How to Find One of Your Strengths

1. Track It
2. Name It
3. Use It

1 – Track It
Track and record your strengths for a week. When did you “love the game”? When were you happily lost in the flow of a project; whether work-related or not? Get specific. What exactly was going on? Who were you interacting with?

2 – Name It
Take one of those magical moments you tracked and say it more generally and in the present tense, so that you can more universally put that strength into action.

For example, “The time flew by Tuesday afternoon when I turned off my email for one hour and researched the statistics needed for the Jones report" could become “I’m at my best when I’m working alone and can devote a block of uninterrupted time to a part of a project that interests me.”

3 – Use It
What is one small, specific way you can use this strength just a little bit more this coming week? Tell someone about your intention. Write it on a stickie note, put a reminder in your calendar, find a way to remember to give it a try again this week. Then after you’ve used it, notice how you felt. If it felt good, schedule it again. If you dreaded it, or didn’t enjoy it at all, it wasn’t a strength. Now repeat the process. Every time you discover one of your strengths and use it, you’re performing better and making your life and those around you better.