Einstein once said, “Everyone is a genius, but if you judge a fish by its ability to climb trees, it will spend its life feeling like a fool.” This is the first time that we have heard this phrase from childhood to adulthood, but there are always some dark moments in everyone’s life when you feel that you have nothing to achieve, can not find the direction to move forward, and even begin to doubt their own value. Want to find the direction, the first step is to dig their own strengths. Those who are at the forefront of certain areas of the minority, not necessarily smarter than most people, perhaps just find their own strengths, and in the field of expertise to persevere. So how should each of us ordinary people tap into our own strengths?
I think the first step to uncovering your strengths is to detach from your ego and analyze it rationally and understand it like a spectator. I have to admit that most of us have inertia in our thinking and are easily dictated by our own subjective emotions. Sometimes maybe you’re not good at something, but you’re so used to being in that circle that inertia stops you from thinking rationally and exploring your own strengths, so you stop and waste too much time on the same things. That’s when we have to detach ourselves, subconsciously put away those self-pitying emotions, and live with ourselves like a bystander.
For example, if you’ve learned something new today, after you’ve finished, you need to take a moment to reflect on the process, how much time and energy you put into it, and how much you’ve gained. People always inevitably have self-pity, but the time to review you have to put away their own “sympathy” to a purely rational perspective to judge how well they did this thing, whether there is room for improvement, and most importantly, to pay attention to their own “merits” embodied in the process “
But it’s not a good idea.
But sometimes we feel like there are too few opportunities to do this, so how do we tap into more of our strengths in a shorter period of time? This brings us to the second most important point, called “experimentation”. We will take ourselves as the object of the experiment, push themselves to do a variety of things, learn all aspects of knowledge, and each time do not forget to repeat the first step of “review”. Just like a scientific conclusion must be based on a large number of experiments. Not to try new things, not to contact new things, how can you figure out the way forward. As the saying goes, quantity leads to quality, and often inspiration comes out on the basis of numerous practices.
In the second point I would like to give you a tip called “experience”. It’s important to learn from other people’s experiences, even if you don’t know what you’re doing, but time is limited. It can save us a lot of time experimenting by reaching out to people who have “been there” in each area. For example, college students can get in touch with good seniors, and interns can ask for advice from their predecessors in the industry. Their experiences, whether they are failures or successes, may inspire you to learn to see the essence through the phenomenon and to explore your own strengths through the experience of others.
Third, you can learn to “cultivate” your strengths. Some people may ask, “Aren’t you born with strengths, so why can you cultivate them? We can all understand that a person’s cognitive ability improves as he or she ages, which means that his or her intelligence can be improved through learning. Likewise, we can intentionally develop our strengths in certain areas. We should not wait for the strengths to come to us like “waiting for the rabbit”, but we should learn to induce ourselves by “throwing the brick to attract the jade”, and this process is actually the process of exploring the strengths. The company’s main goal is to provide the best possible service to its customers.
Take myself as an example. Before I went to college, I always thought I had a talent for writing, and I always wanted to improve my writing. But after I went to college, there was no one and no goal to motivate me to write, so my plan to improve was put on hold for a while. Then I came across a public service writing class, where I had to write 500 words a day, and those who missed the class would be punished with a red packet in the group. I wanted to use this as an incentive to write, so I signed up. I felt that my writing ability did slowly improve during that time, and also mistakenly gained a little success, and gradually, “good writing” really became an advantage of their own. The first thing you need to do is to make sure that you have a good understanding of what you are doing.
Lastly, I would like to add two very important points, called “trial and error” and “broadening your horizons”. I am often asked whether I should learn first or try to make mistakes first. My answer is “both”. Our learning is essentially a trial and error process to explore our own strengths, and even if we find ourselves wrong one day, it’s okay, it’s still a reward. While you are young, you can make a comeback. Besides, life is not a rehearsal, every day is a live broadcast, you do not have to wait for all the dishes are cut and then put into the pot. While learning theoretical knowledge, while the practical exploration, the two complement each other and do not conflict. The company’s main goal is to provide the best possible service to its customers.
As for “broadening your horizons”, I often emphasize in my articles that why we read and surf the Internet is not just for entertainment, but is actually a learning process, even if it is fragmented learning. As long as it gives you more knowledge, a broader perspective, a more flexible mind, and more ways to learn and work, it will help you discover your own strengths.
Lu Yao’s line in “The Ordinary World” has always inspired me: “Everyone has an awakening period, but the early or late awakening determines the fate of the individual.” As the saying goes, “It is important for people to be self-aware.” It is also a blessing for young people to figure out their strengths and advantages early and achieve their best within their abilities. It is a very important ability to be good at exploring one’s own strengths, and I firmly believe that this ability can be cultivated later in life. The best time to plant a tree is ten years ago, followed by now, and tapping into your strengths might as well start by reading this article.