Everyone has natural strengths and weaknesses. Once you’ve identified yours, you’re ready to start leveraging those strengths to propel you on your path to success.

Last week, we covered how to identify your strengths and weaknesses to become more self-aware in the workplace. Today, we’ll focus on specific ways to maximize those strengths in order to achieve your goals.

Follow these 4 tips to start honing your strengths within the workplace and beyond to position yourself for success.

1. Identify When to Use Your Strengths

Your strengths might not be applicable in all scenarios, but chances are at least one strength will be useful at any given time. Categorize your strengths and list situations where they may be applicable. The more often you can use your strengths, the more you can maximize on them.

Maybe it’s easy for you to talk to new people, so you can help bring in new clients at a networking event. Maybe you’re a great writer who can contribute to the company’s blog on occasion. Categorize your strengths and identify situations where they may be useful. The more often you use your strengths, the more you’ll maximize them.

Then, go a step further. Our strengths don’t always fit in our day-to-day lives, so it’s up to you to create opportunities to use your strengths as much as possible. Look for consulting opportunities or freelance work outside of your day job to hone your strengths. The more you leverage these strengths, the stronger and more effective they’ll become.

2. Don’t Overdo It

Don’t become known for one thing and one thing only. It’s great to be the go-to person for a specific task, but try to be the go-to person for multiple tasks—not just one. This increases your value to the company, setting you up for promotions and success.

The danger of focusing mostly on one or two strengths and ignoring others’ strengths is that you may miss out on opportunities to discover new strengths you didn’t even know you had.

3. Refine Your Strengths 

Just because you’re good at something doesn’t mean there isn’t room to improve or do it better. You may be the best salesperson at your company, but that doesn’t mean you are as good as the best salesperson at a competing company.

Improve on your natural and learned strengths by acquiring skills and knowledge. Take an extra class, talk to someone who has similar skills, and always try to hone your abilities. The more you know and the more skills you can apply, the more refined your strengths will be and the more opportunities that will come your way.

4. Acknowledge Your Weaknesses

As we mentioned last week, it’s also important to identify your weaknesses and work around them.

For example, if you aren’t a great artist, don’t offer to help draw the new logo for a marketing campaign. Instead, share your creative ideas for the logo with someone who’s more skilled at art and collaborate to deliver on a project. You’ll get credit for the great idea and be a team player.

Maximizing Your Strengths for Success: Be Intentional

The first step to success is identifying your strengths. But, it’s not just enough to know your strengths. You have to be intentional about developing and leveraging them. Don’t let them go to waste—if you do, you risk falling short of your goals or never reaching your potential.

Be intentional about honing your strengths and putting them to use regularly and you’ll be well on your way to the success you’ve dreamed of!

Have your strengths set you on a path toward entrepreneurship? Contact us today at www.sixfigureprofession.com or (858) 837-1505 to learn how we can help you develop a successful business.