How well do you know yourself? What are your natural strengths? When I was 24 years old I had one of those “Aha” moments when the penny dropped and I realised who I was, what my natural strengths were and only then did I start to feel comfortable in my own shoes.
I had spent 4 years at University studying Pharmacy. I had spent a lot of that time surrounded by my fellow students who I felt were different to me. They studied all the time, they were much quieter than me and their passion seemed to be the detail and the research. Why was I not like them? Was I on the wrong course? Would I be a failure at being a Pharmacist? Why did I want to be a Pharmacist?
It wasn’t until I was fortunate enough to experience Insights Discovery, a self-awareness tool that produced a whole booklet on my strengths, my communication preferences, my personal style, how I interact with others, how I make decisions, my blind spots, how I like to be managed amongst other rather interesting insights, that I realised who I was and why I had felt this way.
I learned that my strengths were building relationships with others……….and these strengths were the opposite of a lot of my fellow students’ strengths. They were brilliant at the detail, the research, working on their own – everything that I was not!
The penny had dropped and from that day onwards I realised that finding a career that played to my natural strengths was so important.
- What have been your “Aha” moments in your career so far?
- What are your strengths?
I look forward to hearing your own experiences around this.
Until next time,
Julia
