Authentic happiness

It's always encouraging when someone mentions they've read your blog - today two people phoned to ask me what I was yapping about in yesterday's post... 'authentic happiness'?

Following cancer treatment nearly three years ago I have been dogged by depression for which my GP prescribed medication. However, I am congenitally stubborn and believe I know best so won't take them. Instead I try to carry out a strategy of positive thinking (not always easy). Carol Craig's Centre for Confidence and Well Being ran a course on positive thinking and raising confidence which I attended. One of the speakers was Martin Seligman whose work in the psychology of positive choices leads the field. Admittedly it all sounds a bit new-agey, peace man kind of stuff, but I think it has some authority. Log on to www.authentichappiness.com and you'll find a survey that takes about 30 minutes to complete - at the end the programme will compute your 5 key signature strengths.
The point is to recognise that a key signature strength, used negatively, can end up damaging to your well being. So, for example, mine says perseverance, diligence and industry is a top score: so because I know I can get lots done quickly and well, I tend to take too much on and end up knackered which exaggerates negative emotions, which in turn affects my performance...if you get my drift. So the point is to use this information to try to avoid turning a positive into a negative.
However, in managing a large group of people I use the information to encourage people to use their key strengths positively for the team - so since the majority of my team has 'kindness & generosity' as their key strength I have to make sure that collectively their wish to help others doesn't come at the expense of either themselves as individual professionals or at the collective strength of the team. It's fascinating stuff and does produce results: I'd like to get the Labour Group to do the exercise and use it as part of a working to our strengths strategy - think how magnificent we'd be!