If you want the greatest sense of fulfillment and the most satisfying feelings of accomplishment without working eighty hour weeks, build each and every day around those capabilities at which you excel. And don’t only do this at work, but weave your strengths into every aspect of your life.
How do we best grow, by working on our weaknesses or building on our strengths? Research indicates we’re happier and more
productive capitalizing on our strengths. This contradicts most management practices for annual reviews, but don’t look for corporations to change their emphasis. More on that in a later article.
We’ve all had the wonderful experience of spending hours at some task, but thinking only a matter of minutes had elapsed. This is often called flow in psychological literature. Our ideas, thoughts, and creativity simply flow out as if from a fountain of wisdom. We effortlessly apply ourselves to the task at hand, forgetting to eat, sleep, and rest. We simply lose track of time. What a wonderful feeling, to accomplish a task with near effortless application.
When this occurs, when you’re in the flow of energy and ideas you’re likely using your top strengths. Your top strengths, called signature strengths in the field of positive psychology, are not just abilities and competencies. Your top strengths are those abilities at which you excel. Though we all have dozens, if not hundreds of abilities, we have only a handful of abilities at which we excel.
When we use these top strengths we are at our very best. We do the best work, we’re most creative, and we get the greatest satisfaction and fulfillment from what we’re doing.
When we integrate our top strengths into every thread of the fabric of daily life, our lives are very, very good. Those people
you admire who seem to excel in life with little effort and great satisfaction are doing so by capitalizing on their top strengths. They’re integrating their unique abilities into their work and play, into every aspect of their lives. And so can you.
But first you must identify these top strengths and fully understand how they can contribute to your life. My favorite means of identification is the VIA Signature Strength Questionnaire available at the University of Pennsylvania Positive Psychology research site. Register with an email address and spend ten to fifteen minutes responding on-line to the questionnaire.
Your personalized results will list your top five strengths, called signature strengths, with a percentage number that relates your score on this strength to a very large population. The questionnaire has been validated in many countries and across multiple cultures. I think you’ll find the results enlightening, if not surprising.
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If you would like some assistance at understanding the results of the VIA Questionnaire or at how to integrate this information into your life, send this email. If enough people are interested I’ll set up a free or very low cost group coaching session.
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Of course you know that you’re good at certain things, but it’s difficult to recognize our own top strengths in comparison to others. This assessment does that very well. Along with your five signature strengths you’ll also find your position on nineteen additional characteristics.
Validate the results for yourself. Take each of the five strengths and reflect on how often you use it, how much you enjoy using it, and the results you usually achieve when using it. If one or more of the identified strengths don’t pass your careful reflection, simply cross it off your list. It’s possible that one of the next few strengths on the list should be elevated to take its place.
Now comes the fun part. Creatively apply yourself to incorporating each of your top strengths into each and every day–at home, at work, and at play. At first glance you might think your job is too restrictive, or home responsibilities prevent it, but focus on finding a way to utilize each strength each day.
When you do, life gets better. Life is easier, more satisfying, and more fun. And you’ll be amazed at how much you can do and the quality of your accomplishments.
Though comments are closed, I’d love to hear about your own experiences with your top strengths. Send your story, I’ll feature the top stories in a later article.
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