What Are Your Character Strengths and Why Would You Care? From: https://www.everydaysuccess.com/everyday-life/single/what-are-yourcharacter-strengths-and-why-would-you-care Every one of us has signature strengths. The question, how are you using yours? At our very core, we each have our own set of strengths. These strengths play an important role in our daily lives. Usually, we feel energized and satisfied when we use our strengths. In fact, research shows that our greatest successes are the result of our using our unique strengths. What do we know about strengths? We know that many companies now use strengths training. We know that character strengths are universal and scientific. In other words, research conducted all over the world shows that humans share the same basic character strengths. It doesn’t matter where you live, there are 24 character strengths humans share. The difference is how much we have of the strengths. The VIA Character Strengths The Character Strengths test identifies our strongest and weakest character attributes. Developed by Martin Seligman and Christ Peterson, the Character Strengths are shared by humans the world over. What Can You Expect When You Use Your Strengths? Whether we are able to name our signature strengths or not, we are naturally motivated to use our greatest assets. The Seligman and Peterson research shows that when using your strengths, you can expect to experience: • • •
Increased happiness at home and at work. A sense of ownership and authenticity while using the strength. A rapid learning curve when using the strength.
Your top strengths, typically your top five, are considered your signature strengths. Nurturing your strengths is shown to be both energizing and satisfying. Nurturing your strengths is linked to increased happiness.