Tap into your most positive traits and flaunt them
Claudia S. Herrmann
CHF Consulting Group, LLC
July 2021
There is a misperception about having to identify and then work on your own limiting beliefs to overcome them to instantly achieve success. Focusing on overcoming your limitations, so the theory goes, is more important than focusing on your abilities. While knowing what holds you back is important, it is equally important to know your special talents and abilities that make you stand out from the crowd.
However, in our fast paced and overcompetitive world certain qualities are unbelievably valuable. The more you develop those qualities, the better your chances to get promoted or to be successful as an entrepreneur, artist, employee, or professional.
If you want to stand out, you will need to make an honest, almost brutal assessment of your best qualities, as well as of your weaknesses and negative traits. Additionally, you will need to clearly establish what you want and when you want it, based upon who you are. Once you have laid out your goals, write down how and when you will accomplish them, the more precise, the better. A dream with an action plan is a goal accomplished. If you want to see a difference in your life, remember you need to be that difference. This assessment and goal setting can very well lead you on your way to being extraordinary and living an extraordinary life.
Knowing oneself is not easy. Many people look in the mirror of their own self and shy away because they don’t like what they see. They don’t want to confront themselves. However, self-improvement starts with self-knowledge. Consequently, don’t be afraid to make a fearless inventory of your character defects, your weaknesses, your limitations, your fears, your likes, and peeves, as well as of your best traits, your abilities, your talents, your passion and all the things you excel at.
"If you're blessed with a little extra, flaunt it!"
If you are shy and dislike dealing with people, but you’re good with numbers, perhaps a career in IT or accounting would be best suited for you. Likewise, if you’re terrible at organizing yourself but you are great at seeing the big picture, you love to lead others, and you function best when you’re among people, a career as an educator, in diversity or in HR would be best suited for you. If you’re an artist, a career in design might be the best option for you.
Most of all, don’t ever compare yourself with others. There is always someone out there who is younger, wealthier, thinner, better looking, happier, smarter, stronger than you (with a lengthy list of etcetera’s following). Likewise, you are wealthier, more handsome, younger, stronger, better suited, smarter, etc. than many people around you.
To objectively know who you are, you can find several personality tests online that give you clues as to which activities are best suited for you, based upon your talents, your personality traits, your emotional responses, and the way you process information. You may have to pay for the interpretation, but it may be worth knowing your strengths and weaknesses, your unique talents and abilities, and those traits that set you apart, based upon objective and measurable criteria. It may even lead you to change your career and find a more rewarding job where you can really thrive, or to start your own business doing what you enjoy most and what you’re good at.
We are surrounded by people who are gainfully employed, but who are utterly miserable in jobs they hate. They are afraid to take a risk, to break away from the same old patterns and routine, and just pivot and do something they enjoy. They swim along in an ocean of mediocrity, afraid to put their special talents to beneficial use and thrive.
Life is meant to give us rewarding experiences and a chance to be happy. If you have a burning desire to really do something you love and have the talent to match it, take the risk. And.Just.Do.It.
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