This week continues the journey of self-discovery. Last week, we began our discussion of the different ways people are primed. Knowing how you are primed allows you to gain a deeper understanding of why you think the way you do. It also allows you insights into how best to increase your happiness. This week’s exercise is a sentence completion designed to focus on your skillset. The key is to be completely honest with yourself and to think deeply before completing this sentence, “I am proud that I can….”

Really focus on who you are as person and the skills you have that bring you pride. It can be the skill of listening, talking, exercising, or any other such thing. Don’t feel discouraged if nothing immediately comes to mind. Take your time. Everyone has something worthy of pride. Think of a moment in life when you felt proud, or when someone expressed feeling pride for you. What were the skills that you used in that moment? Owning your greatness is a gift you can give yourself that will increase your happiness. If you need help, talk to a friend or family member and ask if they were you, what would they feel proud of?

It is helpful to note that a negatively primed person will think that this exercise will result in “conceit” or some other negative outcome. A positively primed person will list things that feel good but are not too taxing come up with. A neutrally primed person will view “pride” as a big emotion and question what is worthy of such a big emotion? Moving past how we are primed allows us to train our brain not to make snap judgements and to think more deeply. Thinking deeply and being more introspective enriches our thought process and lives.