There are times in life when we all get stuck in a rut.
It may be a day-to-day rut: when nothing seems exciting, you’re just going through the motions, wondering if this is all there is to life.
Or it may be an existential rut: you’re unsure of what’s next in life, feeling the desire for a change, or questioning the point of everything.
I’ve experienced both kinds of ruts, and from studying the science of happiness, I have also learned how to regain motivation, energy, and enthusiasm for life when needed.
One of my favourite ways to get out of a rut is to use our character strengths.
What are Character Strengths?
Before I learned about positive psychology (aka, the science of happiness,) I had never heard the term “character strengths” — even though I was using them all the time.
Chances are, you do the same.
You have these powerful inner resources that you are probably unaware of. It’s time to change that.
Character strengths are positive, core characteristics of our personalities and they enable us to think, feel, and behave in certain ways.
In a book entitled Character Strengths and Virtues: A Handbook and Classification, Psychologists Christopher Peterson and Martin Seligman named 24 character strengths that are admired across cultures. These strengths are categorized under six virtues: wisdom, courage, humanity, justice, temperance, and transcendence.
Here’s a summary of all 24 character strengths. You can find more detailed descriptions here.
What You Should Know About Character Strengths
The topic of character strength is complex, nuanced, and ever-evolving. For now, I will share a few points that summarize relevant information.
- Character strengths have been studied extensively and have solid research backing their effectiveness (you can explore this website to learn about the research.)
- All of us have these strengths. No matter who you are and what you’re going through, you possess character strengths.
- Many people suffer from “strength blindness” — they can’t see these qualities in themselves.
- The degree to which each of us has these strengths varies. I am high on Perspective but low on Zest. This doesn’t mean I don’t have Zest, just that Perspective is more central to me than Zest.
- You can take a free assessment to know your strengths.
- Using our strengths is energizing and can make us happier.
How You Can Use Character Strengths to Get Out of a Rut
We’ve looked at what character strengths are and what you should know about them. Now let’s talk about how you can apply them to your life.
Instead of giving you one-size-fits-all advice that doesn’t work for you, I will share two examples of how character strengths have helped me get unstuck in my life. I will then leave you with a few questions to reflect on. My hope is that this helps you arrive at something that works in your context.
Sounds good? Let’s go.
Know Your Strengths
To use your character strengths, you need to know what they are. You can do this by:
- Taking the free assessment (I highly recommend this. This is NOT an affiliate link.)
- Looking at the strengths chart I shared above and identifying the character strengths that seem core to you
- Showing the strengths chart to people close to you and asking them which ones sound most like you
Now, let’s look at two examples from my life. I have chosen one example of a day-to-day rut and another example of an existential rut.
My top strengths are: Hope, Honesty, Perspective, Appreciation of Beauty and Excellence, and Gratitude.
Example 1: Day-to-day Rut
A few days ago, I woke up feeling grumpy. I had low energy and little excitement for the day. I decided to go for a walk before starting the day.
As I stepped out into the cold Canadian morning, I looked up and stopped in my tracks. A beautiful sunrise welcomed me. I was suddenly filled with joy and awe. My character strength of Appreciation of beauty and excellence had been activated.
I couldn’t help but savor the beauty in front of me.
Twenty minutes later, I came home uplifted.
It was a powerful reminder that when I am feeling stuck, sometimes all it takes to get back on track is to look up at the sky.
Example 2: Existential Rut
In my late twenties, I went through a tough time. I was burnt out, heartbroken, and lonely, and there came a point when I started questioning the point of existence. If life was full of such pain and suffering, why even bother living?
This was before I discovered positive psychology, but in retrospect, I can see that it was my strength of Hope that got me through. Even during challenging times, I had hope that I could turn things around. I started reading self-help and sought professional help, and eventually, things worked out. It took plenty of time and tears, but today, I am grateful to have what I once longed for.
I still get into ruts. But now I know I can draw strength from within me to take charge of my life.
My character strengths are one of my biggest sources of resilience.
In all likelihood, yours are too.
Let’s come back to you
Where in your life are you stuck in a rut?
When you’ve faced challenges in the past, how have you overcome them? Which of your character strengths has never abandoned you?
Which character strength(s) can you call upon to overcome your current rut?
It can be small: finding moments of joy through humor, zest, or curiosity.
Or it could be big and transformative: something that shakes up your world for the better — using perseverance, self-regulation, or creativity.
Either way, you have powerful inner resources at your disposal.
I invite you to start using them.