Your Strengths\’ calendar for September (9/12)

Hello and welcome (back) to my blog, dear friends!

And Happy Autumn!Even though it\’s hard to believe it\’s September already, I have to say that I enjoy it, because it\’s one of my favourite months. I really hope your 2024 continues smoothly and that you got a good sense of enthusiasm! But if your enthusiasm plays hard to get, I am here with another calendar filled with activities meant to encourage you to be more modest, among others. And, as usually, these activities are ways to use our character strengths optimally.

In case you are new on my blog and don\’t really know what character strengths are, I will just say this: they are the backbone of Positive Psychology – the science that studies human flourishing, or what leads humans to peak performance. These character strengths have been researched intensely in the last 20+ years and the studies say that they are:

1. Universal – we all have them, no matter where we live
2. Cross-cultural – they exist in all cultures of the world
3. Easily recognized – we apply them without thinking
4. Elevating to self and others – they put us in a state of flow and lead to peak performance

September\’s Strengths Calendar shares simple ways to help us approach life with Forgiveness, Humility and Self-regulation. 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, and I will start by saying that all 3 strengths fall under the virtue of Temperance, which includes strengths that help us manage our habits and protect against excess:

Forgiveness – means to understand those who have wronged or hurt us. To let go of all the painful feelings generated by their actions against us.

BUT, and there\’s a bit \”but\” here: because there is a clear and necessary distinction that has to be made between the internal healing process that takes place inside us, on one hand, and FORGETTING the harm, CONDONING the bad behaviours, or believing there should be no PUNISHMENT for what has been done to us, on the other hand (quote from \”Handbook on Character Strengths and Virtues\” by Martin Seligman and C. Peterson).

In short: forgiveness is a psychological response, a healing process, more than a behavioral response.

Humility/Modesty – means to evaluate our accomplishments accurately. Not to be highly self-critical, but also not to bow to every wish or demand of another person.

Even though the term \”Humilty\” has negative connotations (we can think of a person that lacks self-respect and confidence, or who is easily embarrassed and ashamed), it does NOT imply negative views on self.

Modesty primarily means to have a moderate estimation of one’s merits and achievements. But it also touches on propriety in dress and social behaviour.

But a common trait for BOTH humble and modest people is that they are tempted to rather blend into the crowd than stand out (quote from \”Handbook on Character Strengths and Virtues\” by Martin Seligman and C. Peterson).

Self-regulation – refers to how a person exerts control over his or her own responses in order to pursue goals and live up to standards. These responses can include thoughts, emotions, impulses, performances and other behaviours (quote from \”Handbook on Character Strengths and Virtues\” by Martin Seligman and C. Peterson).People with high self-control report fewer symptoms of anxiety and depression, achieve their goals and are successful in many endeavours. And children who are most successful at delaying gratification early in life are most successful academically and socially, and that success is long lasting.

If you did not take your VIA Character Strength Test yet, 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, with more fulfilment.

Stay close for the next blogpost, where we will see what is the \”golden mean\” for each of the character strengths we talked about today – we will learn how each of them can be used optimally (not too little or too much).

Remember, 2024 will be (y)our BEST year yet ;)!

Until next time, stay positive and take care of yourselves!