Every person on this planet is unique in some way or the other. So, it makes sense to identify and tap into your unique personal strengths to fulfill your potential in life.
However, for many people, identifying their strengths is not easy. We’re all swayed by the messages we see through the media and we often listen to whatever our peers or parents tell us is right. After all, young people spend as many as 10 hours a day on their phones listening to other people and comparing their own lives to that of others.
As a result, we may be living someone else’s dream instead of following our own. If you want to start working on your own strengths, then this post is for you.
Let’s take a look at how you can identify your personal strengths and apply them to grow yourself.
Find the stories that matter to you
This suggestion comes from Simon Sinek’s book Find Your Why. To find your personal driving purpose and to identify your core values, start by sitting down in front of your computer or with a notepad and pen.
Think about great moments in your life, specific stories, or specific events where you felt especially alive and happy.
This could be the time when you cared for a loved one, led a campaign, volunteered, or when you started a small business as a kid. Perhaps it was when you went traveling to another country or when you felt your life change because of a certain book.
Write down these stories and then start looking for themes in them. It’s likely that you’ll find common themes and values under many of them. When you find these values, you’ll know what matters to you the most.
Next, ask yourself if your current life is aligned with your greatest values. If it isn’t, it may be time to make a change.
Talk to friends
Sometimes, the people who love us know us better than ourselves. They often see things where we have blind spots and they can give us insights into our behaviors and abilities that we can’t find for ourselves.
It’s a good idea to reach out to someone you can trust and to ask them what they think are your personal strengths. This person could be a mentor at work, a close friend, a parent, a former teacher, or anyone you respect who has seen you in action.
Make time to have a long conversation with them and ask them what they think that you could be good at doing. You may be surprised at their insights and the examples they may bring up highlighting your abilities.
Take some time to ponder the ideas given to you by the people you trust. You could discover an important goal in your life that you were previously unaware of.
Dismiss your fears
The truth is that most of us know exactly what we want to do. The problem is that we allow our fears to prevent us from even expressing how we feel.
You may want to become an entrepreneur but your fear of risk and other mental chatter can stop you from even recognizing this desire. For others, they may desire to get a promotion at work but thoughts of unworthiness prevent them from asking for a better job role and higher pay.
If we set aside our concerns about whether a goal is achievable or not, we are likely to have clear ideas of what we want to do in life.
So, ask yourself what you would do if there was nothing holding you back including your self-doubts. The answer that emerges will reflect your personal strengths and goals as they exist within you.
Over to you
Identifying your personal strengths can be the starting point of a new phase in your life. Once you’ve identified what you are good at and what excites you the most, you can start to make small and steady steps towards the fulfillment of your potential.
You’ll need to do your online research to find new career paths, do online courses to develop new skills, and start making new networking connections to immerse yourself in this new direction.
Over time, you’ll start moving in the direction that makes the best use of your talents. And as a result, you will enjoy life more and also impact the people around you in a positive way.