Find your greatest strength and devote your focus to it.

Living Out Your Purpose in Life by doing What You Were Meant to Do

It's the mystery of life that we all hope to answer: What are you doing right now that brings purpose to your life? Why are you here?You and millions of others in this world struggle with this question. It’s a burden on your shoulders and makes you question is this all life has to offer?You may not believe it now, but you have a gift and I can help you discover it. Your gift can help you achieve the life you desire by getting you into your sweet spot.So what is the sweet spot?Your sweet spot is when you take what you’re good at and combine it with what you love. It is finding the intersection of where your greatest strength and greatest passion meet. It’s finding and fulfilling your life’s calling, your vocation, and your significance.This is going to be a 3 part weekly series of:Pt 1. Identifying your greatest strengthsPt 2. Identifying your greatest passionPt 3. Finding and living in your sweet spotLet’s put you on the right path of finding your sweet spot by determining your greatest strengths.

How to Identify Your Top Strengths

It’s the age old questions, “What are you really good at?” and “What do people tell you you’re good at?”These may be tough to answer as so many people go through life unaware of their gift. I feel the key to living a life of significance is finding your greatest strengths and nurturing them. It's figuring out what's working and doing more of it so you can further develop your talents.If you are unsure of your strengths, I have a guide to help you start.The process of finding your greatest strengths can be done in 3 steps:1. Writing Out Your Top Strengths2. Asking a Trusted Resource3. Taking the StrengthsFinder 2.0 Test

1. Writing Out Your Top Strengths

Create a Venn Diagram with strengths on your left side

The writing portion is pivotal to the process. I feel writing out your thoughts is the most powerful way to find clarity and direction. Writing bridges the connection between what you visualize into something tangible that you can take action on. You have gold locked up in your mind and you need to realize we don’t write just to write, we write to figure out what we have to say and learn about ourselves.In order to get the most out of this writing session you need to schedule off a block of time where you can devote your full attention to this; no distractions. Stow all devices and inform people to not disturb you; you’re focusing on your future here.Once you’re focused and distraction free, start by drawing two large circles that intersect in the middle creating a venn diagram; write strengths at the top of the one on the left. The intent isn’t to list everything that you are good at; this isn't about being a jack-of-all-trades. The goal is to list what you feel your greatest strengths are. For example, I’m pretty good at basketball, but it’s not my greatest ability so it would not go on my list.Things that may come naturally to you could be: cooking, persuasion, sports, photography, painting, sculpting, math, organization, working on cars, etc. Get creative and really think hard about what comes easily to you.If you’re struggling to narrow your top strengths than you have permission to do a brain dump. List whatever comes to mind that you feel you’re good at to cross reference from as we move into the next stage.

2. Asking a Trusted Resource

Now that you have created a list of your strengths, it’s time to ask a trusted reference for their opinion on what they think you’re best at. It needs to be someone who really knows who you are and what you are about. This could be a close family member or your best friend. Feel free to use multiple close resources for more feedback.Now that you have their attention, do not show them what you have on your list. You need unbiased feedback so they aren’t telling you what you want to hear. Treat it as a normal one-on-one conversation like you would typically have with them.It would be great if they wrote these down for you; but if they don’t, you need to jot down what they are saying. I say this again because writing is powerful and you need to be able to compare to what you wrote about yourself.Once you have their input, it’s time to cross reference your list from earlier. Are there similarities? Are there things you didn’t even think of that resonate with you a little more?Hopefully you’ve gained a little more clarity as your strengths can be a combination of what you think you’re good at and what other people tell you are good at. If you’re still unsure, there is one more step to further narrow your strengths.

3. Taking the StrengthsFinder 2.0 Test

You’ve gone through the first two steps and hats off to you for putting in the time and taking this seriously. You’re positioning yourself to find your significance.For those who are still struggling, there is a book that is dedicated towards helping you find your top 5 strengths. The book is called StrengthsFinder 2.0 by Tom Rath. With this book comes an access code that allows you to take an in-depth online questionnaire that provides insight on questions you would have never thought of.I took this test in college as part of a leadership course. It was extremely helpful yet I didn’t fully understand the magnitude of what it was telling me. I remember the top 2 of my 5 strengths and they were Creativity and Communication. Had I understood and was as hungry as I am now for personal development, I could be so much farther ahead in life by focusing on these two.That's why this is so important for you. You can surpass where you are now by figuring this out far quicker than you think.Don't be me and sit on this information for over 5 years before taking action on it.

Doing More of What Works

You have a gift right in front of you, you just need to pay attention and search.My gift has been in front of me my entire life. This could be you too!I’ve been blinded by distractions and living a life of what others expected from me. I’ve been putting my focus into areas of unimportance instead of devoting my efforts into what I did best. The Strengthsfinder Test told me Creativity and Communication were my strengths; now my life is centered around using my art for building relationships with people. I'll discuss how I am able to combine this with my passion next week.Drawing was something that always came naturally to me. I’ve had friends and family shower me with validation even though I was too self-conscious to share my work. My mom constantly reminds me that my first grade teacher, Mrs. Miller, pointed at a project and said, “Your son has a gift; he will make a living off this one day.” My mom has told me this for over 20 years and I never believed it until now.On top of art, making friends was always easy. Establishing a connection and finding common ground with someone was an undiscovered talent. That is exactly my point, something that comes so natural to you is hard to recognize as a strength.By taking the time to listen to yourself, to others and to a test; you can uncover that gift you've had this whole time. You to begin realize your gift is that is your hobby could be so much more.I would’ve told you you were crazy if you thought I could make a living off art and now that is what I’m most ambitious about. It's my main agenda in life and there are no distractions holding me back. I see what I want and I am aware of the tools I was given to make this happen. It's powerful stuff once you understand your purpose and catch of glimpse of your potential.You have to take the time to peel back the layers; your top strength is waiting to be revealed when you begin searching for it.

Key Takeaways

You should be doing more of what you are good at and develop your talents
We write to figure out what we have to say and learn about ourselves
The intent isn’t to list everything you’re good at, just your greatest strengths
Asking a trusted source about your strengths will provide a fresh perspective
Strengthsfinder 2.0 test will shed light on areas of strengths you never realized you had
Devote your focus into what you do best
Your lifelong hobby could actually be your gift in life

So what do you do that is unique? What is that one thing that always came naturally to you? That hobby that you don't take seriously could be the key to finding your significance. You need to start taking yourself seriously and invest the necessary time into figuring this out. There's never been a better time to make a living doing what you love to do and it's right there in front of you waiting for you to discover it.You have an entire week to start working on this, no excuses. Next week I will share how to figure out your passion so you can combine it with you greatest strengths.-

Do You Want to Learn How to Build an Online Audience?

This post is an overview of the 1st Key of the 3 Keys to Building an Online Audience Guide that I am working on for you. This guide will teach you how to share your gift, build a brand and attract a loyal following. There's never been a better time to pursue what you love.[button open_new_tab="true" color="accent-color" hover_text_color_override="#fff" size="large" url="https://perspective-collective.com/3-keys-building-online-audience/" text="Show Me How" color_override=""]

The Sweet Spot: How to Find Your Strengths