In my life, many things have come easily… and many things frustrate me to no end. There are things that  I just cannot seem to do!

In our homebuilding business, I was blessed with the right strengths for managing people’s time, money and expectations for a new place to call home. However, as I transitioned into my second half of life, I didn’t know what my real strengths were. No one ever encouraged me to explore them or told me how to find them. What a frustrating feeling!

Do you see a man skilled in his work? He will stand before kings; He will not stand before obscure men.

Proverbs 22:29 ESV

Then a wonderful Godly man, Chris Davis, encouraged a group of men, to find our children’s’ strengths. Tho only problem was he didn’t tell us how. It was at the Willow Creek Leadership Summit when I first heard Tom Rath speak about Strengthsfinder 2.0. You would think that I would have seized the opportunity to discover my strengths right then and there, however, it wasn’t until a few years later when I was taking The Masters Program that I was reintroduced to this tool and it changed everything in my life.

My top 5 strengths are:

Learner

Have a great desire to learn and want to continuously improve. In particular, the process of learning rather than the outcome, excites them.

Achiever

Have a great deal of stamina and work hard. They take great satisfaction from being busy and productive.

Activator

Can make things happen by turning thoughts into action. They are often impatient.

Input

Have a craving to know more. Often they like to collect and archive all kinds of information.

Competition

Measure their progress against the performance of others. They strive to win first place and revel in contests.

God has gifted each of us with certain skills and talents that are unique to us. Our strengths in these respective areas offer indications of where He would have us focus our attention for maximum effectiveness.

My strengths have helped me learn how to serve God best. I hoard books, CD’s and information and I’m so excited and passionate about writing this blog and eventual book. I hope that by sharing the top resources that have influenced me I can help you change your life too.

Stop wasting time! My book will be a collection of all the things that when I learned them, I said, “I wish someone had told me earlier!”

When we spend the majority of our time in our strength’s zone, things come much easier to us. It’s no longer work. It’s fun. It’s play. We are energized and excited by what we do.  Doesn’t this sound like a much more exciting life?

Attitude                Pray and see if you can have the benefit of others helping you to discover your strengths.

Action                   Buy Strengthsfinder 2.0 and take the 45-minute online survey or go online at the Gallup Strengths Center for $9.99. You can then better understand who you are and how to work in your Strengths Zone.

Are you excited to discover your top 5 strengths? How will that change your focus?

Recommended Resource  Rath, Tom. (2007). Strengthsfinder 2.0. Gallup.