Did you know that things you have been criticized all your
life for, are likely a strength for you?
It is true!
My entire life I’ve been told I’m impulsive and that I “jump
before I look.” Well guess what one of
my top strengths is? Activator!
Turns out, I’m terrific at getting things
started! I make quick assessments of
situations and have a leaning towards action versus sitting around pondering.
However,
if my Activator strength is out of balance and, what I call in “overdrive,” I
tend to be impulsive and I “jump before I look.”
Know
Your Strengths
Knowing
what your stregths are (whether through the use of instruments such as the
Strengths Finder, Myers-Briggs Inventory, or simply by asking close relationships
what your strengths are) is a key strategy to success.
While
we, in the West, have been trained to pour into our weak points and allow the
strong suits take care of themselves, the opposite, it turns out, is true. In research done by Don Clifton at the Gallup
corporation, it has been proven that if an individual will manage his or her
weaker points but develop the strengths, greater growth will be experienced.
Use
Your Strengths
I
have experienced the greatest successes in my life when I have been using my
strengths. Never have I known as much
success in focusing on a weaker area.
You and I are wired to use those strengths we were given in this
life. So, use your strengths!
Develop
Your Strengths
But
just having strengths alone does not mean you are finished. You must pour into those strengths, develop
them. While we’ve been trained to let
those strengths take care of themselves, again, the opposite is true. Develop your strengths, spend time getting
better and better. Professional and Olympic
athletes do not spend time trying to be “well-rounded” when they are at the
peak of their career-no! They spend
hours every day repeating a move, running a sprint, or honing in on a muscle
group to assure performance.
In
the mean time, if I’m GREAT at writing but stink in math, the teachers pull me
completely out of writing and put me in double math. Guess what-I will never achieve my greatest
success as a mathematician. It’s the
writing that is going to carry me further.
Sure,
I need to understand basic math (yes, even Algebra) and get through to a high
quality of life level, but my greatest gains will not be in math. Rather, spending time working on my grammar,
understanding sentence structure, plot, and other writing topics will carry me
beyond my dreams in math.
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