Bring the Flourish Challenge to your community!

Discover a fun way to foster well-being and connection!

Mental health promotion
Culture building
Experiential learning

Building a culture of well-being is a collective journey.

Over the years, we’ve partnered with more than 30 communities to promote awareness, knowledge, and practices for mental well-being. Along the way, we created this Flourish Challenge. From classrooms and clubs to teams, people absolutely love being part of this inspiring movement. And it’s FREE, FUN, and EASY TO SET UP on your own!

“Individuals can only truly flourish when they belong to supportive communities, and in turn have the skills to nurture the wellbeing of those around them.”

What Is the Flourish Challenge?

The Flourish Challenge is a science-based, gamified, and self-paced program for mental health promotion and community building. It’s the perfect addition to Mental Health Awareness Month, psychology classes, club/dorm events, or team on-sites.

During a Flourish Challenge, people spend a few minutes each day engaging in fun, interactive well-being activities. These include acts of kindness like sending a compliment or a gratitude note, mindfulness exercises such as “Three Good Things” or “Nature Walk,” or resilience-building practices like emotion check-ins or writing a letter from the future self.

With the Flourish app, participants can create a personalized journey, receive daily insights and positive affirmation, and collect beautiful digital cards summarizing each activity. Even better, the Flourish app includes a daily tracker, a community channel, and gamification features like the science-based PERMA badges to motivate participation and showcase progress.

At the end of the challenge, participants are rewarded with a lifelong gift—skills to take care of themselves and each other. ❤️  And you can even add extra credit or a raffle to make this experience extra rewarding.

The Flourish App

Created by experts in psychology, AI, and human-centered design, the Flourish app offers many well-being activities and an AI chatbot (“Sunnie”) for personalized, real-time support.

Recent studies have validated its effectiveness in enhancing well-being, fostering belonging, and strengthening community. Explore other pages on this website to learn more!

Loved by Participants

Really taking actions, instead of just reading about them, made a surprisingly large difference to me. Takeaway: actually do stuff!

Stanford University, Office of Development

“I know I would’ve had a much harder time this quarter if I didn’t have this app as a way to reflect, learn, and grow in strength. Really inspires me for future quarters.”

University of Washington

“I learned to reach out to people more and deepen connections, and that breathing exercises are a really good way for me personally to refocus and relieve stress."

University of Washington

“The Pomodoro timer really helped. I tend to struggle with procrastination and that has helped mitigate my stress and motivate me.”

Providence College

“Using Flourish for 14 days was a transformative experience. At first, I was skeptical about the app’s ability to improve my mental health and well-being, but as I continued to use it, I noticed significant changes in my mood, productivity, and overall outlook.”

Chapman University

“Flourish really changed my mind about AI’s uses.”

Foothill College

"Being grateful has changed my life and I've loved having a daily reflection.

Stanford University, Office of Development

“It's useful to devote time to Flourish-like activities regularly, just as I do with exercising my body.”

Stanford University, Office of Development

“It has made a profound impact on me. Last night when I woke up at 2 am, my first thought was racing through everything I needed to get done at work. After a moment, I thought about three good things in my life and the appreciation from the people I interacted with for the gratitude note, the meaningful conversation, blast from the past and gifting a compliment. The next thing I knew, my alarm was going off.”

Stanford University, BeWell

“Loved the activities! I think the most helpful part was having a Flourish buddy to share the experience with and keep [us] accountable for doing all the activities.”

Stanford University, BeWell

Bring the Flourish Challenge to your community

For faculty and instructors, Flourish Challenge provides a novel and engaging experiential learning opportunity to help students appreciate psychology in daily life and foster a sense of well-being and community. Faculty who’ve included it in their class rave about the positive impact and how much students enjoy the experience!
To make setup hassle-free, we’ve prepared the following materials for you:

Editable slides:

These introductory slides can be added to your lecture slides or Canvas.

Introductory language:

When introducing the challenge, these talking points tend to resonate well with students:

  • The app is like a “Duolingo for happiness.”
  • Learn effective, science-based strategies to enhance well-being, resilience, stress management, relationship building, and time management.
  • Explore how AI can be used as a force for social good.
  • Earn extra credit!!! It’s a huge motivator when offered through class or via the SONA system.

How it works:

1

Get the Flourish App

It’s free and available on both the Apple Store and Google Play Store.
2

Use the app for 14 days before a deadline (e.g., the end of the semester)

  • If you are teaching a class, you can encourage students to practice well-being twice a week, or 14 days in total. If a 14-day challenge isn’t feasible, a 7-day challenge is a great alternative. For the minimum, try 3 days.
  • Students can use the app in whatever way suits them best, as it offers plenty of activities and diverse engagement modes.
  • The days do NOT need to be consecutive. Students will never lose a streak.
3

Encourage reflection on the experience

  • In the past, instructors have assigned a one-page reflection essay with some guiding questions (see introductory slides) to encourage deeper reflection.
  • Students can provide evidence of completion by taking a screenshot of their total active days, found in the “Insight” tab of the Flourish app.
4

Send a post-challenge email

You can leave a lasting impact! Check out our post-challenge email template for inspiration.

