How many of us know our weaknesses? I am sure you already do. But weaknesses don’t really deserve your attention. Successful leaders say that one should focus more on their strengths instead of their weaknesses. You should focus on your strengths.
We end up using most of our time and effort on improving our weaknesses. In doing so, our strengths are ignored. We tend to focus so much on the surrounding negative that we miss out on all the positive energy nature and people around us are giving. I got a chance to do an apprenticeship with a life coach and I learned a lot of valuable lessons throughout my time. It encouraged me to use my Cox cable services for learning new skills. Don’t get me wrong, I still use the Internet for entertainment, but I also use it for learning. I am watching TED Talks these days.
If you feel like you are surrounded by negative energy, and you seem to have lost your strengths, try these unusual ways to get back on track:
#1: How Do Different Activities Make You Feel?
My life coach said we often identify our strengths and weaknesses in the wrong way. Strengths are the things we are good at and weaknesses are the things we are bad at.
The coach said a better way to figure out your strengths and weaknesses is by identifying what energizes you. He said something is a strength if:
- It makes you feel successful
- You are naturally drawn to it
- Whenever you are doing it, you are fully engaged
- Once you are done with that activity, you feel powerful and energized
It is possible that you are good at something, but you hate it. It’s not the type of strength you should focus on. The things that energize you have the potential to be your strength even if you are not good at them.
#2: Get Brutally Honest With Yourself
You cannot identify your strengths until you get honest with yourself. You know yourself better than anyone else. So start jotting downs the good and bad things about yourself. Trust me, this is going to help you a lot moving forward.
#3: Crowdsource
If you are finding a hard time seeing your strength, ask people around you. Ask your friends, family members, coworkers, or even mentors.
Some people might respond in a way that is unhelpful. For instance, if you ask your mom, she might say you are good at everything. Don’t fret. Just take that as a compliment and move to another person for feedback. The whole idea is to identify the things you haven’t thought of on your own.
#4: Take a Personality Test
Another thing that will help you identify your strengths is taking a personality test. It’s easy to find them online these days. To get accurate results, you might have to pay some amount to take the test.
You will get a list of your strengths at the end of the test. They may nor may not be accurate.
#5: Create a List of Accomplishments
You must have accomplished something so far in life. List them down for identifying your values, skills, and interests.
List down only those accomplishments which you are proud of such as getting a book published, learning how to drive a car, getting a promotion, etc. For instance, my greatest accomplishments include learning Photoshop so that I could get a job of a marketing manager. I felt that I love learning new things, and I am dedicated to doing the work that is required of me. So, these are my strengths.
#6: Use Your Strengths
Once you have successfully identified your strengths, it is time to use them. Don’t waste your time feeling bad about your weaknesses. Of course, you must work on improving them too but don’t neglect your strengths either. Here are some ways you can put your strengths to use:
- Make your co-workers see your strength and take their attention away from your weakness
- Spend more time training around your strength
- Spend time with those colleagues who share one of the same strengths as yours
The more you work on your strengths, the more they will be recognized by people.
Conclusion
Every person in this world must know their strengths. Now that I have recognized my strength is the curiosity to learn, I make use of my WOW Internet plans to search for online courses. I have a whole wishlist of stuff I want to learn. If all else has failed, you too should try these methods to figure out what you are good at
