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.

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.

3. Open-mindedness [judgment, critical thinking]: this strength involves using logic and rational thought to evaluate theories and thoughts, including considering evidence that goes against personal beliefs. It also involves being analytical when making decisions, and trying to avoid bias. This means being fair when weighing evidence, and considering facts from both sides of an argument. People who have this strength try to avoid jumping to conclusions when they don’t have all the facts. They are also able to change their views when facts or logic indicate they are wrong. Rather than looking only for information that supports their view, they also search for facts that could disprove their beliefs. Open-minded people tend to pause before making a decision and use that time to investigate the facts and apply logic. They base their views on evidence and logic more than the concensus or popular opinion. They use sound judgment, rather than being judgmental. This strength differs from curiosity, which is about exploring questions and finding out things. It also differs from perspective, which involves seeing the bigger picture. Judgment involves the strength of curiosity, which is about asking questions and seeking new knowledge. But it goes beyond that to make decisions about what is true or fair. It also involves perspective, which is about seeing the bigger picture, but goes beyond this to make decisions.

1. Read a book or online article about logic.
2. Read up about problem solving methods.
3. Try reading Problem Solving 101: A Simple Book for Smart People by Ken Watanabe. Originally written for children, it has been eagerly embraced by adults. Reviewers comment that it is quick to read and helpful. The book covers a four-step method illustrated by interesting stories about problem solving.
4. Or try reading Solving Life’s Problems: A 5-Step Guide to Enhanced Well-Being by psychology professors and problem solving gurus Arthur and Christine M Nezu and Thomas J D’Zurilla. The authors outline a five-step process they call ADAPT, based on Problem Solving Therapy. This covers Attitude, Defining the problem, coming up with Alternative solutions, Predicting consequences and developing a plan and Trying out the solution to see if it works.
5. If you feel hopeless or recently attempted suicide, learning problem solving skills will mmake youmore than twice as likely to have fewer problems following therapy.ⁱ
6. If you prefer watching and listening to reading, do the Udemy course called Master Class – Creative Problem Solving and Decision Making by Matthew Thomas. This course is for people who are really interested in problem solving and want to go into even more depth. It lasts five and a half hours and has 40 short videos covering thinking styles (including the SCAMPER team brainstorming method), as well as various approaches to problem solving and decision making.
7. Watch a video about an unfamilar spirituality or philosophy with an open mind.
8. Talk to someone who has a different way of life to yours and ask one or two open-minded questions about their life.
9. Attend a lecture on a controversial topic and chat to audience members afterwards.
10. If your library has a ‘Human Library’ of people from different walks of life, go there and pick someone with a life very different to your own to talk to.
11. Watch a five minute interview with Dr Lisa Miller, researcher and author of The Awakening Mind, about the science of spirituality. Called Science Shows Spirituality helps ‘Awaken’ your Brain, Author says, it can be found on the ABC News YouTube channel.
12. Think about a decision you made in the past that you’ve always been uncertain about, or feel unhappy about. Brainstorm and research some other ways you could have dealt with it.
13. Ask either a person this decision affected, or a friend whose judgment you trust ,to tell you what they think about your decision. Try to listen without defending yourself or interrupting, then go away and think about it.
14. If you feel suicidal, or are recovering from a suicide attempt, create a Suicide Prevention/Safety Plan of things you can do and people you can do to stay safe. Having a safety plan almost halved the risk of suicidal behavior according to an analysis of multiple studies.ⁱⁱ
15. Do a course on a spirituality/religion that is new to you on the spiritualityandpractice.com website. It has a lot of good courses on spirituality, some in the format of 40 daily lessons delivered by email, others in the video lesson format. One is Practicing Spirituality with the World’s Religions and costs $40 and is on-demand. It includes teachings from Buddhism, Christianity, Confucianism, Hinduism, Sufism, Judaism, Taoism, and Native American spirituality. The format is 40 lessons delivered via email. Each contains a short passage about the wisdom of one religion as well as a way to practice that thought as you go about your daily activities. Links take you to the reviews of the books that the passages come from. (It also has other courses on specific religions, including Hinduism, Christianity, Judaism and Buddhism, in the same format.) There are also free courses available.
16. Think about why people end up believing and following the religions that they grow up with, or that are popular or common in their local area rather than religions from another area, and what this says about religion in general.
17. Choose one of your habits or regular activities. Ask yourself why you do this, when and why you started, what benefits it has for you, what downsides, whether you want to continue doing it.
18. Go to a cultural or multi-cultural event and tune in to your thoughts and feelings during it and after you leave it. Look for signs of implicit bias – discriminatory views you are not consciously aware of.
19. If there are aspects of these events or cultures you don’t understand, do research by reading or talking to experts that helps you understand them better.
20. Think about possible reasons you have failed to achieve a valued goal in the past. Can you see any patterns? Ask people who know you well what they think, take notes and try to resist the temptation to prove they are wrong!
21. If you see a pattern, decide to change. Start working on a plan to do things differently in future, including thoughts, beliefs, values, actions, with times you are going to do specific things.
22. Choose a decision you need to make. Make a list of pros for doing it one way, and cons for that way. Possibly assign points to each pro or con to show how important it is, from 1 being least important to 10 being most important.
23. Volunteer to work with, coach, tutor or mentor individuals from ethnic, cultural or religious groups you are not familiar with. This could be in woodwork, sport, English, cooking or some other area you are skilled in.
24. Challenge your confirmation bias by choosing a dearly held belief and looking for information and views that contradict this belief.
25. If you have a challenging situation facing you, think about the best it could turn out and the worst. Then assess which view is most realistic by looking for factual and logical reasons to support it. Ask trusted advisors or the internet what they think.
26. Pick a current event, then follow reporting on it on different media. Look for how different news outlets or social media platforms report it differently. Try to work out what the facts are about it using the best, most reliable sources of information you can.

iTownsend E et al (2001) The Efficacy of Problem-Solving Treatments after Deliberate Self-Harm: Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials with Respect to Depression, Hopelessness and Improvement in Problems, Psychological Medicine, 31(6): 979-988.

iiNuij C et al (2021) Safety Planning-Type Interventions for Suicide Prevention: Meta-Analysis, The British Journal of Psychiatry, 219(2): 419-426