Read this on galpod.com.
On Friday, I invited you to reflect on your strengths. I started on this path a while ago when I caught an interview with Lucy from Bang2Write. She was talking about working with one of her authors and told them: “This is your superpower. Work with it.” I immediately wanted to find my superpower. Wouldn’t it be amazing to have a superpower?
A couple of weeks later, I idly went into FB and found that a woman I respect was giving a workshop about working with strengths that night. I signed up immediately and watched the recording that weekend. I’ve learnt to listen to the universe when she sends me signs.
One of the resources she gave was this questionnaire that helps you determine your strengths. I love me a good questionnaire, so I went to the website and promptly discovered that I’d already done it. But seeing as it was a whole year ago, I did it again. It was interesting to compare the two questionnaires, but that’s a different blog.
What struck me was how quickly I went to the bottom of the list to cast a critical eye on what strengths I didn’t have. The second thought was about what too much of my strength looks like. My first strength is my love of learning (of course), and I immediately thought: this doesn’t help me write; it helps me read. I discarded the fact that I never have to worry about research, something I know some writers struggle with. But because it’s something I do well, it doesn’t count.
So, what does working with my strengths mean? It means I allow myself to feel proud of my love of learning, my curiosity. Even though every fibre of my being is yelling that pride is dangerous, that I shouldn’t boast, that this is bragging. Well.
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