Want to bring the Flourish Challenge to your team, club, or office? 

Hosting the Flourish Challenge with your team, student club, or office is a fantastic way to strengthen your community, promote mental health and well-being, and have fun together—all at the same time!To make setup hassle-free, we’ve prepared the following materials for you:

How it works:

1

Get the Flourish App

The app is available on both the Apple Store and Google Play Store.
If your school partners with Flourish and provides access to our premium app, students should select their school name from the drop-down list during onboarding.
If your school is not partnered with us, you can still enjoy the freemium version—just manually enter your school name during onboarding.
2

Use the app for 14 days within a specified time (we recommend a month!)

  • Use the app in any way that suits you—complete a Flourish activity, journal about your day, or chat with Sunnie, your personalized, science-based AI well-being coach.
  • These days do not need to be consecutive; use the app when it fits your schedule.
  • To verify completion, simply upload a screenshot from the “Insight” tab of the Flourish app that shows your number of "Active Days."
3

Post-challenge email template: 

You can use this post-challenge email template to keep your team engaged with science-based practices and help them build on the progress they've made. It also features bonus resources to support their continued well-being journey!
4

Questions?

Scroll down to the FAQ section. We're here to help make your experience as smooth and rewarding as possible!

FAQs

How can I motivate students or participants to take part in the Flourish Challenge?

If you are an instructor, offering extra credit is by far the most effective incentive! Additionally, consider weaving the Flourish Challenge into your curriculum. Whether you teach positive psychology, social psychology, psychology introduction, or research methods, the challenge can offer valuable experiential learning opportunities for your students.

For leaders of student clubs, offices, or teams, our popular Flourish swag—such as mood maps, compliment cards, and PERMA stickers—can serve as a compelling reward. These items are available for purchase in bulk. Reach out to hello@flouriship.com if you’re interested in getting them!

How can I verify that participants have completed the Flourish Challenge?

Ask participants to submit screenshots of their Insights page, where the app clearly tracks their number of “Active Days.” If the count reaches 14 or higher, they’ve successfully completed the challenge!

Below is an example of what a completed Insights page looks like:

Does it have to be 14 days? Can I make it longer or shorter?

Yes, we've seen nice results from 3-day or 7-day challenges, too.

What are some successful previous examples of the Flourish Challenge?

The Flourish Challenge has proven successful across various settings. For instance:

  • We ran the Flourish Challenge at Foothill College and observed significant improvements in students' positive affect, a reduction in emotional challenges, and enhanced perceptions of school support (see more here).

  • Student-athletes at Providence College participated in the Flourish Challenge and shared overwhelmingly positive feedback (see here)!

  • In a 6-week randomized controlled trial with nearly 500 students at Chapman University, the University of Washington, and Foothill College, we found that students randomly assigned to use the Flourish app for just a few minutes each week reported experiencing more positive emotions, less loneliness, increased mindfulness, greater well-being, and a stronger sense of belonging (see more here)!

  • Over 200 employees at Stanford’s Office of Development participated in a 7-day Flourish Challenge, experiencing increased social connection, a stronger sense of belonging, and greater overall flourishing in just one week!

There are many ways to incorporate Flourish into your classroom or organization. We’re here to help you brainstorm possibilities!

Can participants invite others to do it with them?

Absolutely! Participants are encouraged to share the Flourish app with their Flourish Buddies—those “life-giving relationships” that make a positive impact on their health and well-being. These could be friends, peers, family members, or colleagues.

While their buddies might not officially join the Flourish Challenge, they can still participate informally by trying the activities, offering support, and keeping each other company throughout the journey.

To invite someone, simply go to the Community tab in the app and click on the Add Buddy icon, as shown below:

Can we host a Flourish workshop alongside the challenge?

Absolutely! We are open to providing workshops based on our availability, and they have been hugely popular. We can customize the content to fit your course, team, club, or office interests. To offset our time, we usually charge for the workshop, but we can be flexible if there is a compelling need. Please send inquiries to hello@flouriship.com.

For example, here’s a blurb from a recent workshop titled “Small Actions, Big Impact: Science-Based Strategies for Personal, Relational, and Community Well-Being”:

Decades of psychological research show that happiness and well-being can be intentionally cultivated through simple daily actions. In this interactive session, you’ll explore the PERMA model of well-being, gain deeper insights into your personal well-being, and discover meaningful, science-based strategies to boost joy, practice self-compassion, manage stress, and strengthen social connections. You’ll also receive practical tools to seamlessly integrate these insights into your daily routine—empowering you to cultivate calm, joy, and resilience.