Saturday, April 16, 2005

VIA Signature Strengths

A while ago I took the VIA Signature Strengths survey (It will ask you to register and log in, but it's free and they don't spam you). Apparently people who use their signature strengths on a regular basis tend to be happier.

My signature strengths are as follows:
  1. Modesty and humility: You do not seek the spotlight, preferring to let your accomplishments speak for themselves. You do not regard yourself as special, and others recognize and value your modesty. (100th percentile)
  2. Love of learning: You love learning new things, whether in a class or on your own. You have always loved school, reading, and museums-anywhere and everywhere there is an opportunity to learn. (97th percentile)
  3. Caution, prudence, and discretion: You are a careful person, and your choices are consistently prudent ones. You do not say or do things that you might later regret. (97th percentile)
  4. Judgment, critical thinking, and open-mindedness: Thinking things through and examining them from all sides are important aspects of who you are. You do not jump to conclusions, and you rely only on solid evidence to make your decisions. You are able to change your mind. (87th percentile)
  5. Creativity, ingenuity, and originality: 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. (82nd percentile)
This is a good picture of my inner self, especially if you look at the full results for all 24 strengths (which I stored in my LJ if anyone cares). The problem is that you have to use your signature strengths, and many of mine are things that I cannot deliberately use. I can use my love of learning, and I can sometimes use my creativity, although more often it just jumps out at unexpected moments with random ideas that are of little to no use in real life. However, humility, prudence and critical thinking are all things that are just there. I can no more deliberately use them than I can deliberately choose to inhale oxygen and exhale carbon dioxide. In fact, I wouldn't say I even use them, they're just there, part of my self, just like my arachnophobia and my night-owl tendencies and my introversion and my unconscious devoicing of final consonants. I did read the relevant parts of the book, but they don't say anything about HOW one goes about applying these strengths.

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