Introduction
Do you know what your personal strengths are? Do you know how to use them for self-discovery? If not, you are missing out on a great opportunity to improve your life and happiness.
Personal strengths are the qualities that make you unique and valuable. They are the things that you are good at, enjoy doing, and feel confident about. They are not just skills or abilities, but also traits, attitudes, and passions.
Knowing your personal strengths can help you with self-discovery, which is the process of understanding yourself better and finding your purpose and direction in life. By identifying and leveraging your personal strengths, you can:
- Discover what makes you happy and fulfilled
- Find your niche and differentiate yourself from others
- Enhance your performance and productivity
- Boost your self-esteem and confidence
- Overcome challenges and difficulties
- Achieve your goals and dreams
In this article, we will show you how to identify your personal strengths and how to use them for self-discovery. By the end of this article, you will have a clearer idea of who you are and what you can do.
Also read: Obstacle Overcome: Identifying Barriers Made Easy » Upgrade Your Life (lifeupgrad.com)
What are personal strengths and why are they important for self-discovery?
Personal strengths are the positive aspects of your personality, character, and behavior that make you stand out and excel. They are not fixed or static, but rather dynamic and adaptable. They can change and develop over time, depending on your experiences, environment, and choices.
Some examples of personal strengths are:
- Creativity: The ability to generate new and original ideas, solutions, or products.
- Curiosity: The desire to learn, explore, and discover new things.
- Communication: The skill of expressing yourself clearly and effectively, both verbally and non-verbally.
- Leadership: The capacity to inspire, motivate, and guide others towards a common goal.
- Adaptability: The flexibility to adjust to changing situations and circumstances.
- Resilience: The resilience to bounce back from setbacks and failures.
- Empathy: The empathy to understand and share the feelings and perspectives of others.
- Integrity: The integrity to act in accordance with your values and principles.
- Humor: The humor to lighten up the mood and make others laugh.
Personal strengths are important for self-discovery because they can help you:
- Identify your core values and beliefs
- Recognize your passions and interests
- Define your vision and mission
- Determine your goals and objectives
- Choose your career and lifestyle
- Build your personal brand and reputation
- Develop your relationships and network
- Contribute to your community and society
By knowing and using your personal strengths, you can discover your true potential and purpose, and live a more authentic and meaningful life.
How to identify your personal strengths
Identifying your personal strengths can be challenging, especially if you are not used to paying attention to them. However, there are some ways to help you uncover your personal strengths, such as:
Ask yourself some questions
One of the simplest ways to identify your personal strengths is to ask yourself some questions that can reveal your preferences, motivations, and talents. For example, you can ask yourself:
- What are the things that I enjoy doing the most?
- What are the things that I am naturally good at or learn quickly?
- What are the things that I am most proud of or satisfied with?
- What are the things that I receive compliments or recognition for?
- What are the things that I find easy or effortless to do?
- What are the things that I would do even if I were not paid or rewarded for them?
- What are the things that make me feel energized and alive?
The answers to these questions can give you some clues about your personal strengths. You can write down your answers and look for patterns or themes that emerge. You can also rank your answers according to their importance or frequency, and focus on the top ones.
Take a personality test
Another way to identify your personal strengths is to take a personality test that can measure your traits, skills, and abilities. There are many personality tests available online, some of which are free and some of which are paid. Some of the most popular and reliable personality tests are:
- Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI): A test that assesses your preferences on four dimensions: extraversion/introversion, sensing/intuition, thinking/feeling, and judging/perceiving. It gives you one of 16 personality types, each with its own strengths and weaknesses.
- StrengthsFinder: A test that identifies your top five strengths out of 34 themes, such as achiever, learner, strategic, etc. It helps you understand how to use your strengths to achieve your goals and improve your performance.
- DISC: A test that evaluates your behavior on four dimensions: dominance, influence, steadiness, and conscientiousness. It helps you understand how to communicate and interact with others more effectively.
- Enneagram: A test that categorizes your personality into one of nine types, each with its own motivations, fears, and challenges. It helps you understand your core needs and desires, and how to grow and develop yourself.
Taking a personality test can help you gain more insight into your personal strengths, as well as your areas of improvement. However, you should not rely solely on the test results, as they are not definitive or comprehensive. You should also use your own judgment and feedback from others to validate and supplement your findings.
Ask for feedback.
Another way to identify your personal strengths is to ask for feedback from others who know you well, such as your family, friends, colleagues, mentors, or coaches. They can provide you with an external perspective and a different angle on your personal strengths. They can also point out some strengths that you may not be aware of or take for granted.
To ask for feedback, you can use various methods, such as:
- Surveys: You can create and send a survey to your contacts, asking them to rate or rank your personal strengths, or to provide specific examples or stories of how you demonstrated your strengths.
