In occupational therapy, we talk a lot about utilizing people’s strengths, meaning what they are good at, their talents, their interests, and their passions. What I have found is that so often we cannot see our own strengths. It is only once someone points them out that we really learn how to utilize and take advantage of our strengths. Furthermore, we often think of our strengths as weaknesses, something we are bad at, holds us back, we need help with, have no interest in, etc.

Let me give you an example from my own life. One of my strengths is the ability to see into the future, to wonder, to plan, to ask “What if?” This strength allows me to plan 10 steps ahead, build excitement, and continue to move forward. However I used to see this as a weakness. So many people are preaching to “be in the present” that it made me feel bad to spend so much time thinking about the future. People would often tell me my ideas are too out-there, unrealistic, or just too far away. Sometimes it felt hard to stay motivated to move forward when it felt like people were always tearing my thoughts down. I resorted to my introverted ways and stopped sharing my big future ideas with others. I am so grateful that I have now embraced my future thinking as a strength because it is what drives me to live the life of my dreams. Being able to think in the future saved my life when I was dealing with depression because I was able to get out of the current moment of pain and into how the future can be different. I credit this strength as a big piece of me being able to move past depression. 

Bring your color out!

As a society we focus so much on people’s weaknesses. If you are not good at something you better work work work on it until you are. Self-improvement is FANTASTIC, but why should all of our energy be focuses on improving what we are bad at or don’t even care about? Why not spend that energy building upon the strengths you already have?

Have a story about your strengths or weaknesses? I would love to hear it! Please share in the comments below.

If you are ready to find and build on your strengths, join me for one on one coaching where we discover the journey toward you becoming the best version of you. Email me at danielle@danielleyeager.com and we can chat about if we are a good fit to work together.

 Much love, Danielle