a rush of excitement. You feel more confident about your purchase. Then the feeling fades, and another object takes its place in your imagination. We usually explain this pattern as materialism or poor self-control. If you are a Marshmellow Test's fan, you perhaps might say that it is a lack…

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Wellbeing, Thriving, Flourishing — The Difference a Word Makes

Wellbeing, Thriving, Flourishing: Three Words We Keep Using as if They Mean the Same Thing? | The Flourishing Journal Flourishing Science Wellbeing, Thriving, Flourishing: Three Words We Keep Using as if They Mean the Same Thing? On wellbeing, flourishing, and thriving, and why mixing them up changes how we research, counsel, and help people. VC Victor Counted, Ph.D. Professor · Author · Psychologist · June 2026 · 7 min read A friend of mine treats the word ‘thriving’ the way most people treat the word ‘fine.’ It comes up every time we connect, unplanned, almost a running joke between us by now. He has a point. Three words show up…

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