Everybody has strengths, even if you haven’t felt like you know what your strengths are yet. Understanding our strengths is a process that we all go through! When I looked back on my life, I saw how the things I did helped improve my strengths. We all naturally gravitate towards certain things and that is based on what our strengths are. If you want to understand your strengths and improve them, this 4 step process is what I did to get a better understanding of what was inside me all along.

Step 1: Ask yourself what makes you feel energized and excited.
First things first, you know yourself better than anyone else. There are things that you get excited about and give you energy. Reflect on what those things are. Remember, this is not about your job or one aspect of your life, this is about anything that gets you excited in any area of your life. Your strengths are what you use in your job, or business, or friendships…everything! They are the building blocks of who you are.

Try writing down a few of the things that come to mind. Write down why they get you excited, be specific in your answers.

Step 2: Take a strength assessment.
This may sound like a silly step but believe me, it will help you focus in on the strength areas in your life. When you see the results in front of you, it helps to solidify the reality that you do indeed have strengths! I recommend trying out a free strength test online just for starters! This will give you a little bit of direction for the following steps. Here is a good free one from the Institute on Character for starters: https://bit.ly/2WMpDaY

After you finish the quiz, ask yourself how your strengths influence the things that make you energized and excited. Do you see how your strengths being used in what you enjoy most? It’s important to have written down what makes you excited before taking the strength test in order to see what your genuine responses are. The test is just meant to provide insight into what you already know to be true.

Step 3: Think about what people come to you for.
We each have passions to share and your friends will come to you when they see your natural strength in an area. Reflect back on times when your friends or family looked to you for guidance or relied on you. Notice any recurring themes between different situations. Think about how you influence people. Do you infuse positivity in the world around you? Do you befriend who need a friend? Do you stand up for a special cause close to your heart?

Don’t be discouraged if people haven’t fully noticed your strength yet. There are many strengths that might not be noticeable to others because they are things you do internally. They are your thoughts processes and the way you feel about the world. It’s your journey so move on to step 4 in complete confidence of your strengths.

Step 4: Find ways to live out your strengths.
Now that you have a better idea of what excites and energizes you, what your base strengths are and how you can influence people, start thinking about ways that you put that strength into practice. Your strengths are the things that naturally come to you, but they can also be improved.  Think of practical ways that you can live out your strengths. Write down one thing you can start doing today. For example, if your strength is to show love and compassion to others, maybe think of someone you can encourage through a hand written note.

Be bold and confident in who you are and what you can do but always be able to admit that you don’t know everything. Never stop learning from others. Everyone has different strengths and weaknesses and you never know which of your strengths could benefit someone who has a weakness in that area. When we know our strengths and understand our weaknesses we can all succeed together.

Connect the Dots

Go through these 4 steps this week to understand at least one of your strengths better. Find ways to start living out that strength and practice it intentionally for one week. See how you feel at the end of the week, did you improve your strength? Did your strength benefit others? What can you do next week to continue?

We are all so much stronger when we live in our strengths. 

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