Live through your strengths to create happiness
Stress for Success
June 12, 2007

I'm very grateful for my blessed life, which is full of loving relationships, adventure, and a fascinating career. Taking the "VIA Signature Strengths Test" at the Authentic Happiness web site (http://www.authentichappiness.sas.upenn.edu) explained why my life is so good.

This test measures 24 character strengths; from humor to humility. It's part of Positive Psychology (PP), which researches mental health vs. mental illness. To create authentic happiness PP tells us to live our lives through our natural strengths vs. fixing our weaknesses.

My test results show that my life choices are an expression of my five top strengths: genuineness, curiosity and interest in the world, capacity to love and be loved, gratitude, and perseverance. (Other character strengths measured include, optimism, open-mindedness, leadership, fairness, spirituality, forgiveness, bravery, kindness, plus eleven more.)

A high “curiosity and interest in the world” score means “always asking questions, finding subjects/topics fascinating, and liking exploration and discovery”. This helps explain why, at the age of 22, I joined the Peace Corps for 2 ½ years and why I chose the career of public speaking. My “genuineness” high score may explain why customers consistently tell me that my presentations are so practical.

My high “capacity to love and be loved” score must have something to do with being happily married for 29 years and having a large and loving circle of friends.

Interestingly at the bottom of my strengths were “modesty” and “teamwork”. These also make sense regarding my career choices (and maybe my willingness to share my character strengths with you!);
§ Too much modesty would make for a boring speaker.
§ My profession is largely a solitary one, which is fine because I don’t crave teamwork in an office environment. I'm happy as a clam working mostly by myself.

To increase your own happiness PP says to follow the following three paths. It’s better if you pursue all of them:
1) Do more of what gives you pleasure and/or joy
2) Immerse yourself in your passions
3) Live a meaningful life

Go to the above web site and take their tests to discover how to become happier. Your honest responses will lead to valuable feedback on your strengths and vulnerabilities.

Then follow PP’s advice: compensate for your weaknesses that interfere with happiness with your character strengths. For instance,
§ If you work alone but “teamwork” is one of your highest scores you’d probably be happier working with others.
§ If your “kindness” score is high but you aren’t giving a lot of energy to others, you may feel unmotivated.
§ Look for any way to live your strengths. “Catching people doing something right” can express a high “gratitude” score, as would daily acknowledging all that you’re grateful for.

Proactively increase the expression of your strongest character strengths while letting go of striving to improve upon your imperfections, which can be very difficult. It’s much easier and far more fun to express your strengths, which increases your energy, which increases your hope and motivation to continue making these easier changes. How can you lose with this formula?

Jacquelyn Ferguson, M. S., of InterAction Associates, is a trainer and a Stress Coach. E-mail her at www.jackieferguson.com with your questions or for information about her workshops on this and other topics and to invite her to speak to your organization.