“Treasure, you use foolishly or wisely”
You are made of your strengths. Your strengths are part of your identity. And your identity makes you who you are. Discovering and developing your strengths is the first and the most important step you can take on your way to success. Understanding success is highly individual, just like the strengths you already possess, and knowing and applying these strengths can transform your life.
Strengths start with talents, patterns in thinking and behavior that are consistent and reliable. When we add knowledge and skills, talents become strengths. Building success on your strengths requires being fully committed to recognizing and turning strengths into action. Strengths have nothing to do with your education, experience or skills you have acquired. Similar to the passions and interests in your life, strengths are relatively stable throughout life. Think of any activity you perform on a daily basis, running, administrative work or leading people. With good training and practice you are good. Good, but not the best runner or leader in history. Yeah, but why some people are great!? What makes them so great? Great achievers discover and build their strengths and they are not trying to be good at everything.Your greatest strengths open up unlimited potential. Otherwise, you are setting yourself up for something smaller than you can achieve. Great achievers play big and they play to their strengths.
There are many examples of great achievers and their achievements based on their strengths. Walt Disney recognised and nurtured his vision and creativity. This has led to the creation of Disneyland and a number of memorable classic characters, such as Mickey Mouse, Daffy Duck and Peter Pan, children across the world have come to know. Mr. Sherlock Holmes was one the best problem-solving thinkers and observers; his incredible ability to notice and draw deductions from seemingly trivial details was his main tool for solving the crimes he investigated. He worked devotedly on improving himself and he used to admit “there is always something” that he missed or misinterpreted.
Ready to make a difference based on your greatest strengths? Steps to follow:
– Decide to make a difference with your strengths, say YES to your strengths
– Discover or rediscover your strengths
– Focus on your strengths instead of your weaknesses
– Work on developing and improving your strengths diligently
