Students who use their strengths every day are six times more likely to be engaged in class and 12.5% more productive. They are more effective, fulfilled and successful when they are able to focus on the best of themselves.
Using these three tips, you can learn to recognise your core strengths. Here’s how:
1. Listen to your emotions
When you engage in an activity where you are using your core strength(s), you feel energised, happy, alive, satisfied and motivated. There are visible signs when you engage in an activity you are truly good at.
Your pupils dilate, your speech quickens, and you are more animated. They are moments when you dive into something, when you get “in the zone”, where you lose all sense of time and you don’t feel tired or bored. They are moments when you feel challenged and/or creative without really trying. Moments like these are great because you feel fulfilled and because they show you how great you can be.
Pay attention to what gets you out of bed in the morning. You know, instinctively.
You can take an online survey, like the Clifton Strengths Test to help you identify and rank your greatest strengths.
2. Pay attention to what you do differently to others
Notice those situations or moments when you stand out from the crowd, when you approach things differently and uniquely, when you are using your strengths.
3. Put a word to your strengths
Come up with unique terms which encapsulate your specific strength. Naming your strength will help you apply your talents.
Everyone wins when you play to your strengths. You win because you feel more engaged and more productive, your teachers win because they have a more engaged and successful member of class. The school feels the difference because the tone of the school is one of vibrancy.
Find a career where you play to your strengths most of the time.