Character Strengths Reflection Essay Example

What do your top three character strengths say about who you are? 

The VIA Character Strengths Survey was a fun and insightful assignment that I enjoyed completing. The survey identifies 24 strengths shared by people and arranges them in an order based on your answers. The 24 strengths fall into six broad virtue categories; wisdom, courage, humanity, justice, temperance, and transcendence (VIA). According to my survey results, my top three strengths fall into the humanity and wisdom categories. At the top of my Character Strengths Profile is Love, which is a humanity strength. This says that I place a lot of value on my relationships and forming close connections with other people. I agree with this completely. I love developing intimate relationships and learning all about my friends’ lives. It brings my life meaning to engage in loving relationships. 

My second and third top strengths, judgment and curiosity, are both a part of the wisdom category. This surprised me slightly because I do not consider myself to be a conventionally wise person. However, I am always curious in life and I think very critically when I make decisions/judgments. An example of my curious nature is that I am always interested in learning about diverse cultures and I make it a priority to explore new places and meet people from different backgrounds. I exercise good judgment skills by my willingness to examine all options and think through various outcomes before coming to a conclusion. 

What strengths would you like to cultivate?  What are specific actions you can engage in to develop those strengths? Give at least one specific action per strength. 

At the bottom half of my strengths assessment, my least developed qualities were a part of the courage and temperance virtue categories; perseverance (courage), self-regulation and forgiveness (temperance). I was unsure what temperance meant and found that it describes “strengths that help you manage habits and protect against excess” (VIA). These results did not surprise me at all. I know I struggle with self-regulation and self-discipline, which directly relate to my lack of perseverance. I can cultivate and work on building up these strengths by making a plan to help me implement small changes in my behavior and cognition. One of the most effective ways of doing this is by utilizing SMART goals.

My skills of self-regulation and forgiveness can both be cultivated through my choice to attend therapy. I stopped back in November and failed to find a new mental health professional so now I am putting that task on the top of my to-do list. I broke down this goal into smaller steps which are to Google therapists near me → Select two that seem good and who accept my insurance → Schedule intake appointments to see who I might fit best with → Spend an hour budgeting to find out how much I can afford to spend on therapy in the next three months. Another activity that can help improve these temperance strengths are to take time to meditate and journal about my day, and possibly start doing yoga. I signed up to participate in a study on the effects of yoga on mental health so I am excited to see if that helps me develop some emotional stability. 

Finally, the fifth activity has to do with building up my perseverance. It was difficult to come up with something that will directly help me stick to the things I say I will do. I think it might help if I set up a habit/goal-tracking chart on my fridge to look at daily. In addition, journaling about the tasks I accomplish will help remind me to be proud of the little things I do that move me closer to reaching my long-term goals. 

How would you use your Character Strengths in your future profession?

In my future profession, I would like to experience working at the micro, mezzo, and macro levels, which allows for the use of all my character strengths in various capacities. I believe the virtue category of humanity is the cornerstone of the field I will enter and I strive to demonstrate strong skills of love, kindness, and social intelligence at all times. These values will be especially relevant if I choose to work with individuals or in support group settings. Developing my courage strengths may be helpful for me should I be in a position where I give presentations in front of groups, or if I choose to pursue a career in advocacy and lobbying. I am passionate about human rights and social justice so strengths that fall under courage and wisdom would help me be successful in advocating for my clients’ needs.

As a future social worker and/or therapist, I can employ my knowledge of the Character Strengths to help build up my clients and help empower them to embrace their own strengths and use that awareness to improve their situation. Dr. Ryan Niemiec (2019) reminds us in his article that knowing what our strengths are can help reframe how we view a problem, sort of like having tools in a toolbox. Armed with the 24 Strengths Toolbox, we can be reminded that no matter the adversities we may face, we all have unique inner strengths to help us cope.

References

Niemiec, R. (2019, March 25). Research points to two main reasons to focus on strengths. VIA Institute On Character. Retrieved February 17, 2022, from https://www.viacharacter.org/topics/articles/research-points-two-main-reasons-focus-strengths

VIA Institute On Character. (2022). VIA Character Strengths Survey & Character Reports. https://www.viacharacter.org/