Would you like to be more effective and productive in every important area of your life?  I believe most everyone would like to.  One of the most important things we can do before beginning a new project or task is to identify and fully understand our strengths.  There is an incredible tool that can help us do exactly that.  It is StrengthsFinder 2.0 by Tom Rath.

All of us have been created with certain innate strengths.  No single strength is necessarily better than another.  They are each unique and they are all strengths.  Different tasks and situations are better suited for different strengths than others.  Too often we do not know our own strengths and find ourselves working in a manner that is completely outside of our strength zone.  That creates stress and ineffectiveness.  One of the most common characteristics of highly successful people is we know our strengths and we do our best to work within them.

So what is StrengthsFinder 2.0?  It is really two parts.  So StrengthsFinder 2.0 is a book that discusses the 34 different strengths it has identified.  It helps you better understand what they are and how to identify them.  Even more importantly it helps you understand how to work with someone who has strengths you do not possess (which is most people).  The second part of StrengthsFinder 2.0 is it comes with an online code you can use to take the Strengths Finder test one time for one person.  If you are a couple you should both take the test.  Just buy Strengths Based Leadership to get a second code.

Now I have never been a fan of any sort of personality testing, but I have to admit the results of the Strengths Finder test were unbelievably accurate for me.  It will identify your top five strengths in order.  Here are my top five:

Significance

Consistency

Futuristic

Focus

Responsibility

The incredible thing is no matter what combination of your top five strengths are only one in every 33 million people you wired similarly to you.  That is pretty incredible to think about.

The report will help you understand not only what situations and environments you will thrive in, but it will also help you understand which interactions and tasks to avoid.  This was incredibly helpful for Beth and me in our business and our marriage.  Although we share some of our top five strengths we of course do not have all of the top five.  This used to create a lot of stress in our marriage and our business.  Essentially my strengths help me work best when I am independent and I am very much a “Fire, Ready, Aim” person.  I am action oriented and very focused on results.  Beth likes to think about things and has a need to feel involved.

The number one thing my report said to not have me do is get me involved in group discussion/think tank type situations.  I get antsy and short tempered because I feel like we are wasting time talking about things instead of doing things.  Beth needs to feel involved and it would hurt her when I would just go make decisions and complete tasks without consulting her first.  This insight helped us make a few simple adjustments that have caused us to be way more successful both personally and professionally while helping meet her emotional needs.

Whether it is in your marriage or your professional life the StrengthsFinder 2.0 is a great resource to help you be more successful and productive.  I encourage you to buy the book, take the test, have your spouse or coworkers take the test, and implement the suggestions into your daily lives.

Question: What are your top five strengths and what insight did you gain from taking the Strengths Finder test?  Comment below