Whether you want to improve your job, your relationship, or your social life, identifying and using your character strengths will help. Recognizing and cultivating your character strengths will also improve your overall happiness.
What Are Character Strengths?
Over roughly the past 20 years, psychologists have changed their attention from focusing mostly on pathology to also attending to the factors that lead to mental health and wellbeing. The field that focuses on psychological flourishing is called Positive Psychology.
In their landmark work, Character Strengths and Virtues: A Handbook and Classification, positive psychologists Christopher Peterson and Martin Seligman identify 24 universal character strengths. Character strengths can be defined as valued personality traits that lead to both good behavior and personal flourishing.
These character strengths include: creativity, curiosity, judgment, love of learning, perspective, bravery, perseverance, honesty, zest, love, kindness, social intelligence, teamwork, fairness, leadership, forgiveness, humility, prudence, self-regulation, appreciation of beauty and excellence, gratitude, hope, humor, and spirituality.
Underline the strengths that you recognize in yourself in the list above and then try to pick your top 3-7 character strengths.
Peterson and Seligman stipulate that most people have 3-7 core character or “signature” strengths. Identifying and applying your signature strengths can increase happiness, pleasure, engagement, and meaning in your life. Cultivating signature strengths can improve your life across a variety of fronts.
Career Fulfillment
Identifying and using your signature character strengths at work leads to greater job satisfaction and meaning at work. In fact, if you can find the right congruence between your character strengths and those demanded at the workplace, you might even find your calling.
Research shows that those who work in positions that allowed them to apply one or more of their signature strengths were more likely to find their work satisfying. In fact, if you can apply up to five signature strengths at work, you might find work even more satisfying (satisfaction ceases at the application of five signature strengths, so you don’t necessarily need to worry about applying all seven if you have that many). It’s crucial to ensure that you can apply your strengths at your specific job not that the company values certain strengths.
If you’re struggling to find satisfaction at work, consider taking the VIA survey and seeing if your day-to-day tasks invite you to apply your signature strengths. Knowing your signature strengths and finding an occupation in which you can practice them might improve your life satisfaction.
Conclusion
We often focus on deficits, weaknesses and problems, I invite you to shift to focusing on your strengths and the strengths of those around you. Remember your signature strengths and use them to build yourself up.
Explore the Values in Action articles for more ideas about how you can use character strengths to improve your life. Once you’ve taken the Values in Action Survey, you might find it helpful to discuss with your therapist how to incorporate these strengths into your work and life to maximize your own wellbeing.
Mind Body Seven clinicians offer treatment in Brooklyn and via teletherapy for adolescents and adults. If have not worked with us and want to get started please contact us here, so we can set you up with the clinicians that best suit your individual needs. If you are an existing patient get in touch with us here to set up your next appointment.
