20 Positive Traits of Emotionally Healthy People
So, what do you think defines emotional well-being? Can you spot it in someone’s behavior or evaluate yourself for signs of emotional health traits that might affect your overall life satisfaction? Seeing something wrong in others is easy, especially in this world where, during this age of AI and information availability, there does not need to be a psychologist to make a list of what is wrong with others, nor does one have to be a spiritually wise person to spot characteristics of emotional problems in others. So, it will be very easy to read this post by keeping people in mind to analyze their behavior and judge.
But instead of that, this post is intended for self-analysis so that a person could take necessary actions by knowing their own state of emotional well-being in order to strive to be more joyful and full of life by understanding the characteristics of emotionally healthy people and the qualities of a healthy person.
You may already have some notions about the indicators of a person’s mental state. Nevertheless, it’s crucial to remember that our understanding of our own inner state and our perception of others’ emotional well-being can fluctuate based on our current emotions. When we’re feeling happy, we tend to believe our emotional health is in great shape, and people around us seem pleasant. However, this perspective can change when we’re grappling with intense negative emotions. Therefore, before we dive deeper into this subject, let’s first clarify what it truly means to be emotionally healthy. This way, we can engage in a more meaningful discussion about the characteristics of emotionally healthy people and the qualities of a healthy person.
The True Meaning of Emotional Wellness
The concept of a happy person is essentially a mental construct disconnected from reality. It’s a notion we develop based on our individual needs and the associations we make with our happiness.
This idea of a “happy person” is a constantly shifting image unique to each individual on the planet. So, whatever idea you have at the moment that describes a “happy person” for you is subjective and something that is inconsistent with other people’s idea of the same, and in fact, it will change for you over time as well.
Some might believe this only pertains to our conception of happiness rooted in materialistic needs and desires. Nevertheless, the reality is that striving to become a happy person is, in essence, a pursuit akin to chasing clouds.
It’s important to clarify that when I refer to “emotional wellness,” I’m not talking about a state of perpetual joy. Instead, it pertains to a quality that enables a person to find inner peace and harmony with their own existence and the world around them. Understanding emotional wellness and the characteristics of emotionally healthy people helps us go beyond temporary emotions and look at deeper emotional health traits.
A happy person experiences temporary bursts of euphoria often linked to external events, whereas an emotionally healthy individual is less influenced by people, circumstances, and situations. The greater a person’s capacity to protect their inner peace, the stronger their emotional well-being becomes. I’m discussing genuine detachment, not mere pretense.
20 Qualities of an Ideal Emotional Health
These emotional health traits and characteristics of emotionally healthy people aren’t to judge yourself harshly, but to reflect on areas for growth. Building inner peace and resilience comes gradually through awareness and practice.
1. Full Responsibility: Those who safeguard their emotional well-being embrace full responsibility for their life circumstances, refraining from blaming others, society, government, or God for what unfolds in their lives. Accountability is what gives a person control over their life and is among the most powerful characteristics of a healthy person. Confident smiling person surrounded by a protective aura, symbolizing emotional health traits and the ability to stay joyful despite negative opinions of others.
2. Open-Mindedness: One common sign of emotional weakness is struggling to transcend old beliefs and being open to new ideas. Breaking the barrier of limiting beliefs is empowering and can lead to meaningful change—a key emotional health trait.
3. No Need to Be Right: A content and emotionally healthy person understands that beliefs evolve over time, so there’s no constant need to prove themselves right.
4. Unaffected by the Opinions of Others: When you have nothing to defend because you’re not obsessed with being right, others lose their power over you. This immunity to criticism is another strong indicator of positive emotional health.
5. Never Get into Emotional Dramas or Power Games: As the earlier points suggest, someone with positive emotional health knows how to shield themselves from energy-draining emotional dramas. Understanding the futility of arguments and the need to prove oneself eliminates the war of opinions, keeping the mind free from peace-disrupting thoughts.
6. Feeling the Connection: Let’s explore spirituality here. A person with inner peace recognizes the interconnectedness of all things in the world, which reflects in how they treat everything around them with love. Such individuals can remain kind and compassionate even during life’s toughest moments—another hallmark of emotionally healthy people.
7. Comfortable in Both Crowd and Solitude: Speaking of feeling the connection, content individuals often don’t have a strong need for constant company or solitude; they can enjoy both. Many people are extroverts, constantly seeking company, while others lean towards solitude. Both extremes reflect deep emotional needs.
8. Highly Conscious and Aware: Our subconscious beliefs often trigger unconscious reactions in challenging situations, leading to mistakes. Being aware of one’s inner workings helps avoid such reactions—a key attribute of emotional well-being and improved self-control.
