Breast Cancer Reimagined

2 Practices to Activate your Strengths

• Shannon • Season 1 • Episode 4

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The episode explores how activating personal strengths during a breast cancer journey can transform the experience from one of endurance to one of growth and empowerment. Shannon discusses practical methods for identifying, exploring, and applying these strengths to navigate challenges effectively.

• Understanding the importance of activating personal strengths 
• First steps: building awareness and reflecting on past experiences 
• Practical application: using strengths creatively in daily life 
• Explore two key practices: signature strengths and resource priming 
• Harnessing strengths to cultivate resilience and a positive mindset

Using a Signature Strengths in New Ways

  1. Select a signature strengths to focus on this week 
    • Refer to your Character Strengths Profile OR
    • If you don’t have your profile, refer to the list of 24 character and choose a strength that feels most natural 
  2. Brainstorm ways you can apply this strength in different daily situations 
  3. Each day, intentionally use the strength in a new way. 
  4. Reflect on the impact of using your strength  
  5. Follow this process for 7 days 

Resource Priming

  1. Identify the situation or challenge you want to prepare for. Clearly identify what you’re facing and what you hope to achieve 
  2. Decide how you want to handle the situation (e.g., with patience, creativity, or focus) 
  3. Select a signature strength that fits the situation 
    • Refer to your Character Strengths Profile OR
    • If you don’t have your profile, refer to the list of 24 character and choose a strength that feels most natural 
  4. Determine how you will use your signature strength to prepare for the situation
  5. Reflect on how your strength helped you.


List of 24 Character Strengths 

VIA Survey  

Handout - Ways to Use Your Character Strengths in New Ways 

Viana, Your AI Strengths Coach

Please let us know how we can support you by completing the Breast Cancer Reimagined - Listener Survey



Speaker 1:

The story you tell yourself about your breast cancer journey shapes your entire experience, whether you've been recently diagnosed or are in the midst of treatment. Breast Cancer Reimagined is your podcast for writing this new chapter of your life. Hi, I'm Shannon, your host, and I'm so glad you're here. As a proud two-time breast cancer survivor, I'm on a mission to help women like you reimagine how you navigate your breast cancer journey by helping you shift your mindset, activate your strengths and uncover deeper meaning in your journey. I'm creating future episodes to address your unique challenges, but I need your input. What are your biggest questions or struggles when it comes to your journey? Share them with me by completing the Google form that's linked in the show notes. Your voice matters and together we can create something truly powerful. I can't wait to hear from you. Create something truly powerful. I can't wait to hear from you.

Speaker 1:

Welcome to the Breast Cancer Reimagined Podcast. Hi, I'm Shannon, your host. Thanks for joining. I'm a proud two-time breast cancer survivor and I'm on a mission to help women shift their mindset, activate their strengths and uncover deeper meaning in their breast cancer journey. I want you to think of yourself as a superhero. You have your own unique set of superpowers, your character strengths that can help you overcome any obstacle. But, just like any superhero, you need to learn how to use those powers effectively. And that's what we're talking about in this episode how to activate your strengths so you can use them effectively. And that's what we're talking about in this episode how to activate your strengths so you can use them effectively. We're going to start by explaining what does it mean to activate your strengths. I'll share some examples of how activating your strengths can help you in your breast cancer journey, and then I'm going to walk you through two of my favorite practices to help you activate your strengths.

Speaker 1:

Let's dive in. So, activating your strengths is about three things. Number one, it's about building awareness of your strengths, and that's about recognizing and understanding your unique character strengths. This awareness is the foundation for utilizing them. Character strengths this awareness is the foundation for utilizing them. Number two, exploring how you've used them in the past. Reflecting on past experiences where your strengths have helped you achieve your goals really provides insights into their impact and potential. And number three, applying strengths with intention by weaving them into your daily tasks and challenges.

Speaker 1:

Activating your character strengths is a powerful way to thrive during your breast cancer journey. Here's how. So, when you're facing the challenges of diagnosis, treatment and recovery, strengths like perseverance, bravery and hope can help you bounce forward from setbacks and maintain a positive outlook. Strengths like self-regulation, prudence and perspective can help you manage stress, make informed decisions and navigate difficult emotions. Using strengths like gratitude, kindness and humor can boost your mood, improve relationships and enhance your overall quality of life. And strengths like love, kindness and social intelligence can help you build and maintain supportive relationships with family, friends and other survivors. By activating your strengths, you can transform your breast cancer journey from a struggle to endure into an opportunity for growth, resilience and a deeper appreciation for life.

