Everybody has a positive history. So the strengths approach encourages people to learn from their achievements. ‘But I have not achieved anything,” somebody may say. Actually, they have, so it can be good to help them to clarify their past successes. They can then use this knowledge to create a positive future. Here are three steps for making this happen.

1) You can encourage them to describe their positive history.

Invite the person to list all the things they have achieved in their life. You may say something like: “Start by drawing a time-line down the side of the paper. Go from 0 to your present age. Beginning from as early as you can remember, list all the things you have achieved in your life. These can be small and big things. Continue until you get to the present day.” Here is one person’s list of achievements.

2) You can encourage them to learn from their positive history.

Encourage the person to talk through their achievements. Certainly this may take a long time, but it is well worthwhile. Going through each point in depth, you may say something like:

“Tell me about this example. What actually happened? What did you do right then? What were the principles you followed to overcome the challenge or reach the goal? How can you follow similar principles in the future?”

Three things may happen as the person revisits their positive history. a) They grow in confidence – realising that they already have successful patterns. b) They identify the principles that enabled them to be successful. c) They start focusing on how they can follow these principles in the future. So then it is easy to move to the next stage.

3) You can encourage them to shape their positive future.

You may want to say something like: “Let’s move onto shaping your future. Looking ahead, consider what you want to achieve in the years ahead. First, start by drawing a time-line showing your future years. Second, taking each 5 year stage in turn, brainstorm and then settle on the things you would like to achieve during each periods. If you wish, focus on both your personal and professional life. Certainly it is impossible to predict the future – but it can be useful to clarify what you want to achieve or leave behind. This can become a useful road-map to look at – and possibly change - now and again in the future.”

Doctors invite people to describe their history of health and illness. The strengths approach applies a similar discipline, but exploring their positive history. This is a good exercise to use in a one-to-one session or, if appropriate, in a strengths workshop. People are able to find their successful principles – then follow these to shape a positive future.

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