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Have you ever taken a personality quiz just for fun, only to wonder afterward what you're actually supposed to do with the results? Lisa has taken more assessments than she can count—including on the corporate side, where discovering she's an ENFJ made total sense to her. But the real question isn't whether these quizzes are fun. It's whether they can actually help you live a better life. Lisa believes they can, which is exactly why she has clients take a number of assessments before they ever start working together.
In this episode, Lisa draws a clear line between talent-based assessments like Clifton Strengths, which measure how you work and get things done, and character strengths, which measure who you are and why something feels meaningful while you're doing it. She introduces the Via Character Strengths framework, developed by psychologists Martin Seligman and Christopher Peterson along with a team of 55 scientists, organizing 24 character strengths into six broad virtues: wisdom, courage, humanity, justice, temperance, and transcendence. She explains signature strengths—the three to seven strengths that are truest to who you are—and shares research showing that using a signature strength in a new way each day for a week increased happiness and decreased depression for up to six months. Lisa offers three simple ways to spot a signature strength on your own: it feels energizing rather than draining, it feels natural rather than forced, and you lose track of time while doing it. She walks through practical ways this shows up in real life, from choosing a productivity system that fits your strengths, to designing your week around them, to using them as a tiebreaker for hard decisions, to recognizing when burnout comes from spending too much time in your lower strengths. Lisa also gets personal, sharing her own top five signature strengths (gratitude, honesty, love, humor, and creativity) and the story of finally embracing humor publicly in her business after years of hiding it, worried it might undermine her expertise. She closes with a simple challenge: take the free Via assessment, pick one signature strength, and use it in a new way this week.
Character strengths, Lisa reminds us, aren't a ranking against anyone else, and they're not about fixing what's broken. They're about noticing who you already are at your best, and building more of your days around that.
Key Takeaways:
- Understand the difference between talent-based assessments like Clifton Strengths and character-based assessments like Via Character Strengths.
- Discover the six virtues and 24 character strengths that make up the Via framework, developed by Martin Seligman and Christopher Peterson.
- Learn what a signature strength is and how research links using one in a new way to increased happiness for up to six months.
- Explore three simple signs you've found a signature strength: it energizes you, feels natural, and makes you lose track of time.
- See how knowing your strengths can shape your productivity systems, your weekly schedule, and even your hardest decisions.
- Understand how spending too much time in your lower strengths can be a hidden source of burnout.
- Hear Lisa's personal story of embracing humor and honesty publicly in her business after years of holding back.
- Learn how to take the free Via assessment and apply your results with a simple one-week challenge.
Thank you for listening! If you enjoyed this episode, take a screenshot of the episode to post in your stories and tag me! And don’t forget to follow, rate, and review the podcast and tell me your key takeaways!
Learn more about Positively LivingⓇ and Lisa at https://positivelyproductive.com/podcast/
Stop trying to fit into someone else’s productivity rules! Grab my free Productivity Toolkit, a collection of workbooks designed to help you explore how you work, uncover what truly matters to you, and create your very own energy-friendly systems. Get it here: www.positivelyproductive.com/plpkit
CONNECT WITH LISA ZAWROTNY:
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LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:
Episode 88 Play to Your Strengths with Julia de'Caneva
Episode 298 How Your Strengths & Personality Can Be Your Advantage
Episode 296 Core Values: A Foundation of Sustainable Productivity
Positively Productive Resources Library
Book a Clarity Call
Async Coaching
(Find links to books/gear on the Positively Productive Resources Page.)
Dance Song Playlist V1, V2, V3
Music by Ian and Jeff Zawrotny
Start your own podcast with Buzzsprout!
TAGS: Character Strengths, Via Institute, Signature Strengths, Positive Psychology, Martin Seligman, Self-Awareness, Values, Burnout, Authenticity, Personality Assessments, Productivity Systems
CHAPTER MARKERS:
00:00:00 Intro: What Kind of Potato Chip Are You?
00:01:47 Clifton Strengths vs. Via Character Strengths
00:03:35 What Are Character Strengths? The Six Virtues
00:04:37 Character Strengths vs. Core Values
00:05:02 What Is a Signature Strength?
00:05:13 The Research: Happiness, Depression, and Signature Strengths
00:05:43 Three Ways to Spot Your Own Signature Strength
00:06:12 Lisa's Top Five Signature Strengths
00:06:52 Choosing Systems That Fit Your Strengths
00:07:05 Designing Your Week Around Your Strengths
00:07:19 Using Strengths as a Decision-Making Tiebreaker
00:07:34 Noticing Burnout From Overusing Lower Strengths
00:08:18 Lisa's Story: Embracing Humor in Her Business
00:10:17 Signature Strengths Are Innate, Not a Ranking
00:11:53 From Fun Quiz to Decision-Making Tool
00:12:17 How to Take the Free Via Assessment
00:12:28 This Week's Challenge: Try a Strength in a New Way
Request this Toolkit and other free resources at the Resources Page.
