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!