Use Your Strengths, Improve Your Well-Being

Americans who spend more of their day using their strengths to do what they do best are less likely to be stressed, worried, and sad. For example, more than half of those who say they only used their strengths for three hours or less the day before the survey reported feeling stressed compared with 36% of those who reported using their strengths for 10 hours or more.

Those who report using their strengths a lot during the day also report having more energy and feeling more well-rested. Not to mention, they are happier and much more likely to say they learned something interesting "yesterday."

But most Americans aren't using their strengths enough daily to reap these emotional rewards. Seventy-six percent of adults use their strengths for fewer than 10 hours per day -- and 57% use them for six hours or less.

Gallup is asking Americans about their strengths usage through the Gallup Daily tracking survey and will continue to reveal new findings in the months ahead. While the question Gallup asks doesn't define strengths, Gallup itself defines strengths as activities for which one can provide consistent near-perfect performance. And, Gallup's Clifton StrengthsFinder -- which more than 8 million people worldwide have taken -- tests for 34 specific strengths, resulting in a unique top five strengths. For example, this writer's top five strengths are: Strategic, Responsibility, Ideation, Achiever, and Learner.

Gallup will explore the relationship between strengths and physical health and productivity in future articles. Sign up for email alerts about strengths to stay up to date on the latest findings.