Hello and welcome (back) to my blog, dear friends!
I hope yo are excited about May as much as I am. Even though I honestly hope to be able to take a deep breath after the months we’ve had in our family since November and then end of January this year. But im glad May is here because it’s one of my favourite months of the year. Followed by September and October. October is a late addition, and for that im grateful to the time we spent in Sweden, where we were much surrounded by nature and had the chance to see the mist appearing by the lake opposite our flat, and then see it dissipate and let the sun shine. Not to talk about all the lovely colours of the leaves contrasting with the steely blue of the skies. This is how I got to love Octobers.
So, I do hope that 2024 continues smoothly and that you got a good sense of enthusiasm, now that the beautiful spring is here (at least in this parts of the world)! But if your enthusiasm plays hard to get, fear not, cause here I am with this month’s motivational calendar, based on your own character strengths.
Character strengths are the backbone of the science of Positive Psychology – the study of human flourishing, or what leads humans to peak performance. In other words, that study of our inner resources – the foundation of our flourishing and peak performance. These character strengths have been researched intensely in the last 20 years and the studies say that they are:
- Universal
- Cross-cultural
- Easily recognized
- Elevating to self and others
Understanding and applying our strengths helps people flourish across every aspect of their lives-and at each stage of life. No matter our age, we can rely on our character strengths to achieve goals, deepen relationships, and feel like our true selves. No matter where we are – at home, at work or at school – applying our character strengths is essential (quote from VIA):
“At Home – character strengths help people appreciate each other and feel understood.
At Work – character strengths help people bounce back from difficulties while continuing to thrive and contribute to team morale.
At School – The classroom is a place of growth and challenge. Character strengths give students, teachers, and professors an energizing source of confidence to draw from”.
The Strengths Calendar for May shares simple ways to help us approach life with Curiosity, Judgement and Love of Learning. Almost all activities have a link attached to them, that you can access if you click on the image – each of them will lead you to an article or a video about that specific strength:
But for now, let’s just see what each of them means, according to VIA:
Curiosity is a strength within the virtue category of wisdom, one of the six virtues that subcategorize the 24 strengths. Wisdom describes strengths that help you gather and use knowledge. The other strengths in Wisdom are judgment, love of learning, creativity and perspective.
To be curious is to explore and discover, to take an interest in ongoing experience for its own sake. There are two key components to curious individuals: they are interested in exploring new ideas, activities and experiences, and they also have a strong desire to increase their own personal knowledge.
Judgement – “I weigh all aspects objectively in making decisions, including arguments that are in conflict with my convictions.” (quote from VIA).
Judgement is critical thinking, weighing the evidence fairly, thinking things through, and examining the evidence from all sides rather than jumping to conclusions. Judgment also involves being open-minded and able to change one’s mind in the light of evidence, remaining open to other arguments and perspectives. It is the willingness to search actively for evidence against your favored beliefs, plans or goals and to weigh all of the evidence fairly when it is available.
Love of Learning – “I am motivated to acquire new levels of knowledge, or deepen my existing knowledge or skills in a significant way.” (quote from VIA).
Love of Learning means a passion for learning, a desire to learn just for learning’s sake. Love of learning is a strength that teachers would like to see in their students, parents want to encourage in their children, therapists support in their clients, and employers try to foster in their employees.
If you did not take your VIA Character Strength Test yet, then by now you are probably excited to find out your OWN Strengths, and how you can apply them to Build The Life You Really Want. Then you will most likely want to know what makes you unique (your top 5-6 strengths are unique to you) and how to use your strengths to thrive and flourish.
Well, im looking forward to meeting you, so we can discover together how you can live your life from a position of strength.
Remember, 2024 will be (y)our BEST year yet ;)!
Until next time, stay positive and take care of yourselves!
Positive-Mind-4-Life 