Find your Strengths and Thrive!
What are my strengths
In order to develop a career that really suits you, it’s important to have a basic knowledge of your key strengths. Unlike skills or knowledge you can acquire through education and training, your strengths are more intrinsic to your unique DNA. For the most part you were born with them and they come natural to us. You can certainly continue to develop new skills, but in the area of your strengths you have an unfair advantage. If you are smart, you will leverage your strengths.
Your strengths are things that come naturally and easily to you. Your brain has neural networks wired with these strengths which can allow your genius and greatness to emerge. You couldn’t really teach someone to be as good as you are unless they’re predisposed to have a strength in that area.
Assess your Strengths
There are serveral tests you can take to help assess your personal strengths. The one I recommend most is the Strengths Finder Test, which can be accessed online with a key from the book called Strengths Finder 2.0. This questionnaire will help you identify your top strengths with an emphasis on career-related abilities.
I took this test and here are my top 5 strengths. The results for my top 5 strengths were, in order:
Spirituality: sense of purpose and faith You have strong and coherent beliefs about the higher purpose and meaning of the universe. You know where you fit in the larger scheme. Your beliefs shape your actions and are a source of comfort to you.
Perspective (wisdom) :Although you may not think of yourself as wise, your friends hold this view of you. They value your perspective on matters and turn to you for advice. You have a way of looking at the world that makes sense to others and to yourself.
Industry, diligence, and perseverance: You work hard to finish what you start. No matter the project, you “get it out the door” in timely fashion. You do not get distracted when you work, and you take satisfaction in completing tasks.
Curiosity and interest in the world: You are curious about everything. You are always asking questions, and you find all subjects and topics fascinating. You like exploration and discovery.
Honesty, authenticity, and genuineness: You are an honest person, not only by speaking the truth but by living your life in a genuine and authentic way. You are down to earth and without pretense; you are a “real” person.
If anyone of you know me personally, these top five strengths are accurately reflect who I am. It is always good to review your strengths and reflect on them.
Understand your Strengths
Once you assess your strengths, it’s important to understand what they mean on a practical a way. What kinds of tasks are well-suited to you? You will find that often your strengths can create great frustration. Currently, I am working with a young man with a leadership gift. When he works in an environment where there is a leadership vacuum, he will either take charge or really get frustrated. Some our strengths can act like weaknesses to us.
It is important that you can see your strengths at work and that you can articulate them. With this understanding you will be able to make better choices about your career and understand why you may feel frustrated in different situations.
Apply your Strengths
You’ll be happiest working in a career that allows you to take advantage of your strengths on a daily basis. This will enable you to make a significant contribution to your field. You will be able to develop excellence in the area of your strength.
Based on my strengths, an ideal career for me would be one that leverages my spirituality and wisdom in helping people find meaning in their personal and professional lives. My love for knowledge, and my strong drive to complete projects adds a project and learning orientation. I would be great in a profession where I can communicate my knowledge, help people find meaning their lives, and accomplish significant projects. Jobs that might be best suited for me might include a teacher, manager, coach, writer, author or spiritual leader.
I suggest you take at least one assessment test to gain clarity about your natural strengths. With greater clarity you will be able fine tune your career focus. Working from your strengths will help you:
- be far more productive
- get better results,
- contribute more value
- attract higher compensation
- enjoy your work and it will be more meaningful
- experience greater fulfillment and sanctification
So take action and take a Strength Finder test and share it with someone today!
Categories: Leadership, Personal Development Tags: career, development, focus, satisfaction, smart, strengths, strengths finder
10 Steps to Get Your Needs Met: Why aren’t my needs met? Part 2
So you want what,at you want when you want it? Well everyone knows it doesn’t really work like that, right? Sometimes I wonder. If we figured all this out, then why do relationships fail, people quit jobs, and life becomes very bumpy if we don’t learn how to negotiate getting our needs met?
