A big part of knowing your personal strengths and how to use them effectively is knowing when you are overusing them. What do I mean by strengths overused? Find out here.
Self-empowerment begins with knowing your strengths and valuing yourself.
But did you know that personal strengths overused can become weaknesses.
For instance, there is nothing inherently wrong with being ambitious as long as it’s in balance.
But if your ambition creates conflict, loss of health and wellbeing, or keeps you from spending quality time with your loved ones, it becomes a weakness rather than a strength.
It undermines self-empowerment instead of facilitating it.
This is what I mean by strengths overused.
Another strength that can be overused is having a strong work ethic.
It’s common for those who do have a strong work ethic to enjoy the positive feedback from those around them.
This is not a problem when we value ourselves and our own wellbeing more than we value the positive feedback from others.
However, if we start to pursue positive feedback as if it is as vital as food and water to us, the strength of having a strong work ethic is being overused.
Here are some examples of what an overused work ethic might look like:
- Making yourself miserable by neglecting your own needs to please others.
- Feeling unworthy or unimportant when you don’t get positive input from your boss, teammates, co-workers, family members, or friends.
- Being unable to appreciate your own strengths if you don’t get external validation.
- Doing things you don’t feel comfortable doing just because you think someone else wants you to.
In essence, anytime a strength is being used to fill your cup of self-validation at the expense of other integral aspects of your life, you have gotten out of balance and you are overusing that strength.
Are there any strengths you might be guilty of overusing to the point of weakness?
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