“Make the most of yourself….for that is all there is of you.” ― Ralph Waldo Emerson
Working on your weaknesses is not enough when it comes to striving to achieve success in anything you do. Not only is it not enough, it’s actually a hindrance to reaching your true fullest potential. Focusing and working to improve your weaknesses is a hindrance in the sense that it takes your time and focus away from working on building and improving on your strengths instead.
While trying to improve on your weaknesses seems like a noble and just cause to become more well rounded at whatever it is that you may be striving to be successful at, it is actually more productive and useful to improve and get better at the things that you are already good at or feel strong while doing them. When you do that, you use your natural strengths as leverage.
Find Your Strengths and Succeed
The term leverage is used in many different contexts, and all it basically refers to is taking advantage of what you already have and using it to get increased output. When you’re talking about your strengths, it’s no different. By seeking to find your strengths and focusing on and improving them, you give yourself the opportunity to excel in those more specific areas to get maximum results.
If you only worked on overcoming your weakness, you might miss the chance to become great or an expert in an area where you would have an advantage because of it already being your strength. When you stop to think about how the concept of leveraging your strengths can better improve your results, it makes perfect sense. Use the power of leverage and take yourself to the next level!
“There is only one corner of the universe you can be certain of improving, and that’s your own self.” ― Aldous Huxley
Any type of success requires constant improvement and there’s no better way to achieve that than to work on your strengths. Before you can take advantage of your strengths you need to find out what they are. There are various tools and methods to help you determine what your strengths are, from surveys to self assessments to gathering feedback from other people who know you well.
These various types of assessments can be easily found with a little research and by finding one or even a combination of them that you can use to help find your strengths is where you want to start. Despite what most people think, don’t get caught up on working to improve your weaknesses. By working on your strengths you’ll excel more quickly with more motivation and confidence.
Leveraging your strengths is the key, but you have to find what your true strengths are before you can leverage them. Stay positive in your approach to finding them and be open to whatever feedback you’re given. Even if you don’t agree, be humble enough to accept it. Once you know what your strengths are you can focus on improving, fine tuning and polishing those strengths.
When you work on those things that are your most natural strengths, the more you will learn and the more you will grow and the more you will develop those strengths so that you can excel at achieving your goals. Because when you feel good while doing something, it gives you the drive to continue doing it. So, find your strengths, work on improving them and success will follow.
“Everybody has talent, but ability takes hard work.” ― Michael Jordan
Find your strengths to find success. Surveys, self assessments, gathering feedback from people who know you well are some ways to figure out your strengths. After the surveys, self assessments and feedback are done, nothing can happen without action. Unless you take the necessary action once you find your strengths, no amount of knowledge will bring results.
Understanding and developing your strengths will also require you to increase your self awareness and discipline if you are going to change the direction of your life. You have to be in tune with your emotions to be able to recognize the opportunities that play to your strengths and have the grit to stick with improving on them during those moments you fall short.
Not every opportunity you have to improve will be a win, so know that that’s part of the process. But by working to improve your strengths, those set backs will be less frustrating and happen less often than when trying to improve on your weaknesses. The fact is that when you do the things you know you’re good at, the happier, more productive, and efficient you will be.
That is one of the primary benefits of finding and developing your strengths as opposed to trying to fix your weaknesses. There is no fast track to success. Having patience and determination will always be necessary on your journey, but leveraging your strengths will shorten the time it will take to get there. As you improve yourself by focusing on your strengths, success is sure to follow.
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