We’re told our strengths are the things we’re good at, while our weaknesses are the things we’re not good at. Seems obvious, right? Well, it turns out to be wrong. It’s not how good you are at an activity that matters. It’s how the activity makes you feel. A strength makes you feel stronger. It’s an expression of your true self. A weakness makes you feel weaker.
You might be a skilled accountant, but if crunching numbers drains your energy and leaves you feeling depleted, it’s a weakness, not a strength. On the other hand, if public speaking energizes and invigorates you, even if you’re not the most polished speaker, it’s a strength worth pursuing and developing into a valuable skill that could transform your career.
When you engage a weakness, you betray your true self. You’re doing something you know you are not meant to be doing. The result is that even if you achieve a positive outcome, it feels flat and meaningless. The whole process robs you of energy.
Of course, sometimes you need to use a weakness to move a project forward. But don’t mistake this for your path. Choosing your work is less about becoming well-rounded and more about becoming well-directed.
The key question to ask here is, “How does this activity make me feel? Does this activity give me energy and make me feel stronger? Or does this activity drain my energy and make me feel weaker?”
As you gravitate toward activities that energize you, work no longer feels like strenuous effort you must endure. Instead, it is an inherently rewarding activity that feels exciting. Choose the work that gives you energy.
This article is an excerpt from Chapter 8 of Choose Your Work
Footnote
A strength makes you feel stronger: This idea has been put forth by a range of eminent experts. For example, see Marcus Buckingham, Love + Work: How to Find What You Love, Love What You Do, and Do It for the Rest of Your Life (Boston: Harvard Business Review Press, 2022), 115–116.
See also: Christopher Peterson and Martin E. P. Seligman, Character Strengths and Virtues: A Handbook and Classification (New York: Oxford University Press, 2004), 18.
It seems like the original idea came from Peter Drucker. See Peter F. Drucker, The Effective Executive: The Definitive Guide to Getting the Right Things Done (New York: Harper & Row, 1966), 89.
Dan Dobos writes about decision making, personal growth, human potential, fulfillment and helping people choose the work that they are meant to do. He is the author of Choose Your Work.