Nurture Your Strengths
Many people are under the misconception that the sole focus of my work with clients is to attend to what’s not working well in their lives. Though yes of course, obtaining what it is we want in and for our lives requires a level of attention to those areas that are weak or lacking, we often minimize or completely overlook our most powerful asset–our strengths.
For some reason, when you ask most people how they can see themselves move more proactively towards a future best self, their knee-jerk reaction is to start listing all the things they want to “fix” about themselves or their circumstances. But research clearly shows that people actually experience faster growth and development when they nurture their strengths instead of correcting their shortcomings.
Identifying and learning how to lean into our “signature” traits, those core characteristics that come most naturally to us, will be equally if not more important to reaching our goals as well as improving our overall well-being. There has been a huge amount of research over the past 15 years finding those people who know and use their strengths on a regular basis are much more fulfilled, report a higher quality of life, and have much more fun at work. A great resource and tool that I have come to use personally and love to share with clients comes from The Via Institute. They put together a list of 24 character strengths where you can measure yourself through a simple 15-minute online assessment learning more about your strengths and how to leverage them. The assessment is free and can be easily downloaded using this public link: www.viacharacter.org.
Of course, this is not to suggest we ignore making efforts to improve those areas we are weak in but rather, in addition, nurture and utilize our strengths to see where they may be able to support or lessen areas of weakness. It’s in both these actions where we can create the greatest likelihood for success.
Wishing You Always The Best Of Success
-Holly-