How to identify your strengths

If you want to reach your full potential, it’s important to identify and capitalise on your top qualities. Once you know what they are, you can leverage them in your career and personal life. When you’re doing things you know you’re good at, it stands to reason that you’ll be more enthusiastic, have higher self esteem, enjoy your work more and, ultimately, enjoy greater success. So here are five pointers to identify just what those strengths are:

Think about compliments you receive

When we do things well, we are using our strengths.  So what do you do that causes people to remark positively about what you do.  Think about thecompliments you receive - they are sure to give an indicator to you about your strengths.

 Ask someone who will tell you the truth

Find someone who knows you well and ask them to tell you the truth about your strengths. This may be hard to do because most of our friends will go out of their way to tell you what they think you want to hear . Your true strengths may be different from what you think they are.

Consider how someone would describe you

How would other people describe you in just three words? Limiting yourself to just a few phrases will really help you focus on the best of the best qualities. If your best friend were to describe you, what would he say?   Find out if his answers match what you think.

 Reflect on past successes

Think of the moments you are most proud of at work and in your personal life. What qualities contributed to your success?   Determine the main reasons you were able to achieve these things and it will help you identify your strengths.

What makes you happy and why

Finally, think about what you are most happy doing at work and why.  When you think about your happiest moments at work, you’ll often realise those are the times when your strengths are at the forefront.

(adapted from an article by Molly Mosely)