#28 Nick Holton: Flourishing, Performance, and Privilege

Flourishing provides a framework for how to live well by taking into account individuality, constraints, and systems. Yet what does it look like to apply this framework in education? Classroom-teacher-turned-positive-psychologist Nick Holton has been exploring the concept of flourishing through a performance lens to determine how to help students become the best versions of themselves. Nick; widely versed in various theories in positive psychology, well-being, and flourishing; includes concepts like achievement, mastery, motivation, flow, meaning, and connection in his promotion of flourishing in schools. He also acknowledges the role of privilege in well-being and how to repair system-level concerns to help more people access vital aspects of life.

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“Flourishing is a privilege. When you can afford to worry about things like flow and achievement and the quality of your relationships, as opposed to whether you even have relationships or are lonely... when you can be focused on physical health from the standpoint of vitality, not just survival... when thinking about what’s most essential, it’s survival. If that’s not addressed, everything else about flourishing is harder to achieve.”

— Nick Holton

Dr. Nick Holton is an international speaker, consultant, trainer and coach in the science and art of human flourishing; the harmonious combination of actualizing peak potential and experiencing a sense of satisfaction and fulfillment. He currently serves as the Co-Director of Positive Education for The Shipley School and as a peak performance coach for The Flow Research Collective. Nick coaches and trains executives, elite athletes, and professional competitors in addition to teaching private classes to actors, directors, business groups, NCAA athletic programs, and educational leadership teams. Over the course of the past seven years spent working in the field, Nick has published various articles, book chapters, op-eds as well as given talks and keynotes on topics related to optimal human functioning. This work has taken place throughout the United States, Mexico, Europe, the Middle East and India and has been featured most recently in Fast Company.