Discovering your Signature Strengths

According to Martin Seligman the founder of Positive Psychology and author of Learned Optimism and Authentic Happiness, we all have signature strengths. Our key to authentic happiness? Using our signature strengths.

How do you know what yours are? You can go to www.authentichappiness.org - link to authentic happiness website - and take the VIA Signature Strengths Survey to identify your signature strengths. You will find out which of the 24 strengths measured in the test are your top 5.

Here is what Dr. Seligman says about the three different forms of happiness you can pursue:

1. The Pleasant Life - you aim to have as much positive emotion as possible and learn skills to amplify positive emotion;

2. The Engaged Life - you identify your highest strengths and talents and recraft your life to use them as much as you can in work, love, friendship, parenting and leisure; and

3. The Meaningful Life - you use your highest strengths and talents to belong to and serve something you believe is larger than the self.

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