I’m feeling a little bit emotional.  I have just seen my energy levels skyrocket in black and white.  And I have to share this with you.

You will know by now that I have been working consistently on my energising strengths for about 12 months.  The beauty of the Strengths Profile is that it identifies your energy-givers and your energy-drainers.  Also, the strengths in this profile are dynamic which means you can consciously tap into your boosters and steer clear of your drainers.

Because it’s a dynamic profile, it is recommended that you retake it every 6 months.  I’ve just redone my profile and compared it to December of last year.  The results are exciting!

More energy

The Strengths Profile measures 60 strengths and looks at three things: how well you perform that strength, how much energy it gives you and how frequently you use it.  The measurement that I always want to improve is my use of energy-boosting strengths.  Wouldn’t we all?

In December last year, exactly half (30) of my strengths were energy-draining.  This year …  only 20! 

This tells me that I was overly reliant on some strengths last year and they became energy draining.  I mean, we all experienced new ways of working and a certain amount of discomfort around that, right?  BUT, having focused on using my energising strengths more, I have managed to “raise up” some of my energy-drainers and turn them into energy boosting strengths that I can celebrate!

My particular joy is that I turned “Spotlight” from a top de-energiser (coming in at a depleting no. 5 “Learned Behaviour” last year) into an energising strength.  This is really important as I need to use it a lot in this online world we are inhabiting and I’d prefer to derive energy from it. 

How did I do it?  I was aware that it was draining me, so every time I had to be in the “Spotlight” on a Zoom call, I tuned in to my other energising strengths like Mission (why I was doing it), Courage (be brave) and Adventure (it’s new and exciting!).  Over time, Spotlight was draining me less and less and it became more enjoyable.

New energisers

The other thing that struck me is that a lot of my energising strengths had shifted about in terms of how much I use them. 

I still have Rapport Builder, Listener and Action-Taker in my top 7 energising strengths but some of the strengths I’ve relied heavily on in the last year (see Courage and Action above) have dropped down the list in terms of usage.  This feels healthy.  Strengths should be like a shopping list of energisers that you can use more or use less depending on what you’re trying to achieve.

I also have a new top Realised Strength of “Writer” – I blame you ??.

Fewer weaknesses

Although my philosophy is not to focus on weaknesses, I have lost a couple!  It appears that I am now able to give constructive feedback as well as optimise my time efficiently.  At the moment though, I still find these two draining so I will use them only when I need to.

Overall, the upshot is that I have 56 strengths that I perform well, 40 of which give me energy!  I think that’s enough to be going on with.

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