9. A Good Listener and Communicator: Failing to openly express one’s thoughts or actively listen to others reflects the extent to which our minds and their habits have taken control. Conversely, individuals who practice mindful communication and listen with full presence demonstrate mastery over their thoughts. They engage in authentic conversations without attempting to manipulate others through words or premeditated responses.
10. Healthy Relationships: Content individuals build bonds rooted in love, while relationships founded on needs tend to create problems for both themselves and others. Whether it’s with one’s spouse, parents, children, siblings, or friends, strengthening those bonds occurs when you don’t depend on others to conform to your expectations.
11. Unstoppable by Fear: Everyone grapples with fear, but a serene mind provides the self-confidence to act despite the fears that shackle us and induce indecision. Most fears in a person’s life are somehow linked to change, and no progress can be achieved if these fears imprison us in our current life situation.
12. Perseverance: Internal strength empowers you to persevere in pursuing your goals even in challenging times, without succumbing to adversity. People who have less control over their minds tend to give up in difficult situations, while those with a healthy outlook on life remain optimistic.
13. Ability to Let Go: We discussed not giving up, and now we’re talking about letting go. It may appear contradictory, but it’s not. ‘Letting go’ means releasing your grip on anything that generates emotional turmoil. We often hold on to things that disrupt our peace, and sometimes, no matter how dear they are to us, letting go of the baggage that weighs us down is essential.
14. No Need for Outside Approval: Mental fitness enables a person to experience complete peace without the need for anyone’s approval. This single trait can reveal much about individuals; those who don’t seek validation from others to feel good about themselves do not relinquish their power to external influences.
15. Present Moment Awareness: Many mental afflictions stem from the habit of dwelling in the negative past or worrying about the future. Present moment awareness involves bringing one’s attention fully into the present, resulting in a positive state of mind. Those who have achieved inner serenity tend to dwell more in the present rather than fixating on the past or future. You can explore meditation or simple mindfulness exercises to cultivate this awareness.
16. Capable of Shifting Focus: In my opinion, a person can be considered emotionally fit if they have the ability to intentionally shift their focus from negative thoughts to positive ones. I say this based on my own experience and understanding of how challenging it can be to develop this particular skill. While it may be impossible to suddenly shift our focus from something distressing in intense situations, our minds often tend to run wild with negative thoughts even in less dire circumstances. That’s why this capacity to transition between mental states is a crucial indicator of inner strength.
17. Positive Self-Talk: The previous point brings to mind the concept of self-talk. We all have that inner voice that engages in various forms of self-dialogue. If one can train this inner voice to become a source of motivation and encouragement, it can help prevent inner conflicts.
18. Accept What Is: Much of human despair arises from efforts to control people and situations. Thus, a person in total harmony with their life possesses the ability to accept everything as it is, without attempting to change anything external to themselves. 
It’s important to clarify that total surrender doesn’t imply a lack of effort in improving one’s life. Not attempting to change anything outside oneself means focusing on inner self-improvement before taking external actions. Once a person achieves clarity of mind, they can take inspired actions accordingly.
19. Self-Love: People often misunderstand this concept. Self-love is not selfishness; it is a quality that empowers one to be strong, optimistic, and motivated. You cannot spread happiness without being a happy person, so this is a crucial attribute of emotionally healthy individuals.
20. Intuitive Decisions: Lastly, I’d like to mention a crucial factor often observed in the lives of those who possess inner peace—the ability to listen to your heart and make decisions based on intuition.
By reflecting on these emotional health traits and characteristics of a healthy person, you can gradually cultivate a life filled with inner peace, resilience, and authentic happiness.
Conclusion: Cultivating Emotional Health and Releasing Hidden Blocks
So, these are some of the traits that can tell us a lot about a person’s emotional health. These points are meant for self-analysis, as most of these qualities can only be discerned subjectively. However, it’s also essential to understand that feeling bad about not being able to fully control your mind is pointless. Although these characteristics can be nurtured through disciplining one’s thoughts, we are all ultimately human—and it’s natural to lose control over our emotions from time to time.
If you’re seeking ways to nurture your emotional well-being, I suggest trying out the Ho’oponopono technique. This simple practice uses four affirmations centered around forgiveness and love, and it has personally helped me elevate my state of mind during challenging times or when grappling with intense emotions.
