Strengths are like a ball of clay, sturdy and foundational, but with no certain purpose. However, when the ball of clay is molded and formed, it provides structure and a backbone to help anything stay sturdy. Like so, our strengths need to be developed and molded, in order for them to be effective in helping us reach individual goals and overcome challenging obstacles. By using a strength based approach, instead of one geared towards getting rid of weaknesses, one will experience more personal development and acquire greater leadership skills. This ideal is echoed by Marilyn Vos Savant, an American woman known for having the highest recorded IQ, when she said, “success is achieved by developing our strengths, not by eliminating our weaknesses.” Using the Reflected Best Self technique, created at the University of Michigan – Center for Positive Organizations, this paper is focused on using strengths to help accomplish future goals.
By reflecting on the many stories I received from my peers, family members, and close friends, the purpose of this paper is to create a summary of my strengths and find patterns in how I behave when I am accomplishing the most. By highlighting and analyzing my strengths, I will be able to identify a set of themes that are prevalent in my life. These themes are those that are seen in my character and actions. I will generate a list of personal, situational, and relational factors that I see enabling or blocking my ability to perform and accomplish goals in my life. Finally, I will then provide a best self-portrait encompassing my strengths, which can be used and altered throughout my life to identify and reflect an authentic summary of my skills. The end goal is to find a way to apply my reflected best self-portrait to assist in accomplishing my short and long-term goals. This paper follows the Reflected Best Self exercise that can be used to plan for and attain future goals as they arise.
Initial Perspective
My original perception of my strengths was based on the many sports, activities, and clubs I have been involved with academically and outside of school. The knowledge and skills I gained from these numerous experiences allowed me to create an image of myself; a charismatic and extraverted individual who is dedicated towards accomplishing any tasks he sets his eyes on. Possessing these skills allowed me to naturally develop into an effective leader, which is a what I consider to be one of my greatest strengths. My strength as a leader was exemplified by my other strengths of dedication and ability to interact with others.
Throughout my life, I have always been involved with teams, whether it be in sports or school group projects. In these teams, I strived to be the best individual and teammate I could be and this caused me to develop strong work ethic and focus. My knack for wanting to be the best at anything I did translated to me teaching my ways to others on the team and leading them. My leadership strength brought out my qualities of being vocal and communicating well with others. For example,
To go along with the above-mentioned strengths I identify with, five core strengths from the StrengthsFinder test clearly describe my personality and character. My five StrengthsFinder strengths are Significance, Competition, Winning Others Over, Activator, and Strategic. At first, I held these strengths at high importance, as I believed they were traits that were innate in me. However, after further thought, I realized that my StrengthsFinder results were just strengths that I wanted to see in myself. They only scratched the surface of what I intended to be
Data and Reflection
To start off the Reflected Best Self process, I asked the people in life that know me the best to highlight my key strengths and provide specific instances in which I have exemplified these strengths. From all the stories I was able to obtain, similar themes regarding my strengths became evident. The stories that I attained held a lot of validity in my eyes, as they were responses from people that knew me the best and had a significant impact on me. Of the several strengths that were mentioned in the stories, the ones that stood out the most were determination, vocal leadership, versatility, and the ability to make strong connections.
When faced with an obstacle or when encountering a challenge in life, many of my respondents noted that I had the ability to persevere in adversity. I have a sense of determination that allows me to always keep going even when knocked down. One of my best friends, Torben, explained “[Arnav] understands that success’ aren’t final and failures aren’t fatal. He knows it’s the courage to move on that counts.” The event most mentioned by my respondents to exemplify my strength of dedication was my participation in DECA, an organization for emerging business leaders, during my junior and senior years in high school. During junior year, my first year of competing, I achieved the great honor of making it to the State Competition after winning my categories at the District level. However, there was no time to relish in the accomplishment of reaching State, as my main goal was to compete at the National competition. Not attaining my goal junior year, I came back my senior year thinking I would be able meet my goals. But towards the start of the season, I wasn’t performing at the same level as the previous year. To get back to my same level of performance, I had to sacrifice a lot of things socially and academically and persevere when few thought I could. At the end of the season, I was able to make it to Nationals. About my dedication, my friend Sam later noted, “[Arnav} doesn’t take no for an answer. [He] is dedicated towards accomplishing anything he sets his eyes on.”
The second theme that emerged from the stories was my vocal leadership. From extra-curricular activities to schoolwork, my eagerness to be a leader is always on display.