Photo by ChristySherrer
Do you find life exhausting and frustrating? Or is it easy and exhilarating? The difference between the two experiences may hinge on something simple: whether or not your life is aligned to your signature strengths.

Signature strengths are the things we like doing and are good at. For example, I love learning; it excites me!

We find more happiness and satisfaction in our life if it is aligned with our signature strengths.

Imagine for a moment that your top signature strength was curiosity. You would be interested in how things work and would happily spend hours tinkering in a shed, taking things apart and putting them together again. What kind of job would make you happy? Maybe being an inventor, or a repair-person. You would happily pour over the bit that doesn’t function, forget about lunch, and wonder, “Why doesn’t the bl..dy thing work?”

But put you in a highly constrained job as a store manager or as a factory worker at a conveyor belt and you would be unhappy and unfulfilled.

In the following, you’ll find Martin Seligman’s 24 signature strengths. When you consider the various signature strengths, take note of the ones where you immediately think, ‘Yep, that’s me!’.

I’ll tell you at the end of this post which are my signature strengths (as well as my signature weaknesses…)

Which description in the following list fits the real You?

1. Love of Learning

You love learning new things, whether you are in a class or on your own. You find opportunities to learn wherever you go and what ever you do.

2. Bravery (valor)

You don’t shrink from threat, challenge, difficulty, or pain. You speak up for what is right even if you encounter opposition and act on convictions even if they are unpopular.

3. Vitality (zest, enthusiasm, vigor, energy)

You approach life with zest, enthusiasm, and energy - For you, life is an adventure.

4. Leadership

You excel at the tasks of leadership: encouraging a group to get things done and preserving harmony within the group by making everyone feel included.

5. Appreciation of beauty and excellence (awe, wonder, elevation)

You notice and appreciate beauty, excellence, and skilled performance in all domains of life.

6. Humor (playfulness)

You like to laugh and tease. You try to see the light side of all situations.

7. Creativity (originality, ingenuity)

Thinking of new ways to do things is a crucial part of who you are. You are never content with doing something the conventional way if a better way is possible.

8. Curiosity (interest, novelty-seeking, openness to experience)

You take an interest in all of ongoing experience for its own sake. You find subjects and topics fascinating, and love exploring and discovering.

9. Open-mindedness (judgment, critical thinking)

You tend to think things through and examine them from all sides. You don’t jump to conclusions and are able to change your mind in light of evidence.

10. Perspective (wisdom)

You are able to provide wise counsel to others. You have ways of looking at the world that make sense to yourself and to other people.

11. Persistence (perseverance, industriousness)

You work hard to finish what you start. No matter what the project is, you get it done in time.

12. Integrity [authenticity, honesty]

You are an honest person, not only by speaking the truth but by living your life in a genuine and authentic way.

13. Love

You value close relations with others. The people to whom you feel most close are the same people who feel most close to you.

14. Kindness (generosity, nurturance, care, compassion, altruistic love, “niceness”)

You are kind and generous to others, and you are never too busy to do a favour.

15. Social Intelligence (emotional intelligence, personal intelligence)

You are aware of the motives and feelings of other people. You know what to do to fit in to different social situations, and you know what to do to put others at ease.

16. Fairness

Treating all people fairly is one of your most important principles. You do not let your personal feelings bias your decisions about other people.

17. Gratitude

You are aware of the good things that happen to you, and you never take them for granted. You always take the time to express your thanks.

18. Hope [optimism, future-mindedness, future orientation]

You expect the best in the future, and you work to achieve it. You believe that the future is something that you can control.

19. Spirituality [religiousness, faith, purpose]

You have strong and coherent beliefs about the higher purpose and meaning of the universe.

20. Forgiveness and mercy

You forgive those who have done you wrong. Your guiding principle is mercy and not revenge.

21. Self-regulation [self-control]

You regulate what you feel and what you do. You are a disciplined person.

22. Citizenship [social responsibility, loyalty, teamwork]

You excel as a member of a group. You are a loyal and dedicated teammate.

23. Humility/Modesty

You do not seek the spotlight, preferring to let your accomplishments speak for themselves. You do not regard yourself as special.

24. Prudence

You are a careful person. You do not say or do things that you might later regret.