Since I’ve mentioned how our subconscious beliefs deeply shape our behavior and emotions, I’d also like to share a program that helped me clear many known and unknown blocks. It’s called Christie Marie Sheldon’s Unlimited Abundance. Based on energy clearing, it supported me in breaking free from limiting beliefs so I could improve emotionally and approach life with a fresh perspective.
This post was originally published on March 31, 2016 and was last updated on July 22, 2025 to include new insights, updated resources, and links related to emotional health and subconscious mind healing.
I hope you enjoyed reading this post! Did I miss mentioning any other qualities you think are important? Feel free to drop your thoughts and share your perspective in the comments below — I’d genuinely love to hear from you. Your feedback really helps me keep improving the content here.
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Frequently Asked Questions about Emotional Health
What is emotional health in simple words?
Like physical health, a person has emotional health which pertains to a person’s well-being thought-wise and emotion-wise. Since all our actions are shaped by our thoughts and emotions, being emotionally healthy is of utmost importance.
How to know if someone is emotionally healthy?
When a person is least affected emotionally by external circumstances and acts responsively instead of reactively, they are emotionally healthy.
What are causes of bad emotional health?
It could be underlying deep conditioning based on genetics or the environment where one was raised, leading up to beliefs that do not serve well and cause emotional problems.
How to overcome emotional health problems related to limiting beliefs and mind conditioning?
Energy healing programs like Unlimited Abundance can help, or if you are more inclined to hypnotherapy then Marisa Peer’s Uncompromised Life might be useful. However, if the problem is greater than what one can actively control, then one must seek professional help.
How can I improve my emotional health daily?
Simple habits like practicing mindfulness, using positive self-talk, journaling, meditating, and focusing on gratitude can gradually strengthen your emotional well-being. You can explore some gratitude exercises to help make this part of your daily routine.
Are emotionally healthy people always happy?
No. Emotionally healthy people also feel sadness, anger, or fear, but they don’t get stuck there. They process emotions mindfully and return to a balanced state more easily.
Why is “letting go” so important for emotional health?
Letting go helps you release what no longer serves you — old grudges, limiting beliefs, or past pain. It frees mental and emotional energy, making space for new, positive experiences.
The Universal Law of Obedience – Living in Harmony
The universal law of obedience says that a person’s life is shaped according to how they work 
with the laws of universe.
I have been saying this same thing in all my posts that it is of no use to gain information about all these divine laws, if you are not willing to put this knowledge into use by changing your lifestyle.
Your lifestyle change must include the actions that are in harmony with the laws and then only you will have any sort of benefit from all these materials that teaches you about the success principles.
The Mind Made Prison
Many people deny and ignore this knowledge because they have completely accepted the idea that they are helpless.
I know many people who live according to the convictions that say we all are puppets who have no control over what is happening in our lives. Continue reading
The Universal Law of Success – You Are Born to Thrive
You will feel empowered if you will understand the law of success which says that we are born to succeed and we all have within us all the qualities needed to accomplish our goals.
Expansion and growth are nature’s purpose, being a part of it, we also have within us the seeds of development.
At every movement, we have all the resources available to make our visions come true, but to make use of them we will have to work on improving ourselves in a way that it becomes possible for us to use our creative power to accomplish what we desire.
Mother Nature does not know failure because she attains her goals by being in complete harmony with the universal laws. I have talked about this in many other posts, the simplest way to achieve our goals is to replicate the actions of the nature. Continue reading
3 Easy Steps to Overcome the Fear of Failure
The fear of failure is called “Atychiphobia” in psychological language, but, this fear is present in everyone. Our success in any area of our lives highly depends upon our willingness to overcome this obstacle.
We all are afraid of losing, even the most successful people in the world are troubled by this fear. However, they have learned the lesson that facing the fear is better than running away from it, this difference in the perspective is what sets them apart from others.
Millions of dreams have been shattered because people are not willing to take the risks. Any successful person will tell you how important it is to take the risks in life if you want to be successful.
We are not totally responsible for the fact that the thoughts of failure terrifies us, our society has trained our minds in a way that we look at “failure” as some kind of ruthless enemy, when in truth it is our best friend. Why? – Because they are the best teachers.
Whenever something doesn’t work out, you get aware of one path that is not to be taken next time. That’s how Edison found the right way to invent the electric bulb, you might have heard his famous quote “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”
Yeah I know such thoughts look good in philosophies. But, in reality, even though we might have forgotten, that is how we had all our proud accomplishments.
For example, do you think that any kid in the world would have learned to walk without falling down numerous times? Obviously NO, still no kid ever refuses to give another try just because they fear getting hurt. Yes, we are born winners. Continue reading
The Universal Law of Sacrifice – Paying the Price for Success
What does it mean to sacrifice something? Does the universal law of sacrifice say that we should lose something precious to get what we want? This post will be answering many such questions that pops up in your head whenever you think about this particular subject.
