Drained, and Overusing Strengths is a thing! Watch out!

Written by Grace Toh . Aug 2022

Topic:? #Strengths ?#Wellbeing ?#Meaning ?#Engagement ?#Positive Psychology

Identifying and leveraging your strengths at work and in life is not new to anyone. It’s how life is. Most of us have experienced an aunt or a primary school teacher telling your parents that you showed potential in some area, say the arts. They should enrol you in an art class to pursue that talent or improve your skill. Let’s call this kid Tom. Tom believed these people and developed his artistic skills and became a good artist who ended up wondering why he is becoming unhappy in his work as an artist years later. So, we think his strengths should be important and came in handy as it aligns with the work in Art and Design. Or so I thought. I recently found that it's not always the case.

?What is a strength?

A strength isn’t simply something you are good at or capable of doing well, it also gives you energy when you are performing it. For instance, I am good at calligraphy and write small notes to motivate myself to complete tasks.

?Like this photo above, it shows a quote that I keep by my desk these days to nudge me to balance the use of my strengths. For instance, when I put my strength of ‘Appreciation of Excellence & Beauty’ with ‘Details’, it is an awesome pairing when making art, and I have been creating art since I could hold a drawing medium. It has very much become part of who I am. I find it enjoyable to appreciate things and the people around me, and the process of taking time to create art elevates my mood. All these emotional responses are what a true strength exudes. On the contrary, when I am doing up a presentation deck for an important pitch, this strength spills over to where it should not. After polishing the content, my mind dives straight into beautifying the deck; organising nuggets of information into different bullet design, color-coding, adjusting the font size and alignment and so on because design matters. Unfortunately, the precious time lost after details usually turns me into an anxiety freak when I look at the clock and realise that it’s time to rush to the presentation, and I have ‘yet to complete (beautifying)’ my deck. This is a perfect example of overusing strengths, and thus failing miserably at time optimization. While this example I illustrated may seem insignificant, when time optimization is compromised, and with a client at stake, we all know how that day can end up looking.

?During my studies in positive psychology, I took Positran’s SOLO 360+ Formula strengths assessment, which was fun to do on the mobile phone. Unlike most surveys and assessments where you answer pages of questions, this one allowed me to ‘Tinder’ my strengths with a swipe left (No, not strength!), swipe right (Yes, strength!) or down (Not sure…). As the name ‘360+’ suggests, I sent this same assessment to twenty others who know me well to assess my strengths. This exercise gave me a pretty good idea of what (about me) was visible to others. When I received my Individual Strengths Report, it clarified what showed up in the different categories like True Strengths, Competences, Potentials and other (lesser) Strengths. I could see what aligned between my own assessment and others. I was immensely intrigued by the meaning of ‘True Strengths’ versus ‘Competences’. ‘True Strengths’ are my best assets and when I perform well in these areas, I naturally feel motivated and energised. ‘Competences’ are actually learned behaviours that I have learned to do well over time, they require energy from me and can actually drain me (Alex Lindley, 2008). When I look through the list of strengths and competences, I must say I am not surprised. I can immediately relate to the tasks that are energising, and I feel ‘in the zone ’ when engaged in them. I also realise why I feel so drained undertaking those tasks that I have been using my competences for, which overwhelmed me, and gave me stress and anxiety. I had mistakenly perceived some of my competences (learned behaviours) as my true strengths. Prolonged period of such experiences at work is not healthy and eventually led me to some level of disengagement.

?Therefore, this newfound knowledge is paramount to me. With each strength, there is one that balances it on the other end of the spectrum. For example, nowadays, I will highlight ‘time optimisation’ as a strength to grow and be mindful not to overuse my ‘Appreciation for Excellence and Beauty’. At the end of the day, I am slaying my tasks, on time, and they look good enough! That elevates my mood! Thumbs up for wellbeing and better engagement at work!

?There are a few widely-used strengths assessment tools like VIA Institute on Character (Peterson & Seligman, 2004), Gallup CliftonStrengths (Donald Clifton, 1999) and CAPP StrengthsProfile (Alex Linley, 2005). I compare the results to gain a more holistic view of my strengths at work, in life and as an individual. Each of these assessments applies differently. Knowing how to spot strengths overuse and learning to balance strengths’ use can help with life and job crafting . Dr Martin Seligman, father of positive psychology, highlighted that using character strengths daily in a new way had a lasting effect on happiness, as measured six months later (Seligman et al, 2005). Beyond identifying strengths as individuals, we can also look at how one can contribute and optimise team performance at work. Empirical research suggests that strength-based approaches can be a powerful tool for increasing engagement, performance, and levels of wellbeing in organisations.

?Look at this list of 24 strengths under 6 core virtues (VIA Institute on Character, Seligman). Can you recall a recent incident where you overused/underused your strengths?

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Gaining strength-awareness has allowed me to assemble these strengths according to their capacities and the value I bring to work. I have started refining my approaches and systems, feeling more competent crafting, and articulating my engagement, which has given me the meaning to wake up every morning and to show up with a greater purpose.

?For those looking for a day-to-day strategy, I may suggest that when you are going through a very stressful period, find ways to play to your strengths to build energy and well-being is the way to go, and when things get less stressful, go for growth/challenge (Anna Freij, 2009).?

References & Further Reading

Asplund, J. & Blacksmith, N. (2012). Productivity Through Strengths, DOI: 10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199734610.013.0027

?Ackerman, C. E. (2018). What is Positive Psychology? https://positivepsychology.com/what-is-positive-psychology-definition/

?Clifton, D. (1999) Gallup CliftonStrengths. Learn About the Science of CliftonStrengths. https://www.gallup.com/cliftonstrengths/en/253790/science-of-cliftonstrengths.aspx

?Freij, A. (2009). Strengths and Positive Psychology: The Strengths Recipe for Success. Positive Psychology.org.uk

?Linley, A. (2008).?Average to A+: Realising strengths in yourself and others. Coventry: CAPP Press.

?Martin E. P. Seligman & Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (2000), Positive Psychology – An Introduction, American Psychological Association. lnc., Vol 55 No.1?Pg 5-14, DOI: 10.1037//0003-066X.55.1.5