The Power of Character Strengths: Appreciate and Ignite Your Positive Personality

by Ryan M. Niemiec, Robert McGrath

Carry this book in your back pocket. Let it become your faithful friend that nudges you, at every point in your journey, to unlock your potential. No matter where you are in life—searching for happiness, working toward a goal, longing for a better relationship, or feeling content and settled—focusing on your character strengths adds a whole new dimension. Recent research shows that when you understand and activate your positive personality traits, you become more resilient, manage stress better, and find greater fulfillment in life. In The Power of Character Appreciate and Ignite Your Positive Personality, you’ll be expertly guided by leading authorities through your 24 strengths. You’ll soon see all the ways these strengths are your best-kept secret for boosting your well-being. Discover how to appreciate what’s best in you and champion strengths in the people you care about most. As a bonus, you’ll practice putting your strengths into action with Strengths Builder, an easy-to-learn, four-step, research-backed program.Your adventure lies ahead, and The Power of Character Strengths is your must-have resource for building your best life!

Genres: Psychology, Self Help, Nonfiction, Personal Development, Mental Health, Leadership, Health

324 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 14, 2019

About the author

Ryan M. Niemiec, Psy.D. is a leading figure in the education, research, and practice of positive psychology. He’s education director of the VIA Institute on Character, a global, non-profit organization in Cincinnati that leads the advancement of the science of character strengths. Ryan is author of 9 books including the brand new consumer-oriented books The Power of Character Strengths (a #1 Amazon bestseller) and The Strengths-Based Workbook for Stress Relief, as well as practitioner-focused books that are leaders in their respective fields including, Character Strengths Interventions, Mindfulness and Character Strengths, and Positive Psychology at the Movies.

Ryan is creator of the evidenced-based, 8-week program, Mindfulness-Based Strengths Practice, used across the globe by practitioners; MBSP was the first positive-oriented mindfulness program, the only mindfulness program to target what’s best in us (our character strengths), and the only one to use positive qualities (our character strengths) to improve meditation and mindful living.

Ryan has penned over 80 scholarly/peer-reviewed articles and given more than 700 workshops, keynotes, and webinars on positive psychology topics across the globe. He’s a columnist for Live Happy Magazine and for Psychology Today, the latter which his column has 1-2 million reads. He’s an award-winning psychologist, certified coach, annual instructor at the University of Pennsylvania, and adjunct professor at Xavier University. Ryan received a “distinguished early career award” from the American Psychological Association in 2011, and was granted Fellow status of the International Positive Psychology Association in 2017.

On a personal note, Ryan lives in Cincinnati with his wife and three young, zestful children who travel the globe together. Ryan is an avid collector of vintage Pez dispensers, a passionate fan of The Walking Dead, only listens to 1990s alternative rock music, and is a zealot for his alma mater, Michigan State University. His highest strengths are hope, love, curiosity, honesty, fairness, and appreciation of beauty.

Reviews

[Ruth Pearce · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book. I recommend it to anyone who wants to learn not just more about their personality but anyone who wants to understand how to target their strengths to achieve goals, build relationships, and increase their sense of well-being.

Authors, Ryan Niemiec and Bob McGrath have put so much personality into this book and made it easy to read as a result. From the opening introductions of the writers to the Strengths Builder section at the back you can see character strengths in action.
Whether you sit down and read this book cover to cover, or take the assessment and dip into the strengths that most interest you, you will learn a great deal about what makes you you!

[Lovely Winters · Rating 5 out of 5]

I got this book to help my team. I had them all take the test so we could see which characteristics or signature strengths our team had. We were in fact more interested in what was in the bottom 5% instead of the top 5. Knowing this helped our team grow. As the book says, what you work on will ultimately grow.

[Hillary · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a fantastic accompaniment to the VIA Character Strengths Assessment. I give it to all of my coaching clients. It really digs into each of the 24 character strengths that are on the assessment. Each strength gets a chapter that's full of great information about why it's important, what happens when you overuse or overuse it. There are ideas for developing each strength. I find it extremely useful and easy to read even if you are not a coach.

[Emily Loomis Cole · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book in conjunction with Yale’s “The Science of Well Being” course and found it incredibly interesting. I want everyone to take the VIA Character Strengths test and then read this book!

[Valia Dankova · Rating 5 out of 5]

Много полезна книга за осъзнаване и развиване на силните страни в характера на всеки човек. Помага да разберем себе си и другите и да открием в себе си и засилим качества, които ще ни помогнат да сме здрави, щастливи и успешни.

[Hung · Rating 4 out of 5]

A short book to learn more about your character strengths. This book is meant to be used in conjunction with the Character Strength Report by VIA Character. I learn more about myself and have some ideas about how to practice those strengths in real-life scenarios.