Generally the word “sacrifice” has a lot of negative beliefs attached to it, which makes us to see it as something that will cause suffering that is how we have been taught about it by the society.
Our society believes that a true sacrifice is when someone deliberately gives away what mattered a lot to them.
If you want to be a happy person, I would advise you to discard all such notions that makes you to compromise something that you love. Continue reading
The Universal Law of Compensation-Give Your Best Always
Without any doubt, the universal law of compensation has been very much misunderstood by people. They especially consider it as the subtext of the usual modern phrases like “karma is a b****”.
I want you to be open-minded while you read this post by putting aside the negativity that your mind may have associated with this law.
This law can be summarized by this famous proverb “You reap what you sow” but, hardly ever people look at it without any preconceived notion. You have to look at this phrase without any judgment to get the real essence of what it says “you reap what you sow”, that simply means that you get results in accordance to your actions.
When I say action, you would have thought that I am talking about what we do physically at any moment, that’s because we all forget that “thinking” is also an action. In fact, physical activity is just an outcome that’s governed by various other factors that we will discuss later in this post. Continue reading
The Universal Law of Increase-Focus on the Good
Be in a state of joy thinking of what is good in your life and you will have more of it by the universal law of increase.
If you are a spiritual person then you might already know the benefits of being grateful because when you are ungrateful and you constantly think of what is unpleasant in your life by the same law you will get more of it, there is no exception to it.
Have you seen people cry when they pray?
Of course, you would have because that is how most people do it. Some of them even believe that the more you shed tears the more is the chance of your prayer getting answered but do they really get what they want?
They see God as some person with superpowers in front of whom they have to beg and cry to get what they want.
But that is a false thinking. If you will cry, you will get more reasons to cry. If prayer is an act of faith then why should one be mournful?
Always remember – What you believe, feel and expect, that will happen, so, in your prayer be grateful and by the law you will attract more situations to say “thanks” to “all that is”. Continue reading
Induce Lucid Dreams without Keeping a Dream Journal-3 Alternatives
Writing my dreams after waking up was once a very difficult task for me and I know many of the lucid dreamers hate doing this because that early morning time is often a busy one that’s why I will provide you a few alternatives here that will enable you to have lucid dreams without a need to keep dream journal.
Before looking at the alternative methods allow me to explain it to you why we actually keep record of our dreams..
Purpose of the Dream Journal
Usually we only remember dreams that occurred a few minutes before waking up. Sometimes you may remember a little more but, till the time you take bath you probably would have forgotten them all unless you had an interesting dream.
There are people who say that they don’t get dreams at all but that’s not true, it is not that they are lying as they actually don’t know that they had dreams… why?.. it is because they forget their dreams even before they are fully awake.
This is why beginners in lucid dreaming are always advised to keep a dream journal beside them before sleeping since even if they had a lucid dream they won’t be able to remember it so that will mean that they never had one. Continue reading
10 Common Indicators of Your Progress-Spiritual Awakening Signs
When you get inclined towards spirituality you naturally get curious about your progress in that path and that’s why I am going discuss a few signs and symptoms of spiritual awakening using which you can know where you have reached in your journey.
For me, it used to be a very dominant thought in mind and still it bothers me sometimes that if I am actually going anywhere with all these spiritual knowledge and practices or am I still standing at the juncture from where I began?
Then I started to realize that the simplest way to know about spiritual progress is as Ramana Maharshi puts it “the degree of freedom from unwanted thoughts and the degree of concentration on a single thought are the measures to gauge spiritual progress”, obviously I am not able to free myself from the unwanted thoughts at present but I know that I am making headway from my ability to discern whenever I am thinking unnecessarily far better than before. Continue reading
Photographic Memory or Eidetic Memory
In simple words, photographic memory could be described as an ability to recall things in form of images with all details.
Actually we all think in images, on a conscious level we might not be able to discern that always but with a little awareness you can know that whenever we are thinking or recalling we are doing it in form of images.
If I say “fire” you will immediately see an image of fire in your mind that’s how our thinking mechanism works.
So, when we all try to recall things from past, sometimes we get vivid pictures in mind and sometimes we see distorted images and that is what differentiates a person having a strong memory with the one who has weak memory. The reason behind this actually depends on many factors like a person’s attentiveness, their practice in recalling, confidence etc. which is all related to only one thing and that is their conscious mind’s rapport with their subconscious mind. Continue reading