Identifying your strengths is the key to your future and happiness

If you’re like I was a few years ago, you probably think your strengths are the things you’re good at. This is only partly correct.

Lets dig a little deeper. Have you ever been asked to do something, or been paid very well to do something, that you don’t enjoy?

If you answered yes, then you have identified something you’re good at – a talent or a skill, yes, but a strength, no.

I was being pulled into project after project and while I was getting good feedback, the tasks left me feeling completely drained afterwards and dreading the next one.

So what is a strength then? It’s a combination of three things –

• something you’re good at,
• something you’re inspired to do more of, and
• something that leaves you feeling energised.

We spend far too much time trying to fix our weaknesses or getting better at tasks we really don’t enjoy doing, when instead we should focus on identifying and building our strengths.

If you can identify a few things that clearly meet this criteria and find ways to do more of those activities in your job, you’ll not only improve your future, but your happiness as well.

Over time, you may even see a shift in the balance of the tasks in your job that energise you rather than exhaust you. When you do, its a sure ticket to better performance, more motivation and greater satisfaction.

If you want to explore this further, I recommend reading the very practical book Go Put Your Strengths to Work by Marcus Buckingham. You can order it online from Amazon. Click here to order.

There is also a great Youtube clip from Scott Dinsmore whose mission is to help people find out what excites them and build a career based on this. Warning the clip may change what type of job you want! Click here to view.

Need help identifying your strengths or ways to incorporate your strengths into your job? Give me a call or send me an email to arrange a coaching session.