These are all the 24 signature strengths according to Martin Seligman. You can take the signature strengths test here. (It’s a free online test but takes some time to do)

My top strengths are ‘Curiosity and interest in the world’,‘Love of learning’, and ‘Zest, enthusiasm, and energy’. I rate low on ‘Caution, prudence, and discretion’, ‘Citizenship, teamwork, and loyalty’, and ‘Modesty and humility’.

I think my life is well oriented towards my signature strengths. For sure that’s one reason I’m happy and content. Just imagine how unhappy I would be if I built my life around my signature weaknesses and was a politician or an accountant!

How about you?
What are your signature strengths and weaknesses?
Is your life aligned with your strengths?
If not, what would you need to change?

***
You might like to check out the following links:

• Secrets of Wellbeing Series — Part 1: Authentic Happiness
• Secrets of Wellbeing Series - Part 3: Future Happiness? Why We get it so Wrong.
• Authentic Happiness Coaching Newsletters (each issue focuses on one signature strength)
• Online Signature Strengths Test
• Beyond Authentic Happiness - 10 Reasons to Doubt Seligman

Photo by Eric R Ward
This is the first of a seven-part series on the Secrets of Wellbeing. The reason I’m launching into this series is because I’m excited about what is happening in the field of psychology and how new research supports ancient teachings.

A new direction called Positive Psychology has started to take centre stage. Instead of looking at problems and how to fix them, Positive Psychology investigates what allows us to experience life at its best. In this series I’ll discuss what we can learn from this research.

What is happiness?

This question is important for each of us because our view of happiness determines how we live our life.

As Martin Seligman points out in his book Authentic Happiness: Using the New Positive Psychology to Realize Your Potential for Lasting Fulfillment, there are three main ways how people view happiness. Read on to find out which one of these three ways describes the way you see happiness.

The Pleasant Life or the ‘life of enjoyment’

In this way of life we seek out pleasures and try to avoid pain. The great thing about this way of life is that we truly taste and enjoy the special moments. Like starting a powder run on a snowboard or sharing a laugh with your partner.

But there are some problems with this view of happiness. One is that pain is inevitable in life: relationships end, health can be precarious, and death is certain. This means that if we expect to gain happiness only from pleasure, we are ill equipped to deal with suffering.

The other problem is that the sum of our actual experiences, and how we judge those experiences in retrospect can be radically different. Seligman gives the following example:

When asked about a vacation - so he explains - you might answer, “It was great!”, even though the flow of experiences at the time may have been a series of unpleasant moments, such as sunburn, mosquito bites, upset stomach, scary situations, and a fear of blowing your budget.

I think the same goes for pleasant experiences. I don’t know how it is for you, but after about a week of lying about on a tropical beach I tend to get restless. I miss being creative and productive. So, even though there may be a constant flow of pleasant moments, my overall experience is that of feeling unfulfilled.

The Good Life, or the ‘life of engagement’

This is a life where we find out what our signature strengths are and shape our life accordingly. This leads to flow - which means that we are at one with ourselves. When this happens, time stops. We feel at home, and self-consciousness fades away.

But even when we develop flow, there can be moments when it isn’t enough. We see time leaking away and begin to wonder, “Is this all there is to life? Or is there more?”

The Meaningful Life, or ‘life of affiliation’

This way of life means using your signature strength in the service of something that you believe is larger than you are. As Martin Seligman says, “Joining and serving in things larger than you that you believe in while using your highest strengths is a recipe for meaning.” If you live life like this, you leave a legacy.

What legacy will you leave?

I’m sure you will appreciate that each of these different views of happiness can shape our life in a particular way.

Authentic happiness is made up of all these three strands.

You might like to look at how these three strands play out in your life. Are they in balance? Is one of them stronger than the rest?

What are your thoughts on happiness? I’d be interested to know.

***

Check out the following posts in the ‘Secrets of Wellbeing’ series:

Secrets of Wellbeing Series - Part 2: What are Your Signature Strengths?
Secrets of Wellbeing Series - Part 3: Future Happiness? Why We get it so Wrong

This post was written by Mary Jaksch

Check out Mary’ s guest post at Write to Done: Juicy Writing: 5 Ways to Glue Reader to the Page