Learn the Practice

To learn the 4-step Strengths-focused Identity Practice (SfI-Practice) purchase Articulating Your Strengths: A mindful practice for developing your positive identity by Jerald Forster & Jennifer Rose(2020), available on Amazon for $10 for the paperback, or $5 for Kindle.

While you are waiting for your book to arrive, here is a summary of the first two steps of the practice to help you get started:

Step 1: Become more aware of positive moments.

Throughout your day, you may be more aware of your negative moments than your positive ones. You may be assigning them more importance, too. To combat these influences of the negativity bias, 1. Recall and record positive moments from your recent memory, and 2. Describe those moments and name the positive feelings you experienced.

Step 2: Articulate your subjective strengths.

For each moment you record in Step 1, record something about you that made that moment possible. Your positive moments could not happen without you. There is something you did, or some way that you are that was part of that moment.

For example, suppose you had a positive moment playing the violin. Your description might have included what song you were playing and feelings of accomplishment at learning it. There are a lot of possible strengths here, and the one you choose will depend on your own thoughts and feelings. You could say you were persistent, or a music lover, or an accomplished violinist. Choose the strength that feels right.

Dedicate some space, physical or electronic, to recording your SfI-Practice. By the time your book arrives, you will have recorded quite a few positive moments and strengths. You may even be ready for Step 3.