How to activate and use your strengths for greater fulfilment in life and work (Part 2)

In part one of this article I suggested four ways you could reveal your strengths.

Now it’s time to think about putting them into action to create a more fulfilling life.

By consciously using these strengths, you’ll find your ability to problem solve more assured, workdays more fulfilling, and your direction of travel more intentional. You may well start to feel much more like yourself.

1. More fulfilment at work 

How can you deploy your strengths more at work? 

·      Strengths awareness gives you the power of choice, and the option to tackle that sticky problem using one of your natural talents. Instead of continuing to approach a particular issue or task in the same old way, consider how a strengths-based approach could work for you.

For example, if collaboration is a strength of yours, think about how you could invite others into a problem you’re struggling with.

Or if honesty is top of your strengths list, how could opening up about a situation or task invite new solutions?

·      Perhaps you’re a wonderful writer but rarely get the chance to use this talent. How can you volunteer to use this skill to solve a current problem? Contributing a case study or opinion piece to the organisation’s blog may be the opportunity to shine, gain valuable experience, and ultimately widen future career opportunities.

I remember when I was working in one profession, but wanted to keep another area of expertise alive, I came up with an idea and pitched it to the local literary festival. Not only was I invited to run the initiative on a voluntary basis, but a couple of years later I was asked to interview for a full-time role with them. Be brave and use your strengths where they’re needed and where you’ll enjoy the experience.

·      Take a look at your weekly work pattern and consider how often you get to use your favourite strengths. Think about how this could change, whether you could swap tasks with another team member or request a meeting with your boss to discuss developing certain responsibilities or areas of expertise that employ these strengths.

·      If you can link your strengths to solving a ‘now’ problem, all the better. It’ll be a win-win and you’ll be seen as someone with a wider perspective than just the challenges of your role.

·      When you’re in flow, time disappears and you are fully engaged. It’s likely that this state of flow arises when you are using strengths to just the right level – not too stressful, but challenging enough to keep you fluently and creatively on task. Think about how often you are able to achieve a state of flow in your current role. That’s a big clue to what tweaks you might make to achieve greater fulfillment and make a better contribution at work.

2. Solving problems with Strengths

Whether in life or at work, when a knotty problem is keeping you stuck and frustrated, it’s time to lean into one of your strengths. You might need to be creative here, but if you start from a talent or attitude that you’re highly proficient in and love using, a positive outcome will come far more easily.

For example, if you’re interested in a new role in your organization, how can you use one of your strengths to explore this option? If curiosity or social intelligence are strengths of yours, consider setting up an informal chat with someone already in that role. Find out more about what the work really entails and how they secured that role. Then do another so that you build a fuller picture of the option.

On the other hand, if desk-based research is your forte, try using LinkedIn to map career paths of people in your target role, perhaps at other organisations too. Use professional associations to explore paths, qualifications and similar roles. 

Lean into your particular strengths to help you move forwards.

3. Acting regularly from your strengths

When you act from your strengths, you’ll experience less friction, greater fulfilment and deeper satisfaction.  It follows that when you stop trying to solve a problem or complete a task from skills or perspectives that are not among your strengths, the struggle will ease.  By choosing an approach that employs a strength, you are making life easier for yourself and will be more likely to achieve a positive outcome more efficiently.

Again, this sounds like a win for you, for your team, your organisation and your customers or clients.

At the same time, it may well be that some of your colleagues are also appreciating the opportunity to pick up work that plays to their strengths too.

If you haven’t already had this conversation with your manager or colleagues, think about initiating it soon. Everyone will benefit, so think through the different wins from all those involved as this will make adopting a new strengths-based approach more palatable.

This doesn’t just apply to work either. Consider how you could make tasks more frictionless and less arduous by helping everyone around you play to their strengths too. Encourage friends and family to identify their own strengths and allocate responsibilities and fun accordingly. When we go with our flow, life is more pleasurable and you could all end up being happier and more effective because of that.

4. Open up new strengths-based careers

When you’re thinking about a new career direction, understanding your strengths means you have another perspective to explore. Ask how you could deploy your strengths in more meaningful ways.

Think about who would benefit and why this matters to you. We’ve all heard of ‘transferable skills’, but don’t forget the value of employing your strengths in a new setting and how powerful this could be.

Strengths are any important element of my career change programme and a vital part of understanding not only WHY a new direction is a perfect choice, but also HOW it can be achieved. Using strengths to identify new career options and then using those strengths to create an effective career change strategy means your transition will be smoother and more motivated.

This is one of the aspects of the programme my clients really enjoy – they get to understand and appreciate what others see in them, and what they really do have to offer in their next move. It’s empowering, energizing, and once they accept their strengths and start deploying them more consciously, their self-belief and confidence sky rockets too.

If you’d like to learn more about how strengths are a powerful part of changing career and how I use them with clients, you can read about my career change programme here. Just drop me a message via the button below to set up a free 30-minute chat to see what could help you achieve more fulfillment at work.

Finally, when you’re stuck with anything in your life, ask:

Which of my strengths could help me now?

Then lean in, and play to your very own strengths.

If you’d like to chat about making the most of your strengths, just drop me a message: