Too many people go through life trying to correct their weaknesses. While there are some cases where this is necessary, more often that not, it’s much more useful to spend more time developing your areas of strength.
John Maxwell described it best when he coupled strengths with skill levels. Let’s say your skill level as a writer is a 7 while your skill level as an accountant is a 3. If you divert your attention toward becoming a better accountant, the highest level you’ll reach would probably be a 6 which is mediocre. You wouldn’t get much accomplished.
But if you spent that same time developing your skills as a writer, you could reach the level of 9 or even 10. You could become so outstanding that you could reach national status.
Everyone’s mind is wired differently
Everyone’s mind is wired differently because of heredity and environmental influences. When someone has a higher concentration of connections or synapses in a particular section of their mind than other people, they’re going to be much better at activities that need those connections.
That’s why some people seem to achieve amazing feats with almost no effort. They are prepositioned for that greatness. But they had to make the conscious decision to choose that path instead of something they would have never excelled at.
Questions to help you discover your strengths
Your career path should harmonize with what you do best and what you know best. The following questions will help you decide the direction in life that’s best suited for you:
- What can you do better than anyone else?
- What can you do with greater ease than anyone else?
- What do you know that most people don’t know?
In closing, if you’re not using your most valuable strengths on your current career path, than you need to find a line of work that’s a better fit for you. Successful people go far in life because they do what they do best. And as a result of analyzing and using your strengths, you’ll go farther in life too.
