“Be the change you wish to see in the world.”
Mahatma Gandhi
Words so true if you want to make a difference. Difference is great, as long as you accept the difference in others.
Let’s delve into what is change?
The definition of change as a verb is to make or become different, or as a noun is an act or process through which something becomes different. In the strengths world we accept difference, we’re all different. According to the Clifton StrengthsFinder® there is a one in 33 million chance of having the same top five strengths, in the same order as someone else (not to mention the entire 34 in the same order). Why would we want to be different, why would we want to change who we are.
Does it make more sense to improve, rather than change? We tend to change was doesn’t work, or fails, or is broken. We change weakness. Surely there are some aspects worth keeping? We should take those aspects and focus on improving them. The natural result is we will look for what works, what is good, what is successful. We will focus on strengths.
In search of a working lightbulb, Edison famously mentioned he hadn’t failed, he simply found 10,000 different ways not to make a lightbulb. If you believe in what you focus on is what you get, if Edison had merely focused on what didn’t, he would have kept getting something that didn’t work. What he did do was focus on improving every aspect that was working. Low and behold we have lightbulbs.
In a lightbulb moment and through sheer lack of boredom during the COVID19 lockdowns we thought it a great idea to ‘improve’ on the ebooks we have written on strengths. We’ve retitled them and added some more content. Let’s begin with the complete guide book How To Reduce Stress and Create Success.
I loved the exercise, it gave an opportunity to revisit the interviews with over 30 strengths coaches from around the world. As a Maximiser, the enjoyment I got from focusing on each of the individual strengths was and still is awesome. It didn’t need changing, simply improving. And how much does a Maximiser love to make things better!
Remember, Focus On Your Strengths.