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January 28 - July 10, 2020
Some people use so much perseverance in order to keep a relationship going that they don’t realize the relationship is toxic or simply no longer viable.
When you are honest, you speak the truth. More broadly, you present yourself in a genuine and sincere way, without pretense, and taking responsibility for your feelings and actions.
Each step of the way on your honesty journey, you have a companion strength in the passenger seat. That strength is kindness.
Zest means approaching a situation, or life in general, with excitement and energy, not approaching tasks or activities halfway or halfheartedly. People who are high in zest are excited to get up in the morning, and they live their lives like an adventure.
Zest is often connected with feeling you have found a “calling” in life, often in your work.
Less than 5,000 steps per day is considered a sedentary lifestyle, while more than 10,000 steps per day is considered an active lifestyle.
Love as a character strength, rather than as an emotion, refers to the degree to which you value close relationships with people, and contribute to that closeness in a warm and genuine way.
Love is reciprocal, referring to both loving others and the willingness to accept love from others.
Kindness is being generous with others, giving your time, money, and talent to support those who are in need.
Kindness is being compassionate,
Kindness is also being nurturing and caring to others—to
Kindness can be distinguished from love in that the character strength of love has more to do with intimate relationships, whereas kindness is a more general strength, involving reaching out to positively impact people beyond your close circle.
When a person knows what makes other people tick, he or she is displaying social intelligence.
Fairness is treating people justly, not letting your personal feelings bias your decisions about others.
As a character strength, leadership refers to the tendency to organize and encourage a group to get things done, while maintaining good relations within the group.
The best leaders are self-aware. They recognize their top character strengths and how to use
Its goal is to be sensitive to “small l” leadership, which is everyday leadership, sometimes informal, and is involved in directing and guiding any kind of group.
Said simply, forgiveness protects us from hate, humility protects us from arrogance, prudence protects us from bad choices, and self-regulation protects us from an undisciplined life.
Forgiveness means to extend understanding toward those who have wronged or hurt us. It means to let go.
In many ways, forgiveness is a healing character strength, not only for the person forgiven but oftentimes even more so for the person doing the forgiving.
Humility means accurately evaluating your accomplishments. It’s easy to describe what humility is not—it is not bragging, not doing things in excess, not seeking the spotlight, not drawing attention to yourself, not viewing yourself as more special or important than others.
Prudence means being careful about your choices, stopping and thinking before acting. It is a strength of restraint.
Self-regulation is a complex character strength. It has to do with controlling your appetites and emotions, and regulating what you do.
Appreciation of beauty and excellence involves noticing and appreciating beauty, uniqueness, virtue, skill, and the exceptional in everyday life.
In other words, this strength is about not taking things for granted; it is about valuing what is distinctive and special.
The character strength of gratitude involves feeling and expressing a deep sense of thankfulness in life, and more specifically, taking the time to genuinely express thankfulness to others.
The character strength of hope has to do with positive expectations about the future. It involves optimistic thinking and focusing on good things to come.
Humor means to recognize what is amusing in situations, and to offer the lighter side to others. Humor is an important lubricant to social interactions, and can contribute to team building or moving toward group goals.
Some of these include meaning, purpose, life calling, beliefs about the universe, the expression of virtue/goodness, and practices that connect with the transcendent. Spirituality has been defined consistently by scientists as the search for or connection with “the sacred.”
One need not be religious to be deeply spiritual; it is also common to be religious but not particularly spiritual.
And here lies the problem. Religiousness is about spirituality, and without it, it becomes a set of dry acts of worship that is practiced for conformity more than for meaningful living.
Strengths Builder is a more structured approach to appreciating and developing your character strengths. The goal is to apply the strengths to create a more thriving life.
To thrive is to function at our best, making the most of opportunities and learning from and managing adversities. It means you are creating opportunities and positive experiences while handling difficulties with resilience.
It is your practice. We’re not saying you will ever reach perfection in your use of the strengths; we’re saying that the more you practice using your strengths effectively and thoughtfully (mindfully), the more naturally strengths use will come to you.
The four steps are: 1. Recognizing and appreciating strengths in others. 2. Exploring and using your signature strengths. 3. Applying your strengths to life challenges. 4. Making strengths a habit.
Most people find it easier to spot strengths in others than in themselves. It is a simple and energizing experience for both the spotter and the receiver when you share what you have observed with them.
While the number of signature strengths can vary between people, a general rule of thumb is to target your top five, but the actual number can vary from four to seven.
It is important to remember that the VIA Survey is measuring strengths. Lower scores on these strengths just means less reliance on that strength, not a personal weakness.
How might you take action? A number of research studies have shown that a beneficial way to take action is to use your signature strengths in a new way each day—to expand the use of your signature strengths.
Make a list of goals you would like that involve making improvements on your strengths awareness and use.
Implementation intentions have to do with anticipating both opportunities and obstacles that can arise while you’re pursuing your goal. Are there things that may happen that will make it easier to achieve your goal, or things that will make it harder?
Implementation intentions are “if-then” plans that spell out in advance how you will respond when good or bad things come up as you move toward your goal.