- Interviews: You can conduct a one-on-one interview with your contacts, asking them open-ended questions about your personal strengths, such as: What do you think are my top three strengths? How have you seen me use my strengths in different situations? How do my strengths benefit me and others?
- 360-degree feedback: You can collect feedback from multiple sources, such as your peers, managers, subordinates, customers, or suppliers, and compare their views on your personal strengths. This can help you get a more balanced and comprehensive picture of your strengths.
Asking for feedback can help you confirm or discover your personal strengths, as well as identify any gaps or discrepancies between your self-perception and others’ perception. However, you should also be selective and critical of the feedback you receive, as it may be biased or inaccurate. You should also thank your contacts for their feedback and show appreciation for their time and effort.
Reflect on your achievements
Another way to identify your personal strengths is to reflect on your achievements and successes, both big and small. They can be personal or professional, recent or distant, individual or collective. They can be anything that you are proud of or happy about, such as:
- Completing a project or task
- Solving a problem or challenge
- Learning a new skill or knowledge
- Reaching a goal or milestone
- Winning an award or recognition
- Making a positive impact or difference
- Overcoming a fear or obstacle
- Creating something new or innovative
Reflecting on your achievements can help you identify your personal strengths, as they are often the result of using your strengths. You can use the STAR method to analyze your achievements and extract your strengths. The STAR method consists of four steps:
- Situation: Describe the context or background of your achievement. What was the problem or opportunity that you faced?
- Task: Explain the goal or objective that you had to achieve. What was the expected outcome or result?
- Action: Detail the actions or steps that you took to achieve your goal. What did you do and how did you do it?
- Result: Highlight the outcome or impact of your actions. What did you achieve and how did you measure it?
For each step, you can identify the personal strengths that you used or demonstrated, such as:
- Situation: Analytical, logical, observant, etc.
- Task: Ambitious, goal-oriented, focused, etc.
- Action: Creative, resourceful, proactive, etc.
- Result: Successful, effective, impactful, etc.
You can write down your achievements and your strengths using the STAR method, and look for the most common or prominent strengths that emerge.
How to use your personal strengths for self-discovery
Once you have identified your personal strengths, you can use them for self-discovery, which is the process of exploring and understanding yourself better. By using your personal strengths, you can:
- Align your strengths with your values and goals
- Seek opportunities to apply your strengths
- Challenge yourself to grow your strengths
Align your strengths with your values and goals.
One of the ways to use your personal strengths for self-discovery is to align them with your values and goals. Your values are the principles and standards that guide your decisions and actions. Your goals are the specific and measurable outcomes that you want to achieve in your life.
By aligning your strengths with your values and goals, you can:
- Ensure that your strengths are consistent with your core identity and purpose
- Find more meaning and motivation in using your strengths
- Increase your chances of success and satisfaction in reaching your goals
To align your strengths with your values and goals, you can follow these steps:
- Identify your values: Make a list of the things that are important to you, such as honesty, freedom, family, etc. You can use online tools or exercises to help you with this, such as the Personal Values Assessment.
- Identify your goals: Make a list of the things that you want to achieve in your life, both short-term and long-term, such as getting a promotion, traveling the world, starting a family, etc. You can use the SMART criteria to make your goals more specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound.
- Compare your strengths, values, and goals: Look for the connections and overlaps between your strengths, values, and goals. How do your strengths support your values and goals? How do your values and goals reflect your strengths? Are there any conflicts or gaps between them?
- Adjust your strengths, values, and goals: Based on your comparison, you may need to make some changes or adjustments to your strengths, values, or goals. For example, you may need to develop some new strengths, prioritize some values over others, or revise some goals to make them more realistic or meaningful.
By aligning your strengths with your values and goals, you can use your strengths for self-discovery and create a more congruent and fulfilling life.
Seek opportunities to apply your strengths
Another way to use your personal strengths for self-discovery is to seek opportunities to apply your strengths in various domains and contexts. By applying your strengths, you can:
- Enhance your performance and productivity
- Improve your well-being and happiness
- Expand your learning and growth
- Make a positive impact and difference
To seek opportunities to apply your strengths, you can follow these steps:
- Identify your domains and contexts: Make a list of the different areas and situations in your life where you can use your strengths, such as work, school, hobbies, relationships, etc.
- Assess your current use of strengths: For each domain and context, evaluate how often and how well you use your strengths. You can use a scale from 1 to 10, where 1 means never or poorly, and 10 means always or excellently. You can also ask for feedback from others to get a more objective view.
- Identify your opportunities and challenges: Based on your assessment, identify the opportunities and challenges that you have for using your strengths. Opportunities are the situations where you can use your strengths more or better, such as taking on a new project, joining a club, or volunteering for a cause. Challenges are the situations where you have difficulty or resistance in using your strengths, such as dealing with a conflict, facing a fear, or overcoming a weakness.
