VIA Character Strengths

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I am taking a series of classes on Coursera “The Foundations of Positive Psychology” by Martin Seligman. As a part of the course, I completed the VIA total 24 strengths quiz. It’s like a personality quiz. It is very interesting and insightful, and fun. Here’s where you can take it (free):

Personality Test, Personality Assessment: VIA Survey | VIA Institute (viacharacter.org)

It is so very interesting, I recommend you try it. Here are my top five character strengths:

1. Love HUMANITY Valuing close relations with others, in particular those in which sharing & caring are reciprocated; being close to people. 2. Love of Learning WISDOM Mastering new skills, topics, and bodies of knowledge, whether on one's own or formally; related to the strength of curiosity but goes beyond it to describe the tendency to add systematically to what one knows. 3. Appreciation of Beauty & Excellence TRANSCENDENCE Noticing and appreciating beauty, excellence, and/or skilled performance in various domains of life, from nature to art to mathematics to science to everyday experience. 4. Gratitude TRANSCENDENCE Being aware of and thankful for the good things that happen; taking time to express thanks. 5. Social Intelligence HUMANITY Being aware of the motives/feelings of others and oneself; knowing what to do to fit into different social situations; knowing what makes other people tick

Now, having these in my arsenal I can leverage them to make my life better. My first three were tied. I am a loving, emotional person so it makes sense to have love first. My loving relationships are what are most important in my world. The only one that was unexpected to me was the last one, “Social Intelligence” since I am one of the least social people I know. It is true that I have a natural sense of “reading a room” and I can pick up on how other people are feeling, and I’m a good listener. Gratitude is important in my life, too, and it is something that I have been developing for a long time. It does really shape your life when you have gratitude for what you have and how your life is. I write down three little gratitudes or blessings of the day each evening before I sleep. Appreciation of beauty and excellence comes out in my appreciation for great writing and art and music. I also get struck dumb sometimes at the beauty of nature, sometimes a simple little flower can produce a sense of awe in me. And love of learning shows in my class taking, and when I am curious about something I take the time to look it up. I often read books about subjects I find interesting.

I encourage you to take the quiz. It shows you all 24 strengths and the ranking of them in you. The bottom ones for me are Leadership, Perseverance, and Self-Regulation. It knows me so well LOL.

So tell me below, did you take the quiz? Did you discover anything new or insightful about yourself? What are your top five, and do they make sense to you?