How you can work to your strengths on a daily basis to achieve your potential

Knowing how to work to your strengths can actually be a bit more difficult than it sounds. The first step of this particular endeavor is of course knowing what your strengths are in any particular situation or field.

The easiest way to actually identify your strengths is to sit down and write out a list. This should be somewhat of a brainstorming session and any strength you can come up with should go on the list, even if you don’t believe a particular strength will actually help you in your current tasks. There is no drawback to knowing all your strengths in case you need to call on them in the future as well. 

Don’t be shy about the things you are really good at. This particular list needs never to be seen by anyone other than you so don’t make a list where you are being as modest as possible. In the long run, not listing everything that is a strength will hinder you.

Once you have determined what your strengths are, it is time to actually put them to work. 

The best way to really take advantage of your strengths and the strengths of others is to work as a team. If you’re strength is that you enjoy reading and research, that can come in handy if a teammate’s strengths are organization or leadership. Working in a team will also allow you to better mitigate your weaknesses. Weaknesses can undercut what you are actually good at, but if you are able to lean on someone else when you have run into those things that you just aren’t that good at.

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Even when you are working within a team you want to find some ways to make sure that you are indeed working to your strengths. One of the best ways to ensure this is to work to make those things that you have identified as being your positives, into making them habits. Most people will alternate between playing to their positives and playing to their negatives and the best way to stop this cycle it to make playing to your positives second nature. 

The best way to do this is to refer to your list from earlier and make sure that you are applying something from your strengths on a daily or even hourly basis. Review your weaknesses just as often and make sure you are staying away from those as much as possible.

The most important part of working to those things that make you an asset are realizing there are ways to put them into practice in areas that might be your weaknesses. 

If writing is one of your assets, but you are not particularly a social animal, then find a way where you can write for others. Some of the best comedy writers in the world simply don’t have the ability to get in front of large crowds without breaking into a sweat. Find someone who has the comedic timing that is needed to be great comedian, but does not have the ability to come up with a script and work together. Even if the team is only made up of two people, you are demonstrating the ability to work to those areas in which you can do the most good and provide most help.

Knowing how to work to your strengths really is something that you need to find in your own way, but coming up a list of what those strengths are will always come in handy. Update the list as you go along, when your strengths or weaknesses change you should make sure your “inventory” is up to date.