Strength Exercises Worksheet: You, At Your Best
Identifying and acknowledging one’s own unique strengths can be difficult, for many cultures view this behaviour as being boastful (Biswas-Diener & Dean, 2007). According to Peterson and Seligman (2004), too few opportunities exist in today’s societies for people to use their best qualities, or their strengths. This tool was designed to increase your awareness of personal strengths.
Goal:
The purpose of this exercise is to leverage the power of storytelling to identify your unique strengths. By asking you to draw upon an actual experience in your past, the process of strengths-identification becomes less daunting. In addition, by encouraging you to relive an experience, you will in turn savour that memory of your best self.
The “You, at Your Best” exercise is easiest to use as homework, for it is important that you have some time to really think about and reflect upon an experience when you were at your best. It is also important that you take the time to pen your story as objectively as possible. Once you have written your story, it may be beneficial to review the story with me as it may be beneficial to have a coaching conversation around your strengths.
Instructions:
Step 1: Find your story
Think of a specific time, recently or a while back, when you were at your very best. You may have been facing a particularly difficult situation, or you may have enhanced an already positive situation. You were expressing the qualities that make you feel the most authentic and energized. The experience made you feel proud and happy to be alive. Develop a story for that experience or for that moment in time.
Step 2: Write
Give the story a beginning, a middle, and try to close your story with a powerful ending. You might take the approach of reliving the positive experience in your mind, just as you were watching a movie of it. Write your story down.
Step 3: Read
After you have completed writing about your experience, go back and read your story. As you read through it, circle the words and/or phrases that you would consider to be related to your personal strengths.