Recognize Your Strengths

You probably already know your strengths.

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CAREERinsite

Know Yourself

The first step in planning your career is to know your values, your interests, and the things you’re good at. It's time to get to know yourself. Take one or more of the quizzes to help plan your career path.

Your strengths are the things you’re passionate about, not just the things you’re good at. You may be good at writing, but writing would be one of your real strengths only if you love doing it. Real strengths combine your passion and your ability.

Here’s how to recognize your strengths:

• Your strengths are things you love to do or use.
• Your strengths feed you.
• It’s hard to go for a long time without using your strengths.
• When you use your strengths, you lose track of time. You feel whole and energized.

To identify your strengths, be specific. “I want to save the world” is a statement you may agree with passionately but it’s too general to be a strength.

Strength statements often start with the phrase, “I feel strong when…” or “I love it when…”

• I love it when an audience connects with my music.
• I feel strong when the kids’ soccer team I’m coaching plays well.
• I love it when a senior shares a memory with me.
• I feel strong when I solve someone’s computer problem.

Write your own strength statements:

• I love it when...
• I feel strong when...