Strengths: How to apply them for greater career satisfaction. Part 1.

In this article I’ll be talking about your strengths and how to apply them for greater career satisfaction. To get the most out of this information, be prepared to jot down some thoughts as we go along. First, I’ll help you get clearer on your strengths and then I’ll give you an initial plan of action for how to apply them for greater career satisfaction.

Let’s dive in talking about how to define your top three strengths. You probably have more than three but we’re just going to focus on three to have a manageable number. If you want to add more to your list you’re certainly welcome to do that. Then we’re going to translate those strengths into some potential roles. This is where we can take high level information and drill down to apply them for greater career satisfaction.

I want to give you permission to make this a rough draft. Sometimes people get worried about being right on the mark with whatever they’re brainstorming. For today I want you to think “This is a rough draft. I’m just going to go loose with it and write down thoughts that are coming to me”. In my experience it all comes out very nicely in the wash at the end.

Please answer these questions:

What activities did you spend doing as a child that you truly enjoyed?

What subjects came easily and were fun for you in school?

Within your family, what are you known for being great at? What does your family come to you for help with?

What do employers and colleagues come to you for help with?

What projects have you loved working on in your life, personal and professional, and what were your favorite parts of those?

Now, take this list and for each of your answers note 1-3 skills that were involved with those kinds of activities. If you need ideas for what those skills might be, here’s a nice resource:

https://www.careerplanner.com/ListOfSkills.cfm

Looking at the top skills you’ve written down, what are the 3 main skills and strengths you love to use? My top three skills are conceptualizing ideas, so that’s where I get involved in artistic things or even helping clients brainstorm career niches or content for resumes. I also love promoting people and things. Even in my middle school years, I headed campaigns when my classmates were running for office. Now I promote people through their resumes, through LinkedIn coaching, interviewing coaching, even just between friends and counseling I get a lot of knowing where people’s heads are at and understanding where they want to go. Then working together to help them make progress in those directions.

So what are your top three? Make a note, and check in on my next blog for how to apply them in your work for greater career satisfaction.