Doing things they’re good at doing

Darwin showed that evolution doesn’t favor the strong, only the most adaptable to change.

But that doesn’t mean strength is irrelevant. We still have an obligation to develop a healthy relationship with our gifts. Because while adjusting to our changing environment will help us survive, activating our strengths will helps us thrive.

Individual character strengths play a crucial role in human functioning and flourishing. The degree to which we use our gifts is a leading indicator of wellbeing.

In short, possession isn’t enough. Simply knowing that we have certain character strengths is not sufficient alone. We also need to be aware of those strengths and use them in the world for positive gain.

I was reading a paper about a tool called the strengths use scale, which is popular psychometric instrument to measure strengths use in workplace settings. Educators and human resources managers often use it as an effective and rapid measure of job satisfaction and its impact on life.

What’s interesting about the questions on the scale is, they can easily be reverse engineered into directives. Most psychological assessments and questionnaires are like this. They’re highly researched, deeply thought provoking, and widely used, but only by the academic community. The average civilian rarely thinks to adapt the scale’s principles to their own life.

I personally do this on regular basis. It’s one of my core strengths, ironically enough, to track down the research on a topic, extract the generic principles and patterns, and then transform those ideas into breakthroughs in thinking and action.

Let me share an encapsulation of what the strengths use scale is essentially telling people to do.

If you are seeking greater wellbeing, goal achievement and happiness; and less stress, depression, and anxiety, then here’s what the research recommends.

Use your strengths in various situations.
Spend as much time as you can doing the things you’re good at doing.
Take every opportunity to do what comes naturally to you.
Achieve what you want by playing to your gifts.
Look for lots of different ways to use your natural capacities coming from within.
Do what you do best regularly to get what you want out of life.
Enable authentic expression that vitalizes your inner capacities and talents.

Any questions?

I don’t know why more people don’t do this. Hell, there’s a scale, test or questionnaire for virtually anything anyone might want to learn and improve.

And I’m not even a numbers guy. I quantify almost nothing in my life. But I also know that brilliant researchers have already spent decades figuring out how human beings can progress toward optimal functioning and performance in desired outcomes.

And so, all I really have to do is pick an area to improve, locate the scale, and then ask myself, okay, now how would I have to organize my life to get a higher score?

Again, I am not literally scoring myself on any these questionnaires. It’s not about the number, it’s about the nuance.

Let’s say I know, for example, that the research proves the following.

People who spend as much time as they can doing things they’re good at doing, are the happiest.

Well shit. Then that’s exactly what I’m going to optimize for. Even if my job requires me to do mundane, pointless, labor intensive tasks, I will always find a way to superimpose my strengths on top of that experience.

I will still engage my gifts to make the experience more enjoyable for me and more valuable for others.

How are you using yours? What if your strengths could flourish in any environment?

Remember, possession isn’t enough. Simply knowing we have certain character strengths is not sufficient alone. We also need to be aware of how to use them in the world for positive gain.

If our greatest strengths are going underutilized, that’s our fault. Whereas if we meet each challenge as an opportunity to explore our strengths, flourishing awaits.

And I understand that there are very powerful people and forces trying to make us feel guilty about our own gifts.

But why else are they there? To not be used?

Darwin was right in that adaptability is key, but each of us also needs to be on a lifelong strengthening program.

To quote the great martial arts master: they worshipped strength, because it is strength that makes all other values possible.

Nothing survives without it. Who knows what delicate wonders have died out of the world, for want of the strength to survive.

Whatever activity you’re engage in, find a way to superimpose your strengths on top of the experience. Engage your gifts to make the experience more enjoyable for you, and more valuable for others.

Look for lots of different ways to use your natural capacities coming from within.

You just might get what you want out of life.

How would you have to organize your life to get a higher score on the strength use scale?