The Strong Should Get Stronger

Yesterday's Sunday Brunch for Thought asked you to think about if you'd rather make your strengths stronger or improve your weaknesses.  Right now I'm reading "Go Put Your Strengths to Work" by Marcus Buckingham.  One of the main points Buckingham makes is that we should accept that we have some natural given talents and also areas which we are weak in.  He suggests that we simply focus in on growing our strengths to their greatest capacity; trying to improve what we have difficulty with will not bring such dramatic results.  Besides, we are human and cannot expect to be perfect in every aspect of life. When Buckingham polled people as to if they'd rather strengthen their strengths or improve their weaknesses 59 percent said they wanted to improve their weaknesses and 41 percent wanted to grow their strengths.  These results were particularly dismaying to Buckingham as he believes that we should celebrate our natural talents instead of striving to be equally able in every area of life.  After all, if we all had an equal level of ability for everything how do we stand out among the crowd?  When we come to terms that we are better at certain things and then continue to hone our skills in those areas we create an individual brand in ourselves.  One major business strategy for success is to find a niche for yourself.  Why?  Because if you establish yourself as an expert in a field you are strong in people will seek you out for help in that particular area.  When we see a freckle on our arm that doesn't look right do we go to a General Practitioner or a Dermatologist?  Most of you will probably say Dermatologist because we want someone who specializes in our area of concern.  So back to my point about enhancing your strengths- doing this allows you to put yourself in a niche.  Also, much of what we are strong in (for the most part) is also enjoyable for us to do.  So instead of suffering through learning or improving skills that you just may never master, why not engage in what we feel masterful, confident and excited about doing?  Not sure about what your strengths really are?  Well for the next several days write down all the different activities that you do and then split them into what you enjoy and what you do not.  From the enjoyment side, breakdown each activity and find what skills, knowledge and talents are associate to the task.  This will help you gain an understanding of your strengths.  From there, work on incorporating more of these types of processes into your life.  This will allow you to begin growing your strengths and be on your way to becoming your own "boutique" brand.