The Potential Of Our Strengths

The role of positive psychology in personal strengths

Positive psychology is a branch of psychology that focuses on making a person able to recognize and be aware of their strengths (personal strengths), so that they can rely on them when addressing goals and overcoming difficulties. This is because he understands that a therapy cannot be focused only on pointing out what needs to be improved, but on recognizing the good that already exists, to enhance it and take advantage of it, whether or not there is discomfort involved.

In other words: for this discipline, it is convenient for the person not only to express their concerns and learn to identify what bothers, annoys and hurts them, but also to learn to identify and be aware of what they are truly good at and how they can rely on this to have a better quality of life in general. Not only when it comes to overcoming a difficulty.

scientific method, which means that

Contrary to what many people believe, this discipline does not push the person to be the most positive and  happy in  the world just for the sake of it, or to start the day drinking coffee in a cup with a unicorn and a happy phrase, and with the best of their smiles. It is about something different: it consists of discovering, recognizing, valuing and keeping in mind those strengths that help to live well from day to day and that can be useful, even in times of difficulty.

Personal strengths as talent

From the point of view of this discipline, personal strengths are personal techniques to face everything that limits us and that prevents us from enhancing our own abilities and capacities. He also considers them a synonym for talent.

Working from strengths is much more useful than just focusing on trying to improve weaknesses. Let’s think about this for a moment: if we have to improve this and that all the time, when do we stop to identify and recognize what we do well and that can help us feel better about ourselves? We need a lime and a sand one, right?

Identifying strengths is key 

Perhaps courage or curiosity? Method and the FORTE test of the European Institute of Positive Psychology (IEEP)

FORTE

Be well-being, satisfaction,  engagement  and productivity

Utilities and benefits 

• improve self-esteem;
• improve assertiveness;
• lower high directivity;
• improve emotional management;
• improve the ability to forgive;

• gain self confidence;
• increase positive emotions;
• decrease high levels of anxiety;
• work negative automatic thoughts.