Good Experience Questionnaire Preparation for a Dependable Strengths Workshop

The Dependable Strengths Articulation Process ^TM

The philosophy of DSAP is simple: there is excellence in everyone. This excellence can be seen early and continues throughout life. Dependable Strengths are a core set of skills, talents, or traits a person possesses and deems essential to their life. These strengths are concentrated in what is referred to as Good Experiences- unique events in our lives. Good Experiences are NOT the same as nice times or good memories although they may be connected to these. Good Experiences are found any time in life and any part of life.

Good Experience Definition

Something you feel you did well Something you enjoyed doing Something you are proud of

Elaborations:

1. SOMETHING YOU DID ...you actively made it happen, it was not just something that happened to you, or you were indirectly involved in.

Example: No: I went to my nieces quinceanera and had a great time. Yes: I planned and organized my daughters quinceanera for over 200 guests, including making the dress, designing the invitations, preparing the food and arranging for flowers and the photographer. My daughter was thrilled, and the guests were happy.

2. YOU FEEL YOU DID WELL ...you are the only judge; it does not matter how someone else may evaluate it.
3. YOU ENJOYED DOING....the experience was accompanied by joy. There are many things we do well, yet do not enjoy; only the things you ENJOY are Good Experiences.
4. YOU ARE PROUD OF....the experience was accompanied by a sense of pride.
5. A Good Experience is a specific, concrete event with a time, place, action, and outcome - not general life milestones like graduating, raising children etc. To identify Good Experiences within these milestones, ask yourself, What specifically did I do in that experience that I feel I did well, enjoyed and am proud of? Give a concrete example.
6. Some Good Experiences may involve a great accomplishment or success, yet, often our Good Experiences are a small triumph in life, that others may know nothing about, that give us a sense of satisfaction and fulfillment. Please do not eliminate anything because it seems silly, trivial, or unimportant.
7. Good Experiences have no value judgement and may not necessarily fit into a societal or cultural norm.
8. Good Experiences come from any time or any part of life, from childhood to the present day and all areas of life. Review all intersecting identities (work, faith, gender identification, culture, family system, different abilities etc.) and your full life (home, school, work, faith-based communities, hobbies etc.) for Good Experiences. Do not limit yourself to just one or two areas. It may be helpful to think about each five-year period of your life and search it for Good Experiences.

Your Good Experiences Something you feel you did well, enjoyed doing and are proud of

1. What is the Good Experience that first comes to your mind? (Briefly write it here).

2. What activities give you the most pleasure when you are not at work? Give two or more examples.

3. In your latest assignment, activity, or work experience, which parts did you do best and enjoy most? Give three or more parts.

4. Below, briefly describe as many of your Good Experiences as you can (all parts/times of life and all identity groups). Try to identify at least 15.

5. Prioritize your top 5 Good Experiences, 1 being your favorite and so on.

6. In the spaces below, describe each of your top 5 Good Experiences. For each one, summarize the experience with details about what you did when making it happen and your age at the time.

GE 1

GE 2

GE 3

GE 4

GE 5