Most people know what they aren’t good at, but do you know your strengths?
Strengths are our best qualities and the core parts of our character. Finding out our strengths and learning to take advantage of them helps us improve our life. Playing to our strengths can make us better partners, parents, friends, family members and colleagues.
Research has shown that there are 24 different character strengths. Each of us has a unique constellation of these 24 strengths and psychologist’s will tell you that there are many benefits to discovering our strengths and using our top strengths in our everyday life. Most of us are quick to try and fix our faults, but imagine if instead we focused on doing more of what we are good at?
5 Benefits of investing in discovering our strengths
1. It increases our happiness
Trying to use our top strength in a new way has been linked to increases in happiness and decreases in depression that lasts 6 months!
2. It increases our well-being
Using our strengths is related to having higher levels of wellbeing. People who use their strengths generally have higher levels of positive mood as well as life satisfaction.
3. It can increase our engagement
People who use the strengths of hope, zest and curiosity are likely to live a life of engagement and be able to achieve flow (which is being completely involved in an activity or ‘being in the zone’)
4. You can find life more meaningful
People who use love and gratitude strengths find it easier to achieve a life full of meaning and purpose.
5. It can improve our relationships
Using your own strengths as well as supporting the strengths of your partner has been linked to relationship satisfaction in married couples.
Curious about your unique strengths? Take the VIA character strengths survey to find out your unique constellation of strengths. The character strengths survey takes less than 15 minutes and You can access the survey here https://www.viacharacter.org/www. Who wouldn’t want to live a better life?