2500 km in 50 days...

It was an experience to cherish and relish!

What happens when you meet the real life heroes whom you have been reading about in the papers every day for the last 50 days? Well, it indeed proves to be an awe-inspiring moment, especially when you least expected it.

On one of my runs along the verdant East Coast Park (Singapore) almost two weeks back, i saw a motley crowd of enthusiastic runners. Obviously it was not too difficult to recognize that the group was led by the ultra-marathoners Lim Nghee Huat (62 years, clad in red tee) and Yong Yuen Cheng (43 years, clad in white tee).

If you are wondering why they have been in the papers, the answer is simple though their feat is not. Two days back, they accomplished what most people can only read about in the papers. They completed running 2500 km in 50 days, running at 50 km daily to commemorate Singapore's 50th birthday. Truly awe-inspiring considering that fatigue, heat or illness did not stop them from reaching their goalpost.

Non-chalant and down to earth, these ultra marathoners are representative of the "unsung heroes" whom we might chance upon in our everyday life, but fail to recognize. Lets not assess the people whom we meet in our daily lives by the way they look. They might be that "unsung hero"!

You cannot be anything you want to be...

You can be anything you want to be, if you just try hard enough” is the wrong maxim that all of us are trained to think from childhood.

The reality is “You cannot be anything you want to be, but you can be a lot more of who you already are.”

When Tom Rath explained this with examples in “Strengths Finder 2.0”, my eyes literally popped out reading this eternal truth" (blame the education system for this late realisation). Instead of correcting our weaknesses all the while and learning to be something which we are not, all we need to do is to change our optics by "investing on our strengths".

When I took the Strengths Finder (www.strengthsfinder.com) assessment, it helped identify my strengths that I needed to invest time on. My Top 5 Strengths turned out to be Connectedness, Positivity, Activator, Includer and Communication (in that order).

And if we a go step further in encouraging our peers and team members to take up the assessment, it can go a long way in understanding their work style better and will provide us insight on "why different people react to the same situation differently" :)

Once we identify our strengths, Tom Rath then recommends us to implement what he calls as the Recipe for Strength: "Talent  x Investment  = Strength"
Where …

Talent  is the natural way of thinking, feeling or behaving
Investment is the time spent practicing, developing your skills and building your knowledge base
Strength  is the ability to consistently provide near perfect performance

If this post inspires you to take up Strengths Finder 2.0 (www.strengthsfinder.com), do share your Top 5 strengths!