As humans, we sometimes compare ourselves with others even if we do it unintentionally.

It’s a healthy activity provided the comparison is being made to motivate us to do better, to achieve more.

However, if it makes a person feel inferior or lowers their self-confidence, then it is time to take a step back and focus on one’s uniqueness.

It is quite natural that there are going to be qualities, skills and talents where others may be better than you.

Conversely, you too have qualities, skills and talents that are unique to you or areas where you are better than others.

Don’t let your mind play tricks with you to undermine your self-confidence.

Instead focus on the positives by honoring your strengths – those things that you are naturally good at or have become good at through practice and effort.

When you are connected with your Inner Self, it becomes easier to see your strengths and understand your place in the Universe’s scheme of things.

Here’s an exercise that I did recently with a client to help her understand herself better as she looks at a challenging career move.

Take a clean sheet of paper and make three columns for your different types of strengths.

Label the columns as Natural Strengths (like writing, cooking, painting); Special Learnt Skills (like driving, accountancy, dancing, computer training); and Positive Character Traits (kind, friendly, trustworthy, loyal).

Take 10 minutes to brainstorm and enter your strengths in each of these columns. You would be surprised to notice that the list is not as empty as you might have imagined. If there is less strength in one column, there may be many in another. The total of all your strengths remains!

Taking charge of your career requires knowing your strengths, weaknesses and areas for improvement. It also means having the confidence to step out and raise your visibility.

If that sounds like you, then you want Karmic Ally Coaching’s Confidence Checklist pronto.

Articulating your strengths in your resume while job hunting is important.

My coaching practice often receives emails and phone calls from professionals seeking new employment or job placement. Quite possibly, the misunderstanding may have arisen from their perception of the word coaching as tutoring, which is what they want to do for a new career.

A little research would have indicated that is not what my practice is about. The same beautifully crafted cover letter, Curriculum Vitae and pitch could have been used on a viable employer-prospect.

These are difficult times with the economy being at a low.

It takes time and effort to find a new job with better prospects or overcoming a first-time redundancy. Yet, this is also a time when one can discover a lot about oneself. Trust me, I know. Been there, done that.

It is a time for budding entrepreneurs or for taking stock of the various skills & talents that you have accumulated over the years.

This knowledge will help you to find that job that will give you a lot more satisfaction along with rent money and retirement savings.

Knowing your strengths will help you to create winning Curriculum Vitae.

This knowledge will also help you to focus your time and energy in the right direction and be considered employable in the right industry and organization.

If you find that you need direction for assessing your strengths, consider asking your friends, colleagues and family about their perception of your experience, abilities & accomplishments.

Quite often there are things that we don’t know about ourselves. This can be useful in determining our strengths and improving our knowledge of how others perceive us.

Need more insights? Consider taking a professional assessment.

Nowadays some leading Executive Search firms provide free online assessments in complete confidence. Google search for other assessments according to your preference and try them out for size.

However, you are your own best friend and critic as well. So a spot of introspection and self analysis is in order. You know best what your experiences and accomplishments are. Use these to discover your strengths.

An exercise to discover your strengths

This is actually much simpler than one would think and the information you gather can be used for creating a strong Curriculum Vitae. 

Take a clean sheet of paper or open an Excel spreadsheet. Note your work experience with information about the industries where you have worked and the type of organizations. Start with the most recent right down to your first job.

Then think of the positions that you occupied and the actual job that you did. If there are gaps in your resume but you did part-time jobs or decided to enhance your skills, then write them down too.

Think of unpaid work, volunteer work, community activities and student activities. 

Then, for each of your entries, think of what tasks you accomplished the actions that you took and the results achieved.

This information will not only help you to discover your unique selling point but will be useful input for that star Curriculum Vitae. It will also help you to prepare for interviews and create information that you can put down in your covering letters for jobs.

The last step is to now understand oneself better.  Look at the data that you have generated along with feedback from others and the professional assessments.

Honestly make note of the key qualities that are apparent. Namely, your proven abilities, your values, your interests and your personality.

Go back to your original Curriculum Vitae and update it for the new discoveries that you have made.

The next time you want to apply for a new position, match your abilities and values to those of the target organization.

If there is a match, go ahead and apply with a strong covering letter and winning Curriculum Vitae. There will always be factors outside of your control but at least you have covered the ones where you do have control and knowledge.

Your turn.

Do you know your strengths? What’s your Super Power when it comes to your professional abilities? Do share in the comments box below!

Need support for taking your career forward? Check out my career coaching services at Career Coaching