[Rebecca Noran · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great resource for an excellent tool — becoming aware of and using your character strengths for happiness, well-being, and flourishing in life. Well-organized; will return often.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very practical and to-the-point workbook that will be useful to anyone who is willing to put the hours into the reflective exercises and experiment with new strengths.

[Susan Wilson]

I have always loved Clifton's Strength Finder so was intrigued to check out what was the same and different with VIA Strengths. I liked the definition that character strengths are essential, effortless, and energizing (side note, the power of three is always a winner to me!). I also thought the categorising of strength into virtues worked well. Taking it a step further to group those virtues into pairs was the genius. Wisdom (gathering knowledge) couples perfectly with Transcendence (using knowledge), Courage (Acting) and Temperance (restraining) are flip sides of each other, and grouping how you relate to individuals (Humanity) and groups (Justice) worked well. My favourite part of the book was the garden analogy. In the past, I have often talked to team about "what gets fed, grows" but with the monster on your should approach. I will now reframe this. The brief version I take from the book is we can view all aspects of our character as seeds, planted together, getting the same sunlight/water/soil. Some sprout quickly, others slowly. They are all different (beautiful flowers/tall leafy trees/unremarkable hardy bushes). As they grow some overshadow others (imagine the beautiful flower under the leafy tree attempting to find sunlight, or the drooping plant appearing weak) Some even become rough and prickly. What's important to remember is that "what you attend to, grows". LOVE IT!

[Andy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not well suited for audio. This is basically the decoder book for the VIA personality test, which you can take online for free. I took the test. I did not find it revelatory, but I've done similar things in the past. If this sort of thing is new to you. and you find that the VIA test is useful, then this content could be helpful, but audio is still not a good format.

Alternatively:
Strengths Finder 2.0
Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience

[Man Ha · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like another version about building a team using character and personality. We use Principles from Ray Dalio to build a team from work. I like using the personality perspectives for sustainability purposes. When learning project management in business school, the professor asked us about whom we went out to lunch with and who was the buddy in my project. Moving into this context and application, there would be someone highly motivated, staying quiet and taking action, and a friend with everyone on the team. If you can read the vibe and recognize the personality harmony, the team will be stronger and grow together.

[Mark Noizumi · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you're into character strengths (there are 24), this book is kind of a laundry list book that details the 24 areas and that's the majority of the book. Probably taking a survey online and honing in on the ones that are your strengths is the better way for most people. But if you want to dive in a bit, this book might be for you...

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Items of Note:
* Character strengths are the 'how' of our identity — the ways we think, feel, and behave that come most naturally to us.
* Focusing on what is right with you is not a denial of what is wrong; it is a way to empower yourself to face what is wrong.
* A character strength is a capacity for thinking, feeling, and behaving in ways that benefit both the person and society.

[Krasimira Georgieva · Rating 5 out of 5]

So kind, helpful, inspirational, and well-structured handbook on being a better you for yourself and others; a must-read for everyone willing to improve the quality of their lives with lasting effect.

[Jana · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the idea about focusing on my strengths instead of my weaknesses. Reading through the book I can see where I’ve made life harder for myself and how I can improve it by using my personal strengths instead..

[Kelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

A group of us at work read this over the past few months. I enjoyed the process the book brought out in our group, giving us non-work interactions that in turn strengthened our daily work interactions.

[Stephanie Jackson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Do the Via surveyed before reading this book. There are many versions of the audiobook accessible but I think it would be better to read this in print form, which none of the six libraries I belong to have a copy for some reason.

[Maria · Rating 2 out of 5]

Focus on your strengths not your weaknesses.

Why I started this book: Awesome title and I was looking for more positivity.

Why I finished it: I should have read this on paper or digitally, and I really should have taken their online test before reading.

[Sabina-Nicoleta Furtună (Sally) · Rating 3 out of 5]

We need more books like this to make people feel good about themselves.

[Bailey Murphy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked it

[Quynh · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

[Dana Mitra · Rating 3 out of 5]

this is just a laundry list of the strengths. I'd choose the brene book over this one

[Kseniia Dubniuk · Rating 5 out of 5]

Книга повністю відповідає тому, на що я очікувала, коли починала її читати. Практична, конкретна, якщо є бажання практикувати цю ідею.

[Rachel Harris Mortenson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book! This works hand in hand with the VIA character strengths quiz.

[Adrian Eisermann · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book goes into detail of each of the 24 character strenghs by the VIA-Character-Strenghs-Test and helps you to implent each.

Its overall okay.

[Ratchanee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good detailed description with examples of various character (quality) in people. Explain well the subtle difference between similar ones and help me understand myself better.

[Ame · Rating 1 out of 5]

Overuse of personal anecdotes to prove a point or paint a prediction of a positive future outcome.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Work related read and it wasn't entirely boring.

[Hady]

The Power of Character Strengths: Appreciate and Ignite Your Positive Personality (Paperback)