VOYAGE TO VICTORY

Strengths & Weaknesses

Today we’re diving into a topic that can be applicable in both personal and work situations -  understanding your strengths and weaknesses. Sounds simple, right? Well—here’s the twist—sometimes our greatest strengths can trip us up if we’re not paying attention.

Together, we’ll explore how your unique qualities can both boost and limit you, depending on how they’re used and where you focus your growth. This review doesn’t rely on just one viewpoint —we’ll draw on insights from several experts. PAUSE!! Oh, and I even have a surprise lined up for later in the video!

Before I get into the details…
Remember: it’s OK to have weaknesses. In fact, letting people see that you’re not perfect makes it way easier for them to connect with you. Imperfection? Totally relatable.

So… what’s the right balance of strengths and weaknesses if you’re trying to grow?

Let’s rewind to your childhood. In school, being well-rounded is rewarded. For example, universities and colleges look at your GPA when determining acceptance, but that is an average based on a variety of subjects.

Then we grow up, enter the world of work, and suddenly we’re expected to zero in. If you go deep enough, you might even become a specialized expert. And that raises an important question:If adult success is built on focused strengths, does it still make sense to spend energy on areas where we continually struggle?

Here’s a moment for reflection, ask yourself - Is it worth the effort to improve on an area of weakness if there is only a short or minimal improvement?

Let’s be realistic - you wouldn’t expect a fish to climb a tree. Yet we often do we ask ourselves to excel at things that simply don’t come naturally. When you focus on growing your strengths, and develop your expertise and specialization, you can increase the value of your contribution to your team and organization.

To be very clear – we aren’t talking about essential skills like communication, staying calm, or staying organized. We’re talking about things like math, drawing, or persuasion. And remember: strengths aren’t inherently “good” or “bad”—they’re powerful tools that depend on how you use them.

Ignoring weaknesses entirely isn’t the goal. You have to weigh how relevant those skills are. For example, if you’re highly creative but struggle with detail-oriented tasks like proofreading, you might need to find strategies to improve focus otherwise, it could undermine your performance.

Let’s look at another example: handwriting. With technology taking over, it’s not a big deal if your handwriting isn’t award-winning… unless it’s so messy that even you can’t read it. That kind of weakness can affect your life and might need a little attention.

In the links shared with this video, you’ll find two strength assessments:

• One is super detailed, takes about 20–30 minutes, and costs about $30 for a full report.
• The other is shorter, totally free, and a perfect first step.

You can also figure out your strengths, albeit less scientifically, by reflecting. What do you love doing? What tasks do you dread? What are the common themes between your different experiences? Start trying new activities or exploring new environments and see how these feel – this has an added bonus in that experiencing new environments tends to have a positive effect on well-being.

Identifying your strengths will not only help you see where you can add the most value or where you might want to spend more time growing and developing. It can help you get support earlier, or it can help you build a team around you with complementary strengths to increase the likelihood of the teams success.

Once you’ve taken a quiz, check out the site’s resources or—better yet—book a call with me and we’ll go over your results together.

I’ll leave you with this quote by Lawrence Samuel which talks about the most successful of individuals:

“They avoid comparisons to others, knowing that stacking your achievements, no matter how significant, against those of everyone else is an unwinnable proposition. They have a holistic view of themselves, taking their self-worth from a consideration of themselves as complete, unique individuals, and knowing that no one can be more successful at being you than you.”