Positive #3: VIA Survey of Character Strengths

Something new in this semester of Happiness 101 is an emphasis on building upon core strengths. I decided to beef up this are of the class after my training last month with Lynn Johnson. This semester I asked students to go to www.authenticahappiness.com and take the VIA Survey of Character Strengths self test. It identifies your top strengths. This test is free to anyone that wishes to take it. Martin Seligman, the founder of positive psychology, maintains that we should spend time to strengthen and cultivate our strengths, rather than spending a great deal of time trying to correct our short-comings. One exercise suggested by Dr. Johnson was to identify a problem, then use one of your core strengths to address the problem. Today I want to express appreciation that this in-depth self-test has been developed to help everyone identify what is RIGHT rather than what is wrong.

Frank Clayton, the Happy Therapist

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