To reap the benefits of learning to use your signature strengths, use them every day. The benefits of increased positivity make it worthwhile to consciously take steps to discover and use your signature strengths.
Do you feel stuck, living a middling life, getting by OK but not thriving? Or are you excited to get up in the morning, looking forward to a day of meaningful and enjoyable activity? You have a choice. Will you choose the downward spiral that leads to languishing and worse? Or will you choose to take the upward path, an upward spiral to help you flourish?
Research shows a correlation between feeling grateful and overall life satisfaction. Expressing gratitude is one of the surest ways to increase your positivity and well-being. In addition, you’ll improve the well-being of others when you express your thanks to them.
Financial investing is important to your well-being and contributes to positivity levels up to a certain point. Just as important, perhaps more so, is to make investments into your relationships. In fact, having strong, healthy relationships is one of the pillars of well-being.
“Of all the virtues we can learn no trait is more useful, more essential for survival, and more likely to improve the quality of life than the ability to transform adversity into an enjoyable challenge.”
The character strengths comprise 24 positive human traits that have been recognized as desirous across cultures, religions, and philosophies. We all have all 24 of the traits in varying degrees, which gives each of us a unique strengths profile. Experience the enhanced positivity and well-being of putting your strengths to use.
Developing nurturing relationships can be learned and improved upon, like any other skill. Practice these skills for nurturing relationships to deepen your important ties to others.
Excelerated Positivity™ embraces the concept of PERMA, Martin Seligman’s Theory of Well-Being. One of the pillars of well-being is Meaning. As you begin to bring Meaning into your life, you can use Dr. Paul Wong’s concept of PURE (Purpose, Understanding, Responsible action, and Enjoyment) as a structure for Meaning.
You have the power to positively influence your well-being by focusing on your character strengths. Developing and using your Signature Strengths increases happiness, improves relationships, and builds resilience – the ability to recover quickly from setbacks when things don’t go as planned. Weaknesses need to be corrected focusing on weaknesses is the hard way to grow. Focus on using our strengths contributes to well-being and flourishing.
Flourishing is not dependent on the weather, the current political environment, or one’s wealth and status. Flourishing isn’t dependent on any external factors at all. Aiming for a ratio of 3 positive experiences to 1 negative experience is the path to flourishing and for effectively dealing with whatever comes our way.
TheExceleratedLife.com
The Covid-19 pandemic. Unemployment. The economy in shambles. Increased violence. Injustice for many of our brothers and sisters. Leadership crises.
Some lucky souls are blessed with naturally sunny, positive dispositions. But what about the rest of us? Well, as William Arthur Ward stated, “Happiness is an inside job.” Research in the field of Positive Psychology has shown that we have a fairly large influence (about 40%) over our own level of happiness. That’s right. There are things you can do . . . today . . . that can measurably improve your feelings of contentment and gratification. Here are 5 suggestions, to get you started.