Let's face it the way it is: we often spend too much time trying to get better at things that we are just not good at and probably will never be, struggling and concentrating on improving our weaker points and more often than not the result is only a feeling of not being good enough.
Already in school, we are drilled to spend time on end on things that are just not within our natural talents and abilities and we therefore end up neglecting to train our talents, because when having only so many hours to spend in a day, we tend to not focus on the things we are already good at if we run the risk of getting a bad mark at another subject, right?
Still, didn't we learn from history that even when not being a brilliant student, somebody can turn into a genius lateron in life?
Albert Einstein and Leonardo Da Vinci for example were dyslexics, but have both gone down in history.
So what if we took the focus away from working on our weaknesses and put it on our strengths instead?
That sounds like a road map to excellence and fulfilment, doesn't it?
"Strengthen your strengths" has become a modern starting point in coaching and slogans like "Focus on your talent" are more popluar than ever.
Yesterday I came across something interesting by chance, which is called the "24 character strengths", or CSV.
Martin Seligman and Christopher Peterson, two positive psychologists, have researched sources from different eras and cultures and have come up with "24 character strengths" that were valued throughout history and by the majority of cultures.
These character strengths were assigned to six virtue categories: wisdom, humanity, courage, moderation, justice and transcendence.
CSV says that we all possess all of these character strengths, but in varying degrees and knowing our personal constellation of strengths will lead us to a happier and authentic life.
So you might think: "And what if I know my personal constellation, how exactly can I profit from it?"
Well, it can for example help you with choosing the profession that best suits and fulfils you.
And if you follow a simple plan of picking one strength at a time and practise it for a week, chances are good that it will increase your sense of well-being over time.
Let's take for example "kindness".
If for example one of your greatest strengths is kindness, then do things that are related to that virtue for a week, like letting somebody go first while standing in the waiting queue, lending an ear to someone who needs it, help an old woman cross the street or whatever you can think of.
Do this very same thing with your other strengths, too and watch how your life transforms and gets better and better.
This approach caught my interest and if it sounds like a good idea to you as well and you want to give it a try, then I wish you immense joy and "Happy practising!"