I have said it before and I will say it again … it’s all about the questions you ask and all about the answers and insights that these questions offer.
Some questions I asked you to answer last week are shown below:
- What do I have in my life that I want more of?
- What is something that I don’t have that I would like added to my life?
- What do I have or do that I would like to eliminate?
- What do I always dream about that I have not yet taken steps towards doing?
- What kind of person am I and what do I truly value in my life?
- What could I do to be different in my life?
I hope the insights are amazing for you and I hope they offer you opportunities to grow as a person and move forward with your life goals.
Now onto this week’s column and I hope you can remember where we left off last week. Last week I listed off what I feel are some huge values and strengths that we could all do to improve.
The specific values and strengths have come from the legendary centre for positive psychology so I will list them for you again below:
- Love of Learning
- Judgement, critical thinking and open-mindedness
- Social intelligence
- Perspectives and wisdom
- Creativity and originality
- Curiosity and interest in the world
- Honesty, authenticity and genuineness
- Bravery and valour
- Diligence and perseverance
- Kindness and generosity
- Capacity to love and be loved
- Teamwork and loyalty
- Fairness, equality and justice
- Leadership
- Self-control and self-regulation
- Modesty and humility
- Caution, prudence and discretion
- Hope, optimism and future mindedness
- Gratitude
- Humour and playfulness
- Zest, energy and vitality
- Appreciation of excellence
- Forgiveness and mercy
- Spirituality and sense of purpose
The way this column Is going to operate over the next eight weeks is by going through a few of the specific strengths each week as well as talking about other things that I feel are relevant.
So, this week we are briefly going to discuss LOVE OF LEARNING, CRITICAL THINKING / OPEN MINDEDNESS AND SOCIAL INTELLIGENCE.
We will define each one and then offer you some practical tips on how to improve them as much as possible so……
LOVE OF LEARNING:
“Love of learning involves experiencing positive feelings in the process of acquiring skills, satisfying curiosity, building on existing knowledge, and/or learning something completely new. This strength has important motivational consequences in that it helps people to persist in the face of setbacks, challenges and negative feedback.”
“Love of learning as a strength is typically intrinsically motivated in nature; as it provides a challenge, satisfies curiosity, and creates interest and enjoyment. In contrast, extrinsic motivation involves learning as a means to an end; get good grades, win a promotion, or please someone else. Individuals with this signature strength also place a higher value on the content on what they learn.”
What could you do daily to start really working on this?
- Find a person who shares your area of your interest and learn how he/she increases his/her expertise in that area.
- Identify factors which might have diminished your curiosity in an area and search three new ways to rejuvenate it.
- Expand your knowledge in an area of interest through books, journals, magazines, TV, radio or the internet. Dedicate time to them each day.
CRITICAL THINKING:
“Thinking things through and examining them from all sides are important aspects of who you are. You do not jump to conclusions, and you rely only on solid evidence to make your decisions. You are able to change your mind. Open mindedness increases with age and education. Truth emerges from a process of critical inquiry in which both sides must be considered.”
What could you do daily to start really working on this?
- Identify reasons of your last three actions that you are not happy with (not following through with a goal) and brainstorm better alternative ideas for the future.
- Start an activity and ask yourself – Why? When? And how?
- Identify causes of a perceived failure of an activity in the past. Are there any patterns? Take some time to think deeply about how you can improve.
- When you face the next challenge, first imagine the best and worst scenarios and then decide the most realistic course of action.
SOCIAL INTELLIGENCE:
“You are aware of the motives and feelings of other people. You know what to do to fit in to different social situations and you know what to do to put others at ease.”
What could you do daily to start really working on this?
- If someone offends you, attempt to find at least one positive element in their motives.
- Write five personal feelings daily for four weeks and monitor patterns.
- Ask someone close to you about times you did not emotionally understand him/her and how he/she would like to be emotionally understood in the future.
- Notice when your family and friends grow. Congratulate them and record specific observations.
- Perceive and acknowledge three sincere gestures of a friend.
How about that for some ACTION options this week?
Would you like to work on your LOVE OF LEARNING this week?
How would being a better CRITICAL THINKER work for you?
Could having increased SOCIAL INTELLIGENCE be awesome for you in the NOW and the FUTURE?
Values are who you are even when no one is watching.
Success in life means living by your values.
And to finish this week’s column quoting the great Elvis Presley:
“Values are like finger prints. Nobody’s are the same but you leave them all over everything you do.”
Have a great week and let’s keep working on being the best version of you.
Let’s keep OPTIMISING your MIND, your BODY and your LIFE.
Chris Hunt is a former Royal Marine, father of three and the over enthusiastic and constantly happy owner of The Hub in Wokingham.
