Growing up as an ethnic minority person, it was easy for others to point to my weaknesses, or just a relevant one, to support some claim or thought they had that I was inferior. Sometimes it felt as if whatever they pointed out, to them, was either the only thing that mattered, or mattered so much it should be the only thing that mattered, or as if nobody else had a weakness, or that particular weakness. I also didn’t like the idea of having very visible, obvious and/or very weak weaknesses. I might have even bought into the mentality of those who isolated my weaknesses in thinking I were like a chain, where I’d only be as strong as my weakest link… though I thought they were, too! 😉
Signature Strengths and Happiness at Work (including MY Situation)
In the Science of Well-being course on Coursera, Professor Laurie Santos referenced a small study in 2012 called When the Job is a Calling, by Harzer & Ruch, that suggested those happiest at their jobs (in the sense of considering it a calling) were those who used 4 (up to 7) of their Signature Strengths (Top 5 or 7 Character Strengths). There were only 111 participants in that survey, which is hardly enough to be convincing for most people, even if the statistical derivations show there is “statistically significant” difference (i.e. on the graph, the thin vertical lines on the dot relating to 4 on the horizontal axis does not overlap those of dots for 3 or smaller). The mind just doesn’t buy into the math at some point, and just 111 participants is way below that point for me. Why they only had 111 participants is not known but I’d never publish anything with just that few numbers if it were only a matter of taking a survey rather than having to do heart surgeries!
The Three Kinds of Happiness… and the Two that Last
The TEDTalk 2004 video below by positive psychologist Martin Seligman is, by far, the best explanation of happiness in everyday language, but backed by science, that I have ever seen. Using what I’ve learned, I was able to rationalize why I’m generally such a happy camper despite not having some of the elements people deem to contribute most to happiness in life, like love from a partner, kids, even pets, pleasures from alcohol, drugs, gambling, even coffee, etc. For my own reference, I’ll summarize the video below before writing out my deductions that led to conclusions just mentioned about my life, but also reflect on the happiness and lifestyles content mentioned in the video from other developments in positive psychology since the video I have learned. I would highly recommend watching the video, though. Start from 2m 45s if you just want the core of what I am talking about as it’s a bit slow to start before it gets really fascinating!
MY Signature Strengths (Science of Well-being Week 1 Rewirements)
Signature Strengths are one’s top (i.e. strongest) Character Strengths from the free assessment on the VIA site. I will opt for Top 7 to have a more varied suite of Signature Strengths compared to some other popular small grouping like Top 4 or Top 3. This will give me more Signature Strengths to work on, and to have more options from which to draw any time I need to refer to my Signature Strengths, as will be required in future rewirements. Having a Top 7 list is also more practical than just Top 3 or Top 4, from what I had seen of other content on how to use Signature Strengths. Finally, My Top 7 Character Strengths are all very strong so they could be true Signature Strengths, rather than just some Character Strengths picked out to fill slots for Signature Strengths.
Barack Obama’s Barackets for 2018 Men’s NCAA March Madness is DONE!
With one game still remaining in the Elite 8 of the 2018 Men’s NCAA March Madness tournament (Duke vs Kansas), former President Barack Obama’s Barackets is DONE! He has Villanova in the Final Four, but because he predicted (eliminated) Michigan State would beat them next game, Villanova will be getting no more points for Obama this year. The former POTUS had UNC and Virginia as the other Final Four teams, both of whom had been eliminated early.
So where does this leave the Barackets in the ESPN Standings?
Digital Citizen 