The Key to Success? Be More You

“Today you are you! That is truer than true! There is no one alive who is you-er than you!” — Dr. Seuss

Success is the art of being who you already are. You make the greatest contribution when your energies are focused on expanding and living your unique talents and abilities. By acknowledging and working from your signature strengths, you can become the best you can possibly be, and by achieving your peak potential, you can contribute deeply to the world.

Yet our society supports the opposite. Instead of building on strengths, attention and focus is most often placed on correcting our deficiencies. It seems to be a global obsession to focus relentlessly on our shortcomings with messaging designed to make us question our inadequacies. This scarcity mindset keeps us stuck and focused in a downward spiral of negativity that affects our self-esteem, self-confidence and joy. In contrast, a generative strengths-based approach amplifies what is already good and turns it into great. Playing to your strengths means you can contribute more. Living into your strengths brings you alignment, happiness, and joy.

The work in the area of Strengths-based Psychology, founded by Dr. Donald O. Clifton, supports this generative approach. Clifton worked with author Tom Rath and a team of Gallup scientists with a goal of starting a global conversation about what’s right with people. Through their research they discovered that “People have several times more potential for growth when they invest energy in developing their strengths instead of correcting their deficiencies,” as Rath noted in Clifton’s 2007 book StrengthsFinder 2.0.

What could feel better than knowing your biggest successes will come from magnifying your innate signature brilliance?

“What?” you say. “I have no brilliance. I am only average.” Let’s get one thing straight — everyone in this world is unique. In fact, your DNA and your set of life experiences have created a You who is different from anyone else. For the greatest and easiest path to success, you simply need to be more of who you already are. Focus your energies on increasing your capacity in those areas in which you have natural ability. Be more You.

Not convinced? Consider this: it is selfish not to acknowledge your strengths and step into them. By embracing your strengths, you will be more of the best parts of you, and the whole world benefits. Playing small shuts down the possibilities of our contributing fully to the world.

It takes but a simple mindset shift to feel the benefits of switching from scarcity thinking (“What is wrong with me?”) to abundant thinking (“What is right with me?”). Follow these four steps and see how your life changes. (Without you changing!)

STEP 1: IDENTIFY AND ACKNOWLEDGE YOUR STRENGTHS

First, and most importantly, you must do the work of identifying your strengths. What makes you You? If that’s a tough one for you to answer, it could well be the biggest area of potential improvement (your “growing edge” area).

Exercise: Create your “I AM” List

Grab a piece of paper and set the timer for three minutes. Write a list of 20 of your qualities and strengths. Dig deep and get at the strength underneath a learned skill. For example, instead of writing that you are a good accountant, write the qualities you have that make you a good accountant such as being analytical or thorough.

If you have trouble filling your list, think of talents or qualities you have that others think are fantastic but that you perhaps don’t acknowledge because they are just “who you are.” If you get stuck, ask those close to you what they see in you. Your homework: Fill up your list of 20.

Reflection:

Which of those twenty qualities do you most enjoy using, or exhibiting, or sharing when interacting with others? Circle or highlight those as your signature strengths.

STEP 2: STEP INTO YOUR SIGNATURE STRENGTHS

Once you have acknowledged your signature strengths, think about how you can really step into them. How could you show up as more Susan, more Lynda, more Dianne? How could you be the best parts of yourself most often? Focus your energies on increasing your capacity in those areas in which you have natural ability. Be more You.

Reflection:

On a scale of 1-10 (10 being “always,” 1 being “never”), how often do you show up fully expressing the qualities you circled in Step 1?

STEP 3: ALIGN YOUR STRENGTHS

Consciously think about ways to align your life and your goals with your natural qualities. Keep your “I AM List” handy and focus on it daily. Clifton notes that Gallup studies indicate “people who…have the opportunity to focus on their strengths every day are six times as likely to be engaged in their jobs and more than three times as likely to report having an excellent quality of life in general.”

Reflection:

What might happen if you most fully aligned your strengths and focused on expressing them more often? (Write down three positive results.)

STEP 4: HELP OTHERS

Help those around you acknowledge and celebrate their strengths, and watch how they grow. Imagine a world in which everyone was encouraged to explore and live from their greatest capacity.

When I work with groups and teams, I encourage each member to consider that their greatest contribution to the team will be when they show up fully as themselves. The different aspects of every individual in a collective are what make the group unique. Celebrating, valuing, and encouraging the expression of the differences of each member is the key to a group’s growth and success.

Jan Carley, the Inner Coach of Barbershop, is the author of Harmony from the Inside Out and The Overtone Effect. She sings lead in Lions Gate Chorus and Fandango Quartet (Region 26) and will be guest faculty at Sweet Adelines International Education Symposium (IES) 2020.

Come learn with guest faculty Jan Carley and other great instructors at the International Education Symposium on July 22-26 in San Antonio, Texas (USA). Registration is open now!

Both books are available from Sweet Adelines International Sales! www.sweetadelines.com/shop

SING INVEST EMPOWER in yourself others as one Find Your Voice.

Sweet Adelines International Education Symposium

July 22-26, 2020 San Antonio, TX United States