For the full list: to get a pdf of new ways of using all 24 strengths please email me at kaye.mclaren@gmail.com or drop a request with your email address in the comments section.

To learn about the Map of the Hero’s Journey from Depression to Happiness, see the post of the same name further down the list of posts. If you’d like a copy of the map, there is a button at the bottom of the post that connects you to my Redbubble shop so you can order it.

Using strengths in new ways improves mood for three to six months, compared to a week or two for using strengths in ways you have before. This means more happiness and less depression for longer. So it’s worth doing.

You want to do something new for a week to get the full impact. So either choose one thing you can do every day for a week, or choose a variety of new things that allow you to do something new every day for a week. For example, you might do one thing for three days, and four things for one day each.

If you think of a new idea that could fit on one of these lists, please let me know in the comments.

Strength #5. Perspective [wisdom]: this strength can in part be defined by what it is not. Perspective is not the same as intelligence, although it does involve high levels of knowledge. Perspective is more about how we interpret situations and have insight into why things are happening and what might be the best conduct or solution. It draws on both logic and empathy, the ability to see a situation from someone else’s point of view. Perspective is also somewhat distinctive from wisdom, which is a broader category. Someone high in perspective is able to look at and assess multiple aspects of situations. They are able to take a broad view, rather than being overly focused on minute details. They can see connections between different aspects of a situation. Perspective involves considering thoughts, feelings and actions and having an insight about how they interact with each other. A person with this strength can simultaneously be aware of important life lessons, appropriate conduct and best options for action while listening to someone describe a situation. They are aware of their own strengths and weaknesses, and what is meaningful to them in life. This strength also involves an advisory aspect – giving wise counsel and good advice, because the person with perspective is looking at the whole situation in quite a complex way.

1. Listen closely to a person in a conversation, ask questions and comment on what they said before you share your ideas and thoughts.
2. Read up about different systems of morality.
3. Look online or at the library for wise quotes and read them.
4. Pick one quote and think of a way you can live more according to that wisdom in the next week.
5. When you feel anxious, angry or depressed, ask yourself “will this matter in 10 minutes? 10 hours? 10 days? 10 weeks? 10 months? 10 years?” Doing this will shift you into analytical mode, which will cool down your feelings, as well as give you perspective.
6. Read some of the original works of Gandhi, Dale Spender, Krishnamurti, Maya Angelou, Malcolm X, Angela Davis, James Baldwin, Hannah Arendt or John Stuart Mill online or in a book.
7. Volunteer for a phone help line and do their training, then try to listen to callers and see things from their point of view. Check back with them to make sure you understanding.
8. Read Aesop’s fables.
9. Identify a person you consider to be wise, dead or living. Read a book or watch a film on their life.
10. Look for quotes from thinkers online or in the library. Re-write the quotes that resonate with you most as practical tips you can use in your everyday life.
11. The next time someone asks you for advice, ask them to tell you all about their situation, problem or issue. Listen carefully and ask questions to make sure you understand. Only then give advice.
12. Read about the moral implications of recent scientific or technological developments, such as AI, gene editing or organ transplants.
13. Read up about a world event (such as World War II, the massacres in Rwanda or genocide in Palestine) from historical, cultural and economic perspectives. Use a variety of sources from both sides of the situation, and consider differing perspectives.
14. Think of an issue that has personally affected you deeply – the suicide of a friend, bereavement, divorce, leaving a religion. Read articles and books or watch videos and films by and about other people with personal experience of the same issue.
15. Seek to connect with a person who has a different perspective from your own and ask them questions about their beliefs and attitudes without being judgmental or offensive.
16. Find the Explanatory (or Attributional) Styles Questionnaire online and fill it in to find out where you are making mistakes in the way you respond to adversity.
17. Read a book or watch a video about a point of view very different from your own.
18. Watch a video or read an online article or book about logic.
19. Read The Six Thinking Hats by Edward de Bono, about different types of thinking and how each is helpful in a particular type of situation.
20. Read a book or watch a film about someone who has dealt successfully with a very stressful situation.
21. Write a few paragraphs about what you have learned from your own life so far, your own words of wisdom on best conduct and ways to deal with difficult people and situations.
22. Develop some mantras or catchy sayings that help you remember these rules, such as “one size does not fit all,” or “kindness is never wasted”.
23. Think about a difficult situation you are facing now. Ask at least three people, preferably from different backgrounds, for their views on this situation.
24. Identify a person much older than yourself who you consider to be sensible and ask about their views on life, how they make decisions and decide on what is good conduct.
25. Reflect on a personal upset you’ve had involving another person. Think about what motivated their actions, and about what drove your actions. Can you feel more empathy for either of you regarding this scenario?
26. Meditate for 10 minutes on the majestic and yet absurd fact that everything in the universe is made of the same thing – stardust, atoms.
27. On a sunny day with clouds, pick one cloud and watch it for 10 minutes as it changes shape. Reflect on how everything is always changing, just like clouds, often into forms we can’t predict. Try to accept that this is how it is.
28. Think about how fast technology is evolving today compared to 100 or 200 years ago. Imagine what level of stimulation people experienced back then compared to today. How could that affect the way we think and feel?
29. Think about something you did recently, or the way you reacted to or interacted with someone that you don’t feel proud of. What would you feel, say and do if a friend told you they’d done the same thing? How does the way you would react to them differ from how you treated yourself after the same mistake? Were you more or less kind to yourself? If you were less kind to yourself, think about why.