Character strengths are those superpowers overflowing with antioxidants for our personal and professional life but also for our soul. We could all use these antioxidants to boost our self-esteem, know ourselves better, enhance the ones that are weak and apply them to moments of deep stress.
Positive Psychology was responsible for the identification of 24 top character strengths that all humans possess. Positive Psychology (PP) aims at building what’s right with people, unlike traditional psychology that focused on the mentally ill and what was wrong with them. PP is a is a breath of fresh air when there is so much negativity and drama in the world today. Let alone the negative chatter you tell yourself daily. PP’s extensive research led to pinpointing these 24 super antixiodants that we all possess, some in greater amounts than others. These 24 antioxidants or character strengths give us a very good idea of what we are about and how we can utilize these strengths in our lives. The beauty of this finding is that it’s presently being used not only in Positive Psychology coaching and therapy, but also at the workplace. This is a huge leap for the workforce. Knowing employees character strengths, companies can call upon certain individuals in situations that require a particular strength. Studies have shown that knowing these strengths also boost engagement and performance at work. Employees can also rely on each other according to their strengths. Kind of cool to walk into a company with a bulletin board pointing out the top 5-character strengths of the employees. Why would you have such a bulletin board? Besides boosting self-confidence at the workplace, it also helps bosses understand employees better. Let’s say you need an employee with prudence as a strength for an upcoming meeting with a very tough client, you thought of two employees that might be a good fit, but you can certify yourself further, by going to the bulletin board and picking which one has an overload of the prudence antioxidant. Recruiting that employee and letting them know that their prudence superpower is what the company needs for that tough upcoming meeting, will be a big plus. It is a win-win situation for all involved, the company knows exactly their employees’ strengths, and the employee feels confident he can take on the task, since he is working with his greatest strength.
On an individual basis, we all like to hear good things about ourselves, after all we spend most of our thoughts criticizing ourselves. For some of us we can become our greatest enemy. Character strengths emphasize what we are capable of. Knowing these personal qualities can lead to behavior changes and make us feel good with who we are and what we can become. These character antioxidants can also help us in a moment of stress. Asking ourselves, what top strength do I have, that could be useful to overcome or solve this stressful situation. It’s a no brainer that using them in this way boosts our resilience. Adding more conscious resilience to our human experience enhances our quality of life in all aspects, be those physical, emotional, mental, spiritual, and professional. Like the human eco-system that I describe in my coaching style. In addition, research has shown, that knowing character strengths has helped people with mental disabilities, depression, anxiety, and other conditions. Makes sense, right? After all, they are focusing on what is right with them.
Now brace yourself for the best news ever!!!! These superpowers are being taught in some schools around the world. Children and teens are assessed and shown their superpowers. Teaching how to apply them in the school environment, has been proven to improve school performance, not only at an academic level but on an emotional level. For example, children reading novels can identify the characters strengths of the characters in the book and relate them to their own. Some schools have incorporated them in physical education, helping students surpass certain physical barriers. The usage of these superpower antioxidants in schools is monumental and injects positivity into the learning environment, one that can be so daunting, and stressful at times. I wish I knew which superpower I had when I went to Math class in middle school. Maybe, I wouldn’t have felt I couldn’t do it. My math teacher could have said, “Mary your top strength is bravery, why don’t you use it now to keep trying?” Instead of him calling me stupid and throwing my math self-esteem out the door.
The best part of knowing your character strengths, is it that the ones that you are not so strong in, can be boosted up with super vitamins. These super vitamins are called interventions. Interventions are taught, not only to raise a strength that is on the lower end but also increase the higher ones. Remember we ALL have the 24, it doesn’t mean that you don’t have the lower ones, it just means that you utilize them less than the upper ones. The uppers ones should be seen as the values in your life, and these should empower you, in all situations of your life, whether good or bad. Once you start practicing character strength interventions, your strengths will shift position when you take a retest. This just means you are working on yourself and are infusing all your strengths with antioxidants. If you work with a Positive Psychology coach even better, they will keep you accountable to take your super vitamins! I test myself every 3 to 4 months, seeing where I am at and how much I have boosted or changed.
Ok, I hear you, you want to know your superpowers, your antioxidants? Right?
The Via Institute has made a questionnaire or test for FREE!!!!!! You take the test and boom you get the rank order of your results!!!! The great part is that you become one of the specimens of the pool of Positive Psychology research on character strengths. Go ahead, type away and find your superpowers. It’s very important to be truthful with your answers, not what you think you should answer, be honest. That way your true superpowers are revealed. Create a SPACE today to find out your strengths. Once you know them, try, and see during your day which ones you are using. When a difficult situation comes up, think of which one could get you past that situation. Pull out the strength you need for that haunting conversation with your boss or family member. There is an infinite number of possibilities in which to use your character strengths. Make SPACE in your life to do this, take your time to do the test, don’t rush. Work with a PP coach to dive deeper in this subject or just enjoy, and above all, have fun. You are a superhero with mega superpowers!!
Fun fact about me: Compassion always is on my top 10 no matter what interventions I do. Keeps me grounded when I encounter that tough person in my life, or when I make a mistake.
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