I enjoy bringing my strengths to my work. I express my curiosity as I open up each new e-mail message, I express hope as I help clients work through struggles, and I express love (warmth and genuineness) with my colleagues as we discuss new ideas and process daily work happenings. This fills me with a greater passion and commitment to my work.

How about you? Do you express your highest character strengths each day at your job?

The research has been clear:

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Following the bombings in Boston, people rallied in bunches, offering support and care. The Red Cross received so much help they had to turn people away. Stories of bravery and kindness flooded the news and social media. Such expression of character is not an isolated event. People similarly rallied after 9/11, after recent natural disasters, and after tragic mass shootings.

Said another way, people are touched by the suffering of others and then take action. This action involves the expression of their own character strengths (e.g., kindness, leadership, bravery) to bring benefit to others.

Research has documented how tragedy seems to elevate what is best in us.

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[Spoiler alert: Please be forewarned that I reveal some key plot developments of the popular novel, Gone Girl]

As I read Gillian Flynn’s bestselling book, Gone Girl, I was not expecting to learn much about positive psychology but instead to learn more about what is often discussed in regard to this book – the mind of the psychopath.

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What are your strengths?

What is best about you?

What qualities make up who you are?

Too many times in my work as a clinical psychologist these questions would be met by blank stares from the person in front of me. And, when the question was answered at all, the response was something vague like “I like baseball” or “I’m good at cooking.” This is consistent with survey research that has found that 2/3 of people do not have a meaningful awareness of their strengths.

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Strengths-spotting is one of the best, initial activities that deepens our understanding of our strengths and the strengths of others.

There are 2 general levels to strengths-spotting:

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Just in time for 2013! Looking for a New Year’s resolution? Feeling a holiday lull? Wanting to increase your happiness?

New research from the science of positive psychology has found a number of practical exercises you can do to boost your happiness and decrease your depression.

Choose one of the following 7 exercises and practice it for 1 week:

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Imagine this conversation between you and your child, who has just come home from school:

“Mommy, mommy, guess what?”

“What, sweetheart?”

“I used bravery and perseverance today!”

“You did?”

“Yeah, our teacher gave us a really hard project today in science class. At first I was scared and didn’t want to do it but then I decided to use my strengths.”

“What did you do?”

“I used my bravery to start working on the project and then I just keep going and going until it was done. And my teacher gave me a gold star for working so hard!”

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It was 6:58 PM on Tuesday October, 26, 2010 when I realized I just wanted to be myself. At that moment, I realized that I just couldn’t be anyone else.

LeighAndria Young, student and poet
School for the Creative and Performing Arts
Cincinnati, Ohio

These are the refreshing words of high school student, LeighAndria Young, that describe her shift toward a deeper self-acceptance of who she is. She embraces all her inner qualities – her strengths and foibles – realizing that it is her uniqueness and her capacity to “just be” that is most crucial in life.

Watch a 3-minute video of LeighAndria performing her poem, “6:58,” at this link here.

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Picture this: I’m on the edge of my seat (literally) in a crowded movie theater viewing Ben Affleck’s new film Argo, currently the number one film in the U.S. The audience and I are captivated by the story of Tony Mendez, a CIA agent’s desperate attempt in 1980 to save the lives of six hostages from a revolutionary Iran. Mendez’s creative idea of pretending to make a movie in Iran becomes the only hope of saving the hostages.

The intensity is riveting. All of the viewer’s attention focuses on what might be the next plot development – will the hostages make it through the airport checkpoints? What obstacles will they face next? How can they possibly overcome them?

But then I reflected more deeply: What really matters most in terms of this story as it unfolds before me? What I found surprised me.

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Just a month ago the VIA Institute on Character launched a new survey that asked people what character strengths are essential in a great President. The survey then invited the user to rate the character strengths of the Presidential candidates.

The results are in!…just in time for Election Day. I’ll start with the conclusions and then offer more details.

Conclusions:

1. Regardless of political affiliation or preference in this election, the top 4 character strengths of the “ideal President” are:

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