Strengths Spotting
Strengths Spotting
Recognize and celebrate the good in ourselves and in others.
What Are Strengths?
Character strengths are things that come to us easily— things we might not even recognize as strengths because they have always been our natural way of being. Learning to recognize these strengths in ourselves and others offers a proven path to improving wellbeing and enhancing relationships.
Recognizing Strengths in Ourselves
1. Learn about your strengths.
There are many frameworks for identifying strengths. One of our favorites is the VIA Institute Character Strengths Survey, which outlines 24 strengths:
These strengths can be influenced by our natural programming, our lived experiences, and our personal interests. Character strengths are relatively stable, though we can develop desired strengths over time.
2. Identify where you are already using your strengths.
At the end of the day try this reflection:
When did I feel most energized today?
What was I doing that made me feel that way?
When was I performing my best?
Did anyone give me feedback (directly or indirectly, as through positive laughter or casual praise) about something I was doing well?
At work, during which tasks did I feel most engaged?
3. Brainstorm ways to use your top strengths more often
After you’ve taken the VIA strengths finder test (or a similar test), check out this creative and comprehensive list of 365 ways to use each of the 24 character strengths.
4. Identify ways to use your strengths for unpleasant tasks, for example:
Love of Learning/Curiosity: Use dead waiting time (the DMV, the doctor’s office) to intentionally learn something new, perhaps with the use of an app.
Perspective: Write about the meaning that can be found in chaotic or undesirable life events, or what you can learn from daily struggles.
Humor: Figure out how to use humor to connect with colleagues or family members you struggle to connect with (though be sure to gauge receptivity and appropriateness so as not to unintentionally offend anyone.)
Recognizing Strengths in Others
Training our brains to notice and acknowledge what other people are good at, whether our children, friends, spouses, or colleagues, can draw us closer in relationships, and enhance shared work outcomes. In the beginning, you might make a practice of writing down things you noticed in others throughout the day. As you become more skilled in noticing strengths, you might start to reflect out loud about them in real-time.
What to Look for:
When do others excel?
When do they seem most engaged or excited?
When do things seem to come easily to them?
When do others stand out from the crowd?
When do others learn quickly?
What do others do well, even if they are stressed?
What to say:
I see such _______________ strength in you!
Has anyone ever told you that ______________?
I noticed ______________ and I thought it had a positive impact on _______________.
It’s so great the way you’re able to ___________.
I’ve noticed ____________ is a strength of yours.
You really have a talent for __________.
Notes from the science of wellbeing:
There have been numerous studies about the VIA Character Strengths as they relate to wellbeing.
Zest, hope, gratitude, love, and curiosity frequently emerge with the highest correlations with life satisfaction (VIA Institute, 2020).
One study compared each of the character traits with the five dimensions of well-being (PERMA) and found that zest, hope, creativity, curiosity, love, kindness, curiosity, perspective, perspective, and perseverance had the strongest association with wellbeing. (Wagner et al., 2019).
The strongest relationships with happiness were zest, hope, curiosity, and love. The strengths that seemed to be the most malleable were humor, spirituality, and prudence (Gander et al., 2019).
Strengths-based parenting has been shown to have a significant positive effect on the academic achievement, engagement, and perseverance of teens (Waters, Loton, & Jach, 2019).
Further Reading:
Full research from VIA Character Institute: https://www.viacharacter.org/research/findings
More on Strengths-based parenting: https://www.strengthsbasedparenting.com/home.aspx