Being the best version of yourself isn’t about ignoring your weaknesses, but emphasising your strong points, and using them to live a happy and meaningful life.
By applying your strengths, you can be happier and feel more confident – even your self-esteem is improved. And when you help others realise their gifts, you build stronger relationships with greater collaboration and harmony.
The first step to is to find the things that bring you joy. These might be tasks that you do well at, which can provide you with confidence and competence.
Test your skills
If you want a more formal way of finding out about your character strengths, you can find free questionnaires online.
It can be enlightening to step back and see where your positive attributes really lie – make sure you answer honestly so the results are accurate!
Check your mood
Be aware of which tasks energise you and which ones leave you feeling drained. Knowing your strengths is about self-awareness. Take a moment to think about how you feel after completing tasks you enjoy and are passionate about, compared to ones where you have done the bare minimum.
Work together
Everyone brings different assets to a team, so instead of trying to do it all, look for others that might be great at the tasks you don’t find energising. This can help to compensate for your weaknesses and working together can be far more effective.
Identify role models
People who make the most of life intentionally seek others to learn from. Who do you know that you look up to? What strengths do they show? By understanding these, it can help you grow and develop your own abilities.
Listen to others
Ask your family, friends and colleagues what they think your strengths are and examples of when you’ve used them. Ask them to jot down three points that illustrate times when they’ve seen you at your best. This will provide great insight and you can ask yourself, “Am I using my strengths the way I want?”
