Easy Ways to Identify Your Strengths
Easy Ways to Identify Your Strengths
You probably hear the phrase often, “If you love what you do, you will never work a day in your life,” but the truth is it can be challenging to discover your true passions, let alone what you are good at. Identifying your strengths and weaknesses doesn’t have to be an overwhelming task.
All you need to do is look within yourself and pay attention to your actions and your feelings. Asking yourself the following questions can help you discover what you’re good at.
What are my hopes and dreams?
What makes you feel happy and motivates you? Ask yourself as many questions as you need to discover yourself truly. Having a great understanding of oneself can lead to discovering your true potential.
These questions are essential to ask, but the most significant thing of importance is answering the questions truthfully. This is because while you may be naturally good at many things, the key to discovering a real talent also means that you like what you’re doing. You may like baking bread well enough, but that doesn’t always translate into a loved career.
Being excited to do something gives you the motivation to do what it takes to be good at it. Because being good at something, even when you like it, takes practice. It can help you also if you may not have a natural talent, but you will have the motivation to do what it takes to improve your skills.
What skills allowed me to succeed in school or work?
What are the skills that you possess that allowed you to finish school or get promoted at your job? Write these skills down and then look within yourself to see which of these do you genuinely enjoy. Is there is something on this list that makes you excited as well? Remember, just because you are good at something doesn’t mean it is one of your strengths or that you even like it.
What skills do my parents or loved ones see in me?
When in doubt, ask your friends, family, and coworkers for advice. If they are around you a lot, especially at work, they will want to help. Coworkers and friends often see the value in others quickly because it benefits them to know. Don’t be shy to ask.
How can I continue to learn new things?
Discovering your strengths and talents also means you need to give yourself the time and availability to learn new things. You may not even know you are good at something because you never tried it. Make it a goal to try something new every month. It can be as simple as reading a new book about a topic of interest. The more you know, the more you can discover about yourself.
How do I spend your free time?
When all the important stuff is out of the way, what are you doing? What activities are you filling up your free time with or can’t wait to get to after work? Look at your hobbies and the activities you do when you are free and see how this translates.
As you can see, taking the time to discover yourself is the key to finding your strengths. Once you can outline these strengths, you can use them to lead a happy and fulfilling life.