Speaker 1:

But before we move into the practices, let's first talk about what I mean by practice. As a noun, practice refers to the act of doing something regularly. So, for example, establishing a daily gratitude practice highlights it as a routine or a habit. Now, as a verb, practice means to perform an activity or exercise a skill repeatedly to improve or maintain proficiency. For instance, when you practice gratitude, you're actively engaging in the behavior of expressing and cultivating thankfulness. So a practice can help you activate your strengths by helping you make your strengths a natural part of your life, also helping you to get better at using your strengths and, lastly, bringing fulfillment and purpose through using your strengths. Now we're going to use a framework to introduce these practices, and that framework is called Aware, explore, apply. You can't use your strengths effectively unless you recognize them. So awareness is the first step.

Speaker 1:

The VIA survey is a valuable tool in this process, offering you a personalized character strengths profile. Now, if you've taken the survey, make sure you have it handy so that you can refer to it when we go through the practices. If you haven't taken the survey, there is a link in the show notes. You can also refer to the list of 24 character strengths, and that list is also in the show notes. The second step is exploring your strengths, because this helps you see how they work in different situations and different areas of your life. So, by reflecting on your past experiences, you can find new ways to use your strengths, build confidence and achieve your goals. So, to explore your strengths, I will guide you in a visualization. Have your character strengths profile or the list of 24 character strengths handy, but make sure you're in a safe space if you're going to do the visualization. Otherwise, just listen, take a deep breath with me in through your nose and out through your mouth.

Speaker 1:

Let's take this moment together to reflect on your character strengths, the ones that have carried you through challenges before and are here to support you now on your breast cancer journey. Think back to a time in your life when you faced something difficult and came through it, even if it was in a small way. Maybe it was navigating a tough day, supporting someone else or simply showing up when it felt hard. What strengths did you lean on in that moment? Perhaps it was bravery to take the next step, self-regulation to wait for answers, or love that kept you grounded. Now bring your focus to where you are today. Today, this journey through breast cancer can feel overwhelming, but those same strengths your bravery, self-regulation and love are still with you. They are part of you, steady and unwavering. Take a deep breath and let it out slowly. Breath and let it out slowly. You are stronger than you know and your strengths are always with you, ready to light the way. I hope you enjoyed that visualization.

Speaker 1:

Now we're ready for the third step in activating your strengths, and this step is applying your strengths. So this means we are ready to move into the practices. These practices are an opportunity to intentionally integrate your strengths into your daily routines, challenges and goals, and I just want to point out with these practices, you can use them to support you in your breast cancer journey and in other areas of your life, such as relationships, work, family, finances, et cetera. One other thing is any of the 24 character strengths can be used with these practices. So the first practice is using a signature strength in new ways, and what does this mean? This means to intentionally explore different ways to apply one of your strengths in various situations. This exercise helps you to discover new dimensions of your strengths and to integrate them more naturally into your daily life. Why would you want to use your signature strengths in new ways? Research has found that this practice gives a boost to happiness and a decrease to depression effects lasting up to six months. This is a very powerful practice. One of the things, too, with this practice is that it's recommended that you do it every day for a week, and when you use your strengths consistently, they become second nature, effortlessly influencing the way you think and act. Practicing every day allows you to deepen your connection to these strengths and also increase your confidence in using them across different contexts, so I will walk you through the steps of how to practice using a signature strength in new ways, and then I'll share an example. So the first step is to select a signature strength to focus on for the week, and then number two is to brainstorm ways you can apply this strength in different daily situations. Number three that's where you take action. That is where you're using this strength in a new way during the day. Number four is to reflect on the impact of using this strength. And number five, you're just gonna follow this process for seven days.

Speaker 1:

I'll give seven examples of using the character strength of gratitude in a different context. So the first one is using gratitude at home. So the practice for this could be writing a thank you note to a family member who has supported you during your treatment as a way to express appreciation for their care. The second context is at the doctor's office. For this one, you could use gratitude and thank your medical team, the doctors, the nurses or technicians for their expertise, their compassion and their care. The third way is to express gratitude with friends. Share gratitude with a friend who has checked in on you or offered to help, letting them know how much their support means to you. Fourth context is in your community. You could show appreciation by donating or volunteering for a local cancer support group or charity. The fifth context is applying gratitude for yourself, so this could be reflecting on your body's resilience and thanking yourself for taking the steps to prioritize your health and healing. The sixth context is online. You could post a message of gratitude for the support you've received from your online community, or you could raise awareness about acts of kindness that have touched you. And, lastly, is in the moment, so this could be taking a few minutes during a challenging day to mentally list three things you are grateful for, helping shift your perspective to hope and positivity.

