Strengths in Action

Find the strengths that energize you, not just the things you're good at, and aim them at what matters now.

About 20 minutes · 5 parts

Why this works. Using your top strengths in new ways increased happiness and reduced depressive symptoms for six months in a randomized study (Seligman et al., 2005). Strengths research also separates true strengths, which energize you, from skills you're good at that quietly drain you (Linley, 2008). Most strength tests miss that difference.

Use real stories, not adjectives. Specific memories reveal more than self-descriptions.

Part 1Your peak moments

Pick three times you were at your best: fully engaged, effective, time flew. Work or life, any age.

The story (briefly)	What exactly I was doing	What it drew on in me

Part 2Find the pattern

1.What shows up in at least two of the three stories?

2.What do people consistently come to you for?

3.What did you do as a kid without anyone asking you to?

Part 3The energy test

Being good at something isn't the same as it being a strength. Sort honestly.

Skill or strength	Good at it? (Y/N)	Energizes or drains?	Category

How to sort: Good + energizes = core strength (use it more). Good + drains = learned behavior (use less, delegate). Not yet good + energizes = growth strength (develop it).

Part 4The overuse check

4.What does your top strength look like when it's overplayed? (Decisiveness becomes steamrolling. Empathy becomes over-accommodating. Rigor becomes perfectionism.)

5.Where is that happening in your life right now?

Part 5Aim it

6.Your biggest current challenge:

7.How could your core strength attack that challenge in a new way this week?

8.One learned behavior to delegate, reduce or stop:

Created by Dr. Jennifer Johnston-Jones, PhD, licensed psychologist. Educational exercise for personal growth, not a psychological test, diagnosis or treatment.Want to work through this together?
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