What are your signature strengths?

What are your greatest strengths, and how can you make the most of them?

Are you socially intelligent? A critical thinker? Are you someone who perseveres?  Do you bring people together?  How do you regard honesty, fairness, spirituality and love?

The VIA Institute on Character has created a list of 24 signature strengths, grouped into six categories called “virtues” -- the Virtue of Wisdom, of Courage, of Humanity, of Justice, of Temperance and of Transcendence (see below for details). And the Institute’s primary goal is simple: to help you create the best life possible by understanding, and accessing, your greatest strengths.  They offer a fascinating (and free) online survey (www.viacharacter.org), which has been taken by more than 1.3 million people worldwide.  The survey is currently offered in 17 languages.

Explains the Institute: “We aim to fill the world with greater virtue – more wisdom, courage, humanity, justice, temperance and transcendence.” If you take the survey, it will reveal your top five, then share specific recommendations on how best to implement those in your life.

Writing for www.psychcentral.com earlier this year, author and psychologist Ryan Niemiec pointed out that “It’s all too common for people to underuse their strengths.”  One of Niemiec’s examples was particularly powerful. Said Niemiec:

“Janet discovered her highest strength is prudence. Prudence gets a bad rap. It is often lumped with being a ‘prude’ or someone who doesn’t have fun. In reality, prudence can be seen as ‘cautious wisdom,’ thinking before one speaks, and being careful about one’s choices.

“All her life, Janet had beaten herself up for not being enough of a risk-taker, not living life fully, and always holding back when new situations arose. But, when viewed as her signature strength, it turns out prudence has served her well. Janet is a successful businesswoman and project manager and sees how this naturally-occurring prudence strength has helped her become who she is today. She is conscientious, goal-oriented, and is well-organized – all common characteristics of a prudent person.

“Janet realized that she actually had been living life fully and did take risks, but her approach was to give pause to reflect a bit before taking action. Seeing this, her appreciation for herself deepened.”

Below are the Institute's 24 signature strengths:

The Virtue of Wisdom
· Creativity: original, adaptive, ingenuity
· Curiosity: interest, novelty-seeking, exploration, openness to experience
· Judgment: critical thinking, thinking things through, open-minded
· Love of Learning: mastering new skills & topics, systematically adding to knowledge
· Perspective: wisdom, providing wise counsel, taking the big picture view

The Virtue of Courage
· Bravery: valor, not shrinking from fear, speaking up for what’s right
· Perseverance: persistence, industry, finishing what one starts
· Honesty: authenticity, integrity
· Zest: vitality, enthusiasm, vigor, energy, feeling alive and activated

The Virtue of Humanity
· Love: both loving and being loved, valuing close relations with others
· Kindness: generosity, nurturance, care, compassion, altruism, “niceness”
· Social Intelligence: aware of the motives/feelings of oneself & others

The Virtue of Justice
· Teamwork: citizenship, social responsibility, loyalty
· Fairness: just, not letting feelings bias decisions about others
· Leadership: organizing group activities, encouraging a group to get things done

The Virtue of Temperance· Forgiveness: mercy, accepting others’ shortcomings, giving people a second chance
· Humility: modesty, letting one’s accomplishments speak for themselves
· Prudence: careful, cautious, not taking undue risks
· Self-Regulation: self-control, disciplined, managing impulses & emotions

The Virtue of Transcendence· Appreciation of Beauty and Excellence: awe, wonder, elevation
· Gratitude: thankful for the good, expressing thanks, feeling blessed
· Hope: optimism, future-mindedness, future orientation
· Humor: playfulness, bringing smiles to others, lighthearted
· Spirituality: religiousness, faith, purpose, meaning