Speaker 1:

Now, in my opinion, the true magic of this practice lies in reflecting on the impact of using your strengths. So, for example, gratitude is one of my signature strengths, and when I was at a doctor's appointment, I expressed gratitude to the technologist for her clear instructions and for her care while I was having a mammogram. By doing so, I felt uplifted. By expressing my appreciation, the technologist was appreciative and it led us to talking about how she landed in this profession and, before I left, we shared a hug and I departed with a smile and gratitude in my heart. I wanted to share with you a few tips to keep in mind when you are using a signature strength in new ways. You may want to have all seven of your ideas before you start your practice, or you may decide that you would prefer to come up with your ideas each day. I just encourage you to do what sets you up for success. I know for me, when I'm engaging in this practice, I find it really helpful to have all seven ideas up front. That way I can put them on my calendar and I don't forget to practice. You can also check in the show notes. There's a handout on ways that you can use any of the 24 character strengths in a new way. So check that out in the show notes. And one other tip is if you're comfortable using AI, you can use it as a tool to help you come up with creative ways to use one of your signature strengths in a new way for seven days. The VIA Institute on Character has an AI tool named Viana, your AI strengths coach. This is the one that I use the most. There's a link in the show notes if you'd like to check it out, and you can also read my testimonial about Viana on the VIA website.

Speaker 1:

Let's move to the second practice. This practice is called resource priming. Resource priming means preparing yourself mentally and emotionally. You prepare by intentionally focusing on your top strengths before facing a challenge or a situation. Essentially, it's using your strengths as a resource to set yourself up for success by tapping into the qualities that help you feel resilient, confident and empowered as you approach each step of your breast cancer journey. Now, by priming yourself in this way, you really enhance your ability to face the emotional and physical challenges of breast cancer with more clarity and purpose. It can help you feel calm under pressure and it can also help you to make decisions that are more aligned with your values and your strengths. Now, resource priming is a great practice to use when you want targeted support around a specific event or a stressor. So think about if you're going through treatment such as chemo, or maybe you have follow-up appointments, you're getting test results. Resource priming is wonderful to support you in things like that. Or you can use resource priming to help you make progress on a goal, learning a new skill or exercising. I use resource priming a lot as I'm creating content for this podcast, so let me walk you through the steps for resource priming and then I'll share an example.

Speaker 1:

Step number one is to simply identify the situation or challenge that you want to prepare for. Number two decide how you want to handle the situation. Do you want to go into the situation feeling confident, feeling focused, feeling calm? And number three, select a signature strength that fits the situation. Number four is determine how you will use your signature strength to prepare for the situation. And then number five is to reflect on how your strength helped you. So let's go through an example.

Speaker 1:

Let's say that the situation you want to prepare for is waiting for test results. Let's say that you want to approach this situation with an attitude of acceptance, focusing on positive outcomes and feeling calm, and the signature strength that you've selected is love of learning. And so you could use this strength to, let's say, gather information and become more informed about the potential outcomes, because this can help reduce anxiety that's caused by the unknown. So how might you want to prepare for this situation? Using love of learning? One way could be writing out a list of questions for your doctor, because gaining that knowledge can help you to feel more prepared.

Speaker 1:

So, once you've gotten the test results and you've applied your love of learning, it's about reflecting on how did using that strength help you? Maybe love of learning gave you a sense of control and it helped to reduce the anxiety of the unknown because you gathered information and you had questions and you felt more prepared. Or maybe you felt more prepared because you researched potential scenarios and you had questions ready for your doctor. Or you felt more empowered to discuss your options with your doctor and make informed decisions because you learned more about the test and possible outcomes. And, lastly, you discovered that you cope better with uncertainty when you use your love of learning. Because, instead of passively waiting, you discovered that you cope better with uncertainty when you're actively engaged, when you're actively learning and you realize that by passively waiting, that actually increases your anxiety, but actively learning help you to manage it.

Speaker 1:

Okay, so we have gone through the two practices to help you activate your strengths. Now it's time to put these practices into action. This week, choose one of the two practices using signature strengths in a different way, or resource priming and see how it empowers you on your breast cancer journey. Observe the impact on your daily life, your mindset and your ability to activate your strengths. Taking time to reflect on what you learn is key to continued growth. In episode five we're gonna focus on exploring deeper meaning in your breast cancer journey. I'll talk with you in the next episode. Thanks for joining.