Live in Your Strengths

"Not trying to be everything is smart. Not working on everything but rather emphasizing the development of selected powerful talents is the route to excellence. " Donald Clifton

I recently finished the Strengthsfinder 2.0 book and survey and have been trying to figure out what my next step needs to be. Here are my top 5 strengths:

1. Learner-not too surprising given my current role as a professional student/test-taker. I'll never forget when one of my attending physicians said to me, "You're just intolerant of ignorance." I had never thought about it, but it makes sense. I'm intolerant of both my own and other people's ignorance. I want to understand every detail of a situation and I want to be able to educate those around me. I thrive on learning new things- road biking, swimming...

2. Achiever- shocking right? I wonder how many med students would have this on their list. I tend to feel fulfilled when I accomplish goals. This explains why I have hated certain rotations recently where I feel like I accomplish nothing or contribute very little to the team and I love rotations where I have autonomy and can work as hard as I would like to.

3. Command- This one has been tempered in the past few years as I have been the low man on the totem pole, but just wait until they give me authority. Just kidding.... I must admit there are situations where I see a lack of command or leadership and it drives me crazy! Leadership is influence, not position and I look forward to developing this skill.

4. Futuristic-I'm the kid who was telling everyone in high school what I was going to do with the rest of my life and the impact I hoped to have. I guess that counts. My visions and dreams have expanded since then, but I never want to stop dreaming. As Henry David Thoreau said, "In the long run we hit only what we aim at."

5. Maximizer- "Excellence, not average, is your measure." While I wish this were true of me more often, I am growing in this one. As individuals at GCC say often, "Excellence honors God and inspires people."

I would highly recommend this book and the survey to anyone. I think it is essential to know your strengths, develop them, and do something with them. It has been fun discussing this with my House Church in Indy and other friends. Imagine what the world could look like if everyone lived in their strengths!