Unmet needs can be a fundamental driver impacting individuals, families, organizations, and nations. Because we have not mastered the skill of managing these drivers in our lives, conflicts often result between nations, husband and wife, employer and employee, etc.. If you learn to develop mastery in this area and find ways to get your needs met in a healthy way (with integrity), you will be happier, live longer, and have less disappointments.
A need is a lack of something deemed necessary. Typically we look at needs as the basics constituents required for our basic well being. It might include physical elements like shelter, safety, and food. Next we may have emotional needs for acceptance, affirmation and belonging to a family or community. Our mental needs may include the needing to be challenged and learning, and our spiritual needs have to do with our connection with ourselves(identity) and our creator. We need our basic needs met in order to be effective in life and become healthy contributors. When those basic needs are not met, we can be driven by them consciously or unconsciously. The worst case is when we have unmet needs that drive our behavior and we don’t realize it.
You may unknowingly driven by these needs which may impact your decisions. For instance, why do you think people stay in unhealthy relationships that are not mutually beneficial for each other? Unmet needs and feeling there is no other way to get them met may be keeping them their. Or perhaps you don’t want to leave your job even though you are miserable at it because you are comfortable there and it meets your basic needs for provision. The pain of breaking off the relationship or leaving the job is far greater than the benefit of learning how to get your needs met in a healthy relationship or with a new employer.
I know I may be stating the obvious here, but learning how to get your needs met is a skill. People learn a vocation and get jobs so their physical needs are met. Everyone needs a place to live, food, and transportation. In the same way, we can develop skills to get our emotional, mental, and spiritual needs met. Most of just let it happen without being intentional about it. We attempt to get our needs for affirmation and acceptance met by default without a strategy and plan in place. When we don’t succeed, we can often experience great pain of rejection, insecurity, and loneliness.
The good news is, just as we have developed skills to get our physical needs met, we can develop skills to get our emotional, mental, and spiritual needs met. Here are some tips on learning how to get your emotional needs met.
1) Admit your Need: Don’t be in denial. Admit you have a need, everyone does. It is not a sign of weakness, but our humanity. We need one another. That is how the system was designed.
2) Identify your Needs: Make a list of your needs. They could be mental, emotional, physical, or spiritual. If you are struggling with this, I suggest you download our Need Worksheet. See the download link below
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3) Assess the Scope: After identifying your needs, evaluate who big a need it is. Use the ranking of 1 to 10. 1 being not significant, and 10 being a big deal. This will help you prioritize the big hitters.
4) What happens when the need goes unmet? Determine what happens when this need goes unmet and what the consequences are. Look at the need not being met over the short and long term.
5) Evaluate what is working and what is not: Look at your history, and brainstorm those needs are getting met and why? What role did you play in the process? What needs are getting met, and why? In what ways have you not communicated your needs or acted in ways so those needs could not get met?
6) Envision what it would look like to have your needs met: Look into the future and think about what life would be like if those top needs were met? How would this change your life? Perspective? Decisions you make?
7) Start with Yourself: How can you begin to meet some of those needs yourself? For example, if you have a need for acceptance, how can you begin to accept yourself? If you are lonely, how could you begin to break out of that pattern? Could you spend some time with someone else that is lonely?
Communicate your needs to others: Many needs go unmet because we do not cleary articulate them to our friends and family. Tell people about your needs and how it would help you. Make it simple. Don’t be demanding or place unrealistic expectations on others.
9) Let people know when that need has been met: When people meet a need, be sure to thank them and affirm them. People generally like helping others. Affirming someone can strengthen the connection.
10) Never give up and be persistent: Regardless of how good or bad you have it, never give up. Never feel like it is useless. You can learn the skills of getting your needs met. If you are really in the pits, ask God to help you.
What do you think?
Are you in touch with your needs?
What happens when your needs are not met?
What would like look like if all your needs were met?
Categories: Identity, Personal Development, Relationships Tags: 10 steps, break through, emotional intelligence, fulfillment, Personal Development, relationships, satisfaction, success
