How to use your strengths

Updated November 9, 2026

Pick one of your top strengths and use it in a new way every day for a week. In a 2005 randomized study, this exercise made people happier for up to six months, while simply learning their top strengths had no lasting effect (Seligman, Steen, Park and Peterson).

What the study did

Researchers recruited 577 adults online; 411 completed every follow-up. Each got one of six one-week exercises, one of them a control exercise. In "using signature strengths in a new way", people learned their top five strengths and used one of them in a new way every day. In a shorter version, they only learned their top five and were asked to use them more often.

Using a strength in a new way: happier at one month, three months and six months.
Only learning your top strengths: no lasting effect, no more than the control exercise.
Who gained the most: people who kept going on their own after the week.

New ways to use common strengths

Ideas for a week, one per day
Strength	A new way this week
Humor	Send a friend going through a hard week something that will make them laugh
Kindness	Do one favor for someone you don't know well
Curiosity	Ask a coworker or neighbor about their life, and the second question
Perseverance	Finish one thing you abandoned
Gratitude	Write three lines to someone who helped you and never heard thanks
Creativity	Cook dinner from what's left in the fridge, no recipe
Leadership	Organize the plan nobody is organizing
Love of learning	Learn one thing from a video and teach it to someone

Make it stick

Same time every day, small enough to do in five minutes.
One line at night: what you did, what happened.
Tell a friend which strength you're working on.
Keep going after day 7 if you liked it: in the study, continuing on your own was what made the effect last.

Add a friend's first name and get a link to text them. Each friend shares a moment, no app or sign-up. You see the strengths that come back. Free.

Ask my friends

Questions

How can I use my strengths more?

Pick one of your top strengths and use it in a new way every day for a week. Keep it small, the same time each day, and keep going if you enjoy it.

Does using your strengths make you happier?

In a 2005 randomized study, people who used one of their top strengths in a new way every day for a week were happier for up to six months afterward.

Is knowing my strengths enough?

Not on its own. In the same study, people who only learned their top strengths saw no lasting effect, no more than with a control exercise. Using them in new ways made the difference.