Category — strengths

Is authenticity vital today?

Yes, and if so, even more important in today’s context.

What is authenticity? Authenticity, one of the VIA’s strengths, is defined as “owning one’s personal experiences, be they thoughts, emotions, needs, preferences, or beliefs, processes captured by the injunction to know oneself” and “behaving in accordance with the true self” (Harter, 2002, p. 382). In essence, authenticity is being real and true to yourself.

Definitely, authenticity is vital in the extrapersonal (dealing with groups of individuals), interpersonal (dealing on a one-on-one basis) and intrapersonal (dealing with yourself) domains. However, the crux of the issue lies not in being authentic, but in daring to be authentic.

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On 20 February 2008, I wrote on What is the secret to a meaningful life? I was, and still is, enamoured with Seligman’s (2002) idea of what comprises meaning in our lives. Meaning is created when there is furtherance in knowledge, power and goodness.

I believe there is an abundance of knowledge and power, and ever increasing goodness as well. The crux lies in using our signature strengths, and in particular, how well we use our signature strengths. The flow diagram below details the stages of signature strengths.

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Sometimes I find my curiosity to be the death of me.  In the VIA strengths questionnaire, my second highest strength is curiosity and interest in the world.

A few weeks back, I remembered having a burning curiosity about the timing gadget used in a meeting. [Read more →]

My beloved friends,

Following the sweet successes of Tenacious tenacity!!! and Shan’s cockscrew of hope out of others, the sixth in a series of ten talks is entitled Shanshine’s M&Ms of playfulness! What is Shanshine’s M&Ms of playfulness? Two clues for you, ka-ching! and ka-bom! Living up to the chinese phonetics of Shan, which is san, meaning three in Chinese, three suggestions will also be offered to stoke the fires of your playfulness!

Let’s have fun!! I invite you to the sixth of my Positive Psychology series this evening in Singapore. Details as follows:

• Topic: Shanshine’s M&Ms of playfulness
• Venue: Bishan Toastmasters Club, Bishan Community Centre, Singapore
• Date: 29 April 2008
• Time: 7-10pm

I look forward to seeing you there!

With love,
Pei Shan

For the fun of it, I took the Grit survey!  This survey measures the VIA character strength of perseverance.

Guess what my score was?

3 out of 5!  I scored as high or higher than 8 in 10 test takers grouped under age, gender, education and occupation!

What is yours?