- Plan and act on your opportunities and challenges: For each opportunity and challenge, make a plan and take action to use your strengths. You can use the SMART criteria to make your plan more specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound. You can also use the STAR method to monitor and evaluate your actions and results.
By seeking opportunities to apply your strengths, you can use your strengths for self-discovery and create a more diverse and dynamic life.
Challenge yourself to grow your strengths
Another way to use your personal strengths for self-discovery is to challenge yourself to grow your strengths. By growing your strengths, you can:
- Increase your confidence and competence
- Discover new aspects and dimensions of your strengths
- Unlock new potential and possibilities
- Adapt to changing needs and demands
To challenge yourself to grow your strengths, you can follow these steps:
- Identify your growth areas: Make a list of the areas where you want to improve or expand your strengths, such as developing new skills, acquiring new knowledge, exploring new interests, etc.
- Set your growth goals: For each growth area, set a specific and measurable goal that you want to achieve, such as learning a new language, taking a course, reading a book, etc. You can use the SMART criteria to make your goals more specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound.
- Seek feedback and support: To help you achieve your growth goals, seek feedback and support from others who can help you, such as mentors, coaches, teachers, friends, etc. They can provide you with guidance, advice, encouragement, and accountability.
- Review and celebrate your progress: As you work on your growth goals, review and celebrate your progress and achievements. You can use the STAR method to track and measure your actions and results. You can also reward yourself for your efforts and accomplishments.
By challenging yourself to grow your strengths, you can use your strengths for self-discovery and create a more progressive and potential life.
Conclusion
In this article, we have shown you how to identify your personal strengths and how to use them for self-discovery. By knowing and using your personal strengths, you can discover more about yourself and your purpose, and live a more authentic and meaningful life.
We hope that this article has inspired you to embark on your own journey of self-discovery and personal growth. Remember that your personal strengths are your greatest assets and allies, and they can help you achieve anything you want in life.
**** Resources to download and listen to free books about: Personal Strengths – search | Open Library
Frequently asked questions and their answers
Here are some frequently asked questions and their answers about personal strengths and self-discovery:
Q: How many personal strengths do I have?
- A: There is no definitive or universal answer to this question, as different people may have different definitions and criteria for personal strengths. However, some researchers and experts suggest that most people have between five and ten core personal strengths that are most relevant and important to them.
Q: How can I balance my personal strengths and weaknesses?
- A: While it is important to focus on your personal strengths, it is also important to acknowledge and address your weaknesses. Weaknesses are the areas where you lack or struggle with certain skills, abilities, or traits. They can hinder your performance, well-being, or happiness. To balance your personal strengths and weaknesses, you can:
- Identify your weaknesses: Make a list of the things that you are not good at, dislike doing, or feel insecure about. You can use the same methods that you used to identify your personal strengths, such as asking yourself questions, taking a personality test, asking for feedback, or reflecting on your failures.
- Analyze your weaknesses: For each weakness, analyze its causes, effects, and implications. Why do you have this weakness? How does it affect you and others? How important or urgent is it to improve it?
- Decide on your action plan: Based on your analysis, decide on the best course of action to deal with your weakness. You can choose to:
- Eliminate or minimize your weakness: This means that you try to overcome or reduce your weakness by developing new skills, knowledge, or habits. For example, if you are weak in math, you can take a course, read a book, or practice more.
- Compensate or leverage your strength: This means that you use your strength to offset or balance your weakness. For example, if you are weak in public speaking, you can use your creativity to prepare a more engaging presentation.
- Delegate or outsource your weakness: This means that you rely on someone else who has the strength that you lack. For example, if you are weak in accounting, you can hire an accountant or use a software.
Q: How can I discover my purpose and passion using my personal strengths?
- A: Your purpose and passion are the things that give you direction and meaning in life. They are the things that you care about and enjoy doing, and that make a positive difference in the world. To discover your purpose and passion using your personal strengths, you can:
- Explore your interests and hobbies: Make a list of the things that you are curious or excited about, and that you like to do in your spare time. These can be anything from reading, writing, cooking, gardening, etc. Then, try to use your personal strengths to pursue these interests and hobbies, and see how they make you feel and what they teach you.
- Experiment with different options and opportunities: Make a list of the things that you want to try or experience in your life, and that you think you might be good at or enjoy. These can be anything from traveling, volunteering, learning, working, etc. Then, try to use your personal strengths to explore these options and opportunities, and see how they fit you and what they offer you.
- Evaluate your impact and contribution: Make a list of the things that you care about and want to change or improve in the world, and that you think you can make a difference in. These can be anything from social, environmental, political, economic, etc. Then, try to use your personal strengths to support these causes and initiatives, and see how they affect you and others.
By exploring, experimenting, and evaluating, you can discover your purpose and passion using your personal strengths, and find the best way to express and fulfill them.