How to Find Your Strengths

To find your strengths, list what comes easily to you (not what you "should" be good at), ask a few people what they see in you, and notice which of your skills drain you even though you're good at them. Then try different ways of using what's left, and build your week around those.

This is the six-step version from Chapter 6 of Burnout, Bullshit, and Breakthroughs.

Why strengths beat fixing weaknesses

"When I played to my strengths—and admitted my limits—I thrived." Systems thinking is one of my strengths, and what worked for me was building systems around my limits instead of pretending they weren't there.

Step 1: List your natural strengths

“Not what you "should" be good at—what actually comes easy to you.”

For an example, here are mine as I wrote them in the book. The names come from the VIA classification of character strengths (Christopher Peterson and Martin Seligman):

1. Caution, Prudence, and Discretion: "I think things through. I don't jump into fads or hype."
2. Self-Control and Self-Regulation: "I'm disciplined."
3. Judgment, Critical Thinking, and Open-Mindedness: "I examine things from all sides, rely on evidence, and stay open to changing my mind."

Step 2: Ask others

"Sometimes your friends see your gifts more clearly than you do." So ask two or three people who know you well what they see you doing easily.

Step 3: Find your "killer skills"

These are the skills that look like strengths on paper but cost you. What are you great at that still drains you? The book's answer: automate, delegate or minimize those tasks.

Mine are admin, accounting and some kinds of sales. "For years, I tried to power through. Eventually, I realized: just because you can do something doesn't mean you should. If a task drains you, systematize it, automate it, or delegate it. Your energy is your most precious resource. Protect it."

Step 4: Try different mediums

A strength needs a place to show up. "Medium is everything. Artists have their canvas, musicians their instruments, programmers their code."

"Try things. Don't commit to a domain just because it's logical—commit because you love the process." In the book's words: "if you don't love the process, you'll never sustain it."

Joseph Campbell's "follow your bliss" points the same way. The book's test: "Would I love doing this for decades, even if nobody noticed?"

Step 5: Reduce friction

"Make it easy to do what lights you up. Systematize, organize, and streamline your environment and routines."

Step 6: Stay in your zone of genius

The "zone of genius" is Gay Hendricks' term, from The Big Leap. "Focus your time and energy on what you want to get world class at—not what others expect."

Mine is conceptual thinking: "I'm at my best when I'm breaking down complex ideas, assembling concepts, and creating frameworks that help others transform their lives."

Your story counts as a strength too

If you feel you've wasted years, that's not the end of the list. Your "story, your baggage, even your pain is what makes you unique. No one else has your mix of scars, strengths, and perspective. That's your leverage."

One thing to try today

Sort your week into two columns (15 minutes). Look at last week's tasks. In one column, write what gave you energy. In the other, what drained you even though you did it well. The first column points at your strengths. Pick one thing from the second column to automate, delegate or drop.

Strengths are the second part of a personal purpose statement, right after your core values. The free purpose self-check covers both.

Free: After the Crash shows how I build simple systems around the energy I actually have: one most important task, a not-to-do list and a weekly review. The free edition: isakvidinghoff.com/free-book

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Sources

• Burnout, Bullshit, and Breakthroughs, Ch 6: "When I played to my strengths—and admitted my limits—I thrived."
• Burnout, Bullshit, and Breakthroughs, Ch 6: "List your natural strengths… Ask others… Identify your 'killer skills'…"
• Burnout, Bullshit, and Breakthroughs, Ch 8: "Caution, Prudence, and Discretion… Self-Control and Self-Regulation… Judgment…"
• Burnout, Bullshit, and Breakthroughs, Ch 6: "just because you can do something doesn't mean you should."
• Burnout, Bullshit, and Breakthroughs, Ch 6: "if you don't love the process, you'll never sustain it."
• Burnout, Bullshit, and Breakthroughs, Ch 6: "Would I love doing this for decades, even if nobody noticed?"
• Burnout, Bullshit, and Breakthroughs, Ch 8: "I'm at my best when I'm breaking down complex ideas…"
• Burnout, Bullshit, and Breakthroughs, Ch 2: "That's your leverage."