Category: Personal Strengths

The Crucial Steps in Taking Advantage of Opportunities

One of my mentors explained to me that being in the right place at the right time has nothing to do with success. Instead, it’s critical to be in the right place at the right time with the preparations and awareness required to take advantage of the situation.

How critical is it? Imagine being in a public place requiring medical attention because you have stopped breathing. Who will be able to help you? Will it be someone that just happens to be there? Probably not. It will be the person that is trained in CPR and aware that you need help.

Think of the opportunities you want. Are you prepared with the proper skills, abilities, and services? How will you recognize the need? Do you have what is necessary to allow you to take advantage of the situations that occur throughout your day?

1. Increase Your Awareness. Increased awareness will help you see an opportunity. Learn from others. Spend some time with people that have accomplished what you want to accomplish. Connect with a mentor or coach. Discuss your experiences, and learn from their experience. Develop the ability to recognize when you can add value to a situation. Sometimes you may even need to slow down to become aware of the people and events around you.

2. Be Prepared. To achieve the highest levels of success, you must continuously invest in yourself. The world changes, and your skills become outdated if you are not growing. This is not just a phenomenon in technology. You can observe this in terms of generational differences between people. The success you desire exists within a dynamic world. To embrace it, you must continue to transform also.

Awareness and preparation is the foundation for success, but it also requires that you follow through with action. It is the awareness and preparation that will give you the confidence to act. In most cases this means stepping out of your comfort zone, because that is where the highest levels of success are found.

When have you found yourself prepared and in the right place at the right time? When have you recognized an opportunity but realized you were not quite prepared?

Control Your Strengths

strengthsYour strength can be keeping you in your comfort zone or limiting you in some other way and preventing you from reaching your full potential. If you know your strengths, ask yourself how they are limiting you. They do, and it deserves some thought. Let’s walk through an example.

My number one strength is my learning ability. I have the ability to learn new things quickly and effectively. This strength is very useful when I am faced with new challenges, or I want to pursue a new path. You may be thinking that this strength would create few limitations, but you would be wrong. Here are some potential risks:

1. Lack of Focus: Since I like to learn new things, I learn a lot of different things. This drive to continue learning can lead to a lack of focus. There are so many subjects to learn about in this world, and I find them all fascinating. I must use discipline and systems to keep myself focused. If I don’t force myself to focus, my attention easily wanders.

2. Lack of Depth: Without focus, I may also develop a multitude of general knowledge without developing any expertise. Or as an alternative, I may find myself developing to be an expert in disparate topics.

3. Lack of Delegation: At times I find myself doing a task because I want to learn how to do it, even though I would be better served if I delegated it, or hired someone else to complete it. In some cases, I should know something about how to do tasks I delegate, but it is not always required. This can keep me from working on more important issues.

These three potential risks are real for people that are strong in learning ability. These people find the process of learning enjoyable no matter the topic, and it results in real problems.

This week, think about your greatest strength, and the risk associated with it. Try to define three real potential road blocks based on your greatest strength. If you discover questions that you need help to pursue, feel free to contact me.

Beware of Your Strengths

strengthsVic Braden has said, “Learn to think like a winner. Think positive and visualize your strengths.” Most of us will be more successful if we focus on our strengths and delegate to others in areas we are weaker. But we should be cognizant of both our strengths and weaknesses.

We can over use our strengths to the point that we begin to lose our flexibility. As leaders we need to maintain a level of versatility which allows us to better assess our current situation.

How do you play to your strengths but still not lose your edge?

1. Know yourself. Constant reflection, personal development, and learning will help you be fully aware of your capabilities in different situations. It will help you learn how to change the intensity in which you use your strengths.

2. Accept yourself. Being humble will allow you to stay in your weak zone on those occasions when it is required. Accept your limitations, and learn from others.

3. Serve others. Use your strengths to help other people. If you are only helping yourself, then you will probably be viewed as a domineering, selfish, control freak.

So the best advice is be aware of your strengths, not beware of your strengths!