Do you know your strengths and weaknesses? If not, you’re missing out on a valuable opportunity to improve your life and achieve your goals.
Knowing your strengths and weaknesses can help you in many ways. It can help you set realistic goals, make better decisions, build confidence, and be more productive. Below I’ll break these down a little further.
- Set realistic goals. When you know what you’re good at, you can set goals that are challenging but achievable. This will help you stay motivated and on track. The worst thing you can do for yourself is to set a lofty goal that causes you to get unmotivated and lose momentum fast. I tend to be guilty of this and am realizing that smalls goals add up to those big goals that I have. If you are anything like me, setting a small goal felt insignificant, not as “sexy” and to be honest I would shame myself into believing I was somehow not believing in myself enough if I chose to start small. Now, I realize that is the very thinking and mentality that held me back. It caused me to feel so unaccomplished and unfulfilled because I failed to stay focused on the small things long enough to accomplish the big goal.
- Make better decisions. When you know your strengths and weaknesses, you can make better decisions about your career, education, and personal life. You’ll be able to choose opportunities that play to your strengths and avoid those that will be too challenging for you. Again, don’t allow your mind to trick you into feeling like you are running away from hard things and not having what it takes to do challenging things. But here’s the thing, in whatever position you are put in you want to make the most impact possible in order to progress the fastest. So look at it like my first point and start small to build up to the bigger challenges. Which leads me to my next point where you will build your confidence.
- Build confidence. When you know your strengths, you’ll feel more confident in your abilities. This will help you take risks, try new things, and achieve your goals. See!? There is definitely strategy here. Having the confidence to go after something a little more challenging helps you become the kind of person who eventually welcomes a challenge because you know this new challenge will be no different from all the others you figured out and crushed!
- Be more productive. When you focus on your strengths, you’ll be more productive and efficient. You’ll be able to do the things you’re good at quickly and easily, which will free up your time to do other things. Can you imagine what takes you 2 hours now, taking less that 30 minutes? That’s what becoming more efficient can do for you. Or even better, outsourcing certain aspects once you have a proven and written down process that someone can follow. Now that is something I dream about being able to do soon!
So how can you identify your strengths and weaknesses? Here are a few tips:
- Reflect on your past experiences. Think about the things you’ve been good at in the past. What are you naturally good at? What do you enjoy doing?
- Ask for feedback from others. Ask your friends, family, and colleagues for their honest feedback on your strengths and weaknesses.
- Take a strengths assessment. There are many online strengths assessments that can help you identify your strengths. ( I found this one in a quick Google search https://high5test.com/identifying-personal-strengths/)
Once you’ve identified your strengths and weaknesses, you can start to use this information to your advantage. Here are a few ideas:
- Focus on your strengths. When you’re faced with a challenge, think about how you can use your strengths to overcome it.
- Work on your weaknesses. Don’t ignore your weaknesses, but don’t let them hold you back either. Find ways to improve your weaknesses, but don’t focus on them too much.
- Find a mentor. Find someone who has strengths that you admire. Ask them for advice on how to develop your own strengths.
Recognizing your strengths and weaknesses is an important part of self-awareness. When you know what they are, you can use this information to achieve your goals and live a more fulfilling life.
Here are some additional benefits of recognizing your strengths and weaknesses:
- It can help you find your purpose in life. When you know what you’re good at and what you enjoy doing, you can start to look for ways to use your strengths to make a difference in the world.
- It can help you build stronger relationships. When you’re aware of your strengths and weaknesses, you can be more effective in communicating with others. You’ll be able to play to your strengths and avoid situations that will highlight your weaknesses.
- It can help you manage stress. When you know your strengths and weaknesses, you can start to develop coping mechanisms for dealing with stress. You’ll be able to focus on your strengths and avoid situations that will trigger your weaknesses.
So if you’re not sure what your strengths and weaknesses are, take some time to reflect on your past experiences and ask for feedback from others. Once you’ve identified your strengths and weaknesses, you can start to use this information to improve your life and achieve your goals.
Check out this free resource I created to help you do just that! Click the link below!
https://crafty-experimenter-2729.ck.page/bb9fbc3dd0
Next month in our inspiration series, we’ll talk about asking for help and articulating accomplishments.
Until then, I pray you are blessed!
