Can you see your hidden strengths?
Why can’t I see my strengths?
It’s sometimes easy for us to point out our flaws or our weaknesses, especially if our inner critic is in the driver’s seat. Our inner critic is that voice in our head that loves to judge us, compare us, feed us empty lies about perfectionism or that there are these “rules or standards” we should be following. When we allow our inner-critic to be the loudest voice in our head, and inherently our lives, we allow it to take us off that path of discovering our hidden strengths.
What if there was another way?
Imagine this, every time you had a negative thought about yourself, judged yourself or critiqued yourself, you shifted that negative thought to expressing something you loved, appreciated and valued about yourself? Now imagine, if you did that consistently for a month, how many minutes, hours, days would you have now spent hyping yourself up versus tearing yourself down? How would that shift your energy? How would that change you as a person? Would you know your strengths more? Would you celebrate them more? Would you use them more confidently?
How can I see my strengths more clearly?
Here are a few ideas to reconnect you to your strengths and to help quite your inner-critic:
Remember, self discovery is a journey not a destination. Your strengths evolve and grow as you do. Check in with yourself regularly and keep a journal to easily reflect back to see what new strengths you’ve created through new projects, experiences and challenges in your life.
What if you’re stuck? A great place for inspiration is reflecting on personal recognition, compliments and positive feedback you’ve received from people you respect and admire. Ask yourself, what do others lean on you for?
Your body is a great alley in this journey. It’s like your own personal truth detector. Your body likes to speak through feelings & sensations - not mind chatter. For example, close your eyes. Connect with your body and ask it, What does flow feel like in body? Where does it show up? When was the last time I felt this? You may realize flow feels like joy in your heart and relaxation in your belly. The last time you felt those sensations was when you helped your niece with their homework or your last creative meeting with your team. You realize your natural strengths are collaboration, playfulness, creativity & inspiration.
Watch out for Self Sabotage
Sometimes our inner-critic can be sneaky and find ways to disrupt our positive momentum by self-sabatoging. For example, you’re working on not judging yourself. Then you fall into this trap of judging yourself judging yourself. This can make us spiral, avoid and/or become defeated with the process. That’s self sabotage.
When this shows up for my clients, the first thing we do is work on self-compassion and that goes hand in hand with mental fitness work. My current favorite mental fitness program is Positive Intelligence because it truly works on quieting the judge and shifting yourself to come from your compassionate, loving, innovative self vs. your inner critic. It has been a truly life changing experience for so many of my clients.
If you’re interested in learning more or joining my next Postive Intelligence group coaching co-hort email me at theblueprintbyjz@gmail.com