A guide to finding your inner strengths to empower yourself and others around you
As we experience the hustle and bustle of life, rarely do we get the chance to sit down and engage in self-reflection. However, self-reflection is incredibly important, and one aspect that can be helpful for us is thinking about our strengths.
Today, we will cover how to identify our own strengths, how we can use these strengths to bring benefits to our lives, and finally how we can develop these strengths moving forward.
Identifying our strengths
Although it is common in our culture to focus on one’s weaknesses and downplay strengths, it is important to be aware of one’s strong points and how we can use them. After all, it is our strengths that make us unique!
One of the best ways to identify your strengths requires nothing more than paying attention to your mood!
Observe yourself for a day or two, paying close attention to how you feel when carrying out various activities.
To know when you’re using your strengths, look out for these signs:
- Feelings of excitement and being full of energy
- Being more engaged and motivated than usual
- Feelings of confidence
- Losing track of time from being extra focused on the activity
When using our strengths, we tend to feel good! Energy levels starts to rise, feelings of excitement and enthusiasm begin to flow. If you regularly get so absorbed that you lose track of time during an activity, it is likely that you are using one of your top strengths.
Strengths don’t have to be tied down to specific skills or talents. One might be an excellent dancer, and that can be one of her strengths. However, less tangible but equally valid strengths might be the ability to learn new concepts quickly, or to be curious about new things. As long as you feel like you are putting your best foot forward, you are engaging your strengths.
So, look for instances where you notice all four of these signs, and your skills will quickly make themselves apparent!
How our strengths help us
Oftentimes, one’s strength’s need not be physical. Some people have excellent mental capacity, while others can be more empathetic than average. Strengths can appear in countless places, and it is a healthy awareness and confidence in using these skills that makes us strong.
Life doesn’t get easier or more forgiving, we get stronger and more resilient.”
Steve Maraboli
In a team setting, understanding and being aware of strengths can easily identify the ways where you can complement the skills of others.
Perhaps the team is lacking a certain strength which you possess. Then, taking responsibility of tasks that require that strength would be a great benefit to the team.
Developing our strengths
Now that we know what our strengths are and how they can help, we ought to think about how we have used them in the past, and what we can do moving forward.
Thinking back to times when we performed these activities — did it have any benefit to others? When performing at maximum capabilities, are there perhaps other parties that have been influenced or moved by those actions?
Our skills are often neglected in our self-reflection, because we often look towards improvement of weaknesses. However, by reflecting on our strengths, we can find ways to apply them better to one’s life.
In addition, people often miss out the fact that our strengths are a valuable asset — not simply to ourselves — as it can also greatly impact those around us. Perhaps one’s strengths lies in cooking, and their family members always light up a smile when a delicious warm dish is prepared. The strength of another person might be a great sense of empathy, which can help when dealing with troubles that their friends and family might face.
Look out for instances when these strengths have helped to change the community around you, and think of ways that we can continue to benefit others.
Furthermore, if others have used their strengths to benefit you, it doesn’t hurt to compliment them on their strong suit as well! Our strengths do not just lie in how we use them to improve ourselves, but also how we use them to empower others.
In summary
With a better understanding of our strengths and how to develop them further, it is now the time to put it to good use! Another year lies ahead, full of new opportunities, and by channeling the inner strength within ourselves, we can empower our lives and those around us.
BlankSlate Counselling is a counselling agency in Singapore dedicated to help individuals find the inner strength within themselves to achieve what they set their minds to do. Click here to know more about our trusted counsellors in Singapore and how we can help.
Give us a call at 6698 5198, or send us a message today.
