Do you want to reduce stress, improve your performance, and unlock your potential? Many people compare two popular solutions. The first is BetterUp, a coaching platform. The second is Positive Intelligence (PQ), a mental fitness platform.

Both tools help you grow personally and at work. But they take different paths. BetterUp offers personal coaching for career and personal growth across many topics. Positive Intelligence offers mental fitness training plus personal coaching. This coaching uses mental fitness tools to address your unique problems. Understanding this difference will help you choose the best fit for your goals.

BetterUp: Personal Coaching Platform

BetterUp is a coaching platform. It connects you with coaches for one-on-one growth. BetterUp focuses on helping people and companies unlock human potential through custom coaching.

What BetterUp Offers

Expert Coach Matching

BetterUp has more than 4,000 certified coaches worldwide. They speak 60+ languages. They accept only 9% of coach applicants to ensure quality. You take a 5-minute assessment. Their system matches you with coaches who fit your goals, personality, and preferred learning style.

Choice in Coaching Approaches

BetterUp’s strength is its personal approach. Your coach works with you on whatever problems you’re facing. This might include leadership growth, career transitions, stress management, or relationship building. Sessions are scheduled based on your schedule and needs.

Human and AI Coaching

BetterUp recently launched AI coaching alongside its human coaches. This gives you access to coaching support 24/7. The AI coaching provides custom guidance between your regular coaching sessions. You can choose human coaching, AI coaching, or both. It depends on what you prefer.

Core Focus: Custom Career Growth

BetterUp provides custom coaching for your specific problems. Their coaches help you build skills. They help you handle workplace issues. And they help you achieve your career goals. BetterUp coaches receive ongoing training and support.

Positive Intelligence: Mental Fitness Training

Positive Intelligence takes a different path. It focuses on mental fitness. This is your mind’s ability to respond to problems with clarity and strength instead of stress and anxiety.

Positive Intelligence offers a science-backed program. It’s built to create lasting mental strength and address the root causes of stress.

Why Positive Intelligence Creates Different Results

Fixes Root Causes

Positive Intelligence helps you find your specific Saboteurs. These are automatic negative thought patterns. Examples include the Judge, Pleaser, Controller, or Avoider.

Saboteurs cause stress. They damage relationships. And they limit your results. By stopping these patterns at their source, you create less stress. You don’t just manage stress when it appears.

Clear Training Program

The foundation is the 7-week PQ Program. The program includes daily app-based exercises. It includes weekly video modules with founder Shirzad Chamine. And it can include group support through Pods. These are small groups of 4-6 people.

This clear structure builds new brain pathways through regular practice. It creates lasting changes in how your mind works.

Real Results

Research on thousands of people shows real improvements. For example, 91% report better stress management. 92% show improvement in teamwork, and 85% report increased happiness. These changes reflect daily improvements in how people work, think, and feel.

Positive Intelligence’s Way: Strengthening Mental Fitness

Positive Intelligence doesn’t just give you tools for stress management. It trains your brain to generate less stress. It does this by weakening your Saboteurs and strengthening your Sage. This is your inner wisdom.

You create a strong base of mental fitness. This base continues to grow after the program ends.

The Positive Intelligence Advantage: Work With a Certified Coach

One-on-One Coaching

A Certified PQ Coach provides custom guidance. This guidance works directly within the mental fitness system. Your coach helps you apply PQ tools to your specific problems, like workplace stress, building leadership capacity, or improving relationships.

They help you find your Saboteur patterns. They help you strengthen your Sage responses.

Most PQ Coaches offer a free discovery call. You can share your Saboteur Assessment results. You can explore how mental fitness applies to what you want to change. Your coach provides support. They help you handle obstacles. And they ensure you’re getting real results from your practice.

Team and Company Coaching

For teams and companies, a Certified PQ Coach can run the 7-week PQ Program for your group. They can guide extra team growth through PQ-Powered Teamwork.

This creates shared language and group support to improve how teams work together. It also improves how your team handles stress and change together.

How Positive Intelligence Coaching Speeds Up Results

The PQ Program is designed to support you in strengthening your own mental fitness. But working with a Certified PQ Coach speeds up your progress.

Coaches help you see your blind spots. They help you apply the tools to your real-world problems. And they ensure you’re building lasting mental strength rather than temporary improvements.

To find the right coach for your needs, visit the PQ Coach Marketplace. You can explore hundreds of Certified PQ Coaches with diverse specialties. These include leadership, relationships, health, parenting, and more. Book a free discovery call and take the first step toward strengthening your mental fitness.

Key Differences: BetterUp vs. Positive Intelligence

Broad Coaching vs. Mental Fitness Coaching

Both BetterUp and Positive Intelligence offer one-on-one coaching for similar problems. These include leadership growth, career transitions, stress management, and relationship building. The key difference is the coaching method.

BetterUp coaches work with you on these problems using various proven ways. Each coach brings their own expertise and techniques. They help you handle your specific situations.

PQ Coaches fix these same problems through the lens of mental fitness. They help you find how your specific Saboteur patterns are affecting your leadership, relationships, or career decisions. Then they guide you in applying Sage tools, strengthening your response to challenges.

Standalone Coaching vs. Complete Mental Fitness Coaching

BetterUp offers a choice in custom coaching sessions. These are based on your needs and schedule. You work with your coach on whatever topics are most relevant to you. You use various coaching methods.

Positive Intelligence offers both mental fitness training and custom coaching. The training is the 7-week PQ Program. This coaching combines mental fitness tools with your specific challenges. Whether you work with a PQ Coach during the program or afterward, the coaching directly focuses on applying Saboteur and Sage concepts to your real-world situations.

Support: One Focus vs. Group Learning

BetterUp focuses on one-on-one coaching relationships. It has extra AI coaching support. You work mainly with your coach on your personal goals.

Positive Intelligence offers personal practice as well as optional group learning through Pods. These are support groups in the PQ Program. This creates shared support and learning from others’ time with the same system.

Timeline: Ongoing vs. Intensive

BetterUp works on a monthly subscription model for ongoing coaching support. You continue working with your coach for as long as you find it valuable.

Positive Intelligence offers an intensive 7-week program that strengthens mental fitness. It also offers continued growth through more modules and ongoing coach support.

Choosing the Right Way for Your Goals

Choose BetterUp if you want to:

• Work one-on-one with a coach on your specific problems
• Have the choice to focus on different topics as your needs change
• Prefer an ongoing coaching relationship with ongoing support
• Need help with specific workplace or leadership situations
• Have access to both human and AI coaching options
  
  

Choose Positive Intelligence if you want to:

• Build lasting mental fitness that reduces stress at its source
• Follow a proven program with real results
• Learn specific tools to intercept negative thought patterns
• Join group learning with shared support
• Fix the root causes of stress, anxiety, and performance problems
• Work with a coach trained directly in mental fitness methods
• Have custom coaching that directly applies mental fitness tools to life and work problems
  
  

Can You Use Both Platforms?

Absolutely. Many people find value in both platforms. They use them either at the same time or at different stages of their growth journey.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long does it take to see results from Positive Intelligence?

Most people report noticeable changes within the first 2-3 weeks of daily practice. These changes deepen throughout the 7-week program and beyond.

Is Positive Intelligence only for people with high stress?

No. While Positive Intelligence greatly improves stress management, it also boosts performance, decision-making, relationships, and overall well-being. Many high-performing leaders use Positive Intelligence to improve their results and stay at their best without burnout.

Does Positive Intelligence require group participation?

The PQ Program includes extra Pods. These are small groups of 4-6 people that meet weekly. Research shows that Pods greatly increase success rates. However, the core daily practice is personal. You can complete the program on your own if you prefer.

Can my company use either program for our team?

Yes. Both platforms offer company solutions. BetterUp provides business coaching with data and reporting. Positive Intelligence offers team programs that create shared language and tools for better teamwork and performance.

Which Solution Delivers on Your Goals?

The choice depends on what type of growth you’re seeking. Do you want custom coaching for your current problems? Or do you want mental fitness training for lasting change?

BetterUp provides choice in expert coaching made for your specific needs. It offers ongoing support through certified coaches and AI tools. It focuses on career growth and behavior change.

Positive Intelligence offers a science-backed mental fitness program. It finds your specific stress-causing patterns and strengthens your mental fitness. It provides clear training with real results, group learning, and ongoing coach support within a proven system.

If your goal is to build lasting mental strength that improves how you handle problems from the inside out, Positive Intelligence offers a clear, proven path to get there.

Ready to understand what’s really causing your stress? Take the free Saboteur Assessment to find your specific mental patterns. Then explore how the PQ Program can help you build lasting mental strength.

Explore Our Programs

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