Working With Your Strengths: How to Use What Energises You in Work and Life

 

Introduction.

We talk a lot about improving weaknesses, but not nearly enough about building on strengths.

When I say strengths, I do not mean skills you learned once and can repeat under pressure. I mean the qualities that give you energy and momentum. These are the parts of you that feel natural when you use them well, and they often hold the key to your best performance and your best self.

I still remember sitting with my Strengthscope® results, coffee in hand, smiling as each word seemed to describe the way I naturally work.

I have always been drawn to helping people understand themselves better. Becoming an accredited Strengthscope® Practitioner gave me language for what I had felt all along. Real confidence and progress begin when you understand what energises you. Strengths are not about ego. They are about energy. Once you know what fuels you, you can move through work and life with intention, rather than strain.

That might sound like a small distinction, but it changes everything.

This is a personal reflection and a practical guide. I will share my own experience, show how strengths work in action, and offer a few coaching moments to help you pause, notice and choose what serves you next.

1. What Are Strengths and Why Strengths Matter.

Before my Strengthscope® training, I had a general sense of what I was good at. I enjoyed developing people, creating resources and finding practical solutions. What I had not fully explored was why those activities gave me energy, or how to use that energy on purpose.

My Strengthscope® profile highlighted seven strengths that consistently show up when I am at my best: Common Sense, Creativity, Developing Others, Enthusiasm, Initiative, Optimism and Self-Confidence.

It made complete sense.

Creativity drives me to design programmes that bring fresh ideas to life. Common Sense grounds those ideas so they are practical and deliver results. Developing Others is the heartbeat of my work, because nothing lifts me more than seeing someone regain clarity or confidence. Enthusiasm and Optimism bring warmth and movement. Initiative helps me start what needs starting, and Self-Confidence supports steady decisions when others feel uncertain.

That moment of recognition felt both grounding and freeing as if the puzzle pieces finally lined up.

Strengths are different from skills and competencies.

Strengths are your energisers, the qualities that leave you feeling more alive when you use them well.

Skills are learned abilities.

Competencies are behaviours your role expects.

Understanding that difference made me realise how often we chase improvement instead of alignment. When you work against your strengths for too long, energy drains quickly. That is when people say they are stuck, lost or exhausted. When you work through your strengths, you often feel focused and capable. You think more clearly and recover more quickly from setbacks. In short, your energy and your performance begin to align.

2. The Power of Recognising Your Strengths.

Many professionals struggle to name their top strengths. Ask them what they are known for, and you hear hard-working, organised, team player. These are solid qualities, yet they do not explain what truly lifts their energy.

Seeing my profile gave me permission to own what had always been there. I realised my best work happens when Creativity and Common Sense work together. I love imagining possibilities, then shaping them into tools people can use straight away. I had assumed everyone enjoyed doing this. They do not. That is my energy pattern. That is how I am wired.

Recognition gives you language and language gives you confidence.

When you know your strengths, you can look at your workweek and decide where to place them, rather than waiting for the right task to show up. You can explain your value in a way that sounds natural and credible. You can spot the difference between a job that fits you and a job that only looks good on paper.

Every client I have guided through Strengthscope® says the same thing: they finally have words for what they have always felt. Once you see your strengths mapped out, you start noticing them everywhere.

If you have felt demotivated or uncertain, it might not be a lack of ability. It might be a lack of alignment. The work you are doing may not let you use the strengths that energise you most.

Coaching question: When do you feel most energised in your work, and what might that reveal about your natural strengths?

3. Using Your Strengths Effectively at Work.

Understanding your strengths is a starting point. Using them well is the real shift.

Strengths can go into overdrive. My Enthusiasm and Optimism help me bring ideas to life and rally others, yet they can nudge me to say yes too quickly. I’ve learned that saying no can be an act of protecting my strengths, not limiting them.

A clear example was the Career Restart Kit. The idea came fast, because I could see how it would help people who felt lost after redundancy or a long break. My Initiative kicked in straight away. My Common Sense slowed me down enough to test the structure, gather feedback and make sure it delivered real value rather than good intentions. The result is a programme that helps people move forward with confidence, without noise or fluff.

This experience taught me that balance is the quiet strength behind all the others.

If you lead a team, encouraging people to spend more of their week in their strengths pays off. Engagement rises. Collaboration improves, because everyone contributes what they do best. Development conversations become clearer. You can discuss where a strength is underused and how to bring it forward, rather than only focusing on gaps.

And when you balance this with awareness of weaknesses, your leadership becomes sharper and fairer.

There is a practical question people often ask here. Should I focus on strengths or weaknesses? The most useful answer is both, with intention. Run with your strengths wherever they move you forward, and address weaknesses only if they stand in your way or affect everything you do. In practice, that looks like this:

Let strengths lead your day-to-day. Place them on your most important work, your stakeholder relationships and your decisions. That maximises energy and results.

Address weaknesses that limit your goals. If a weakness blocks a core part of your role, it needs a plan.

Ignore weaknesses that do not matter. Not every weakness deserves your attention.

Because when you stop treating every gap as a failure, you start making smarter use of your energy.

Coaching question: Which strengths do you use most at work, and which have been left untapped for too long?

4. Building Confidence Through Strengths.

Confidence does not grow by pretending to be someone else. It grows when you see and use what is already strong within you.

I worked with a client who had lost confidence after redundancy. They could list duties and tasks, yet struggled to describe their value. We mapped their achievements using strengths language. Patterns appeared quickly. They had used Empathy to calm tense stakeholder conversations. They had used Problem Solving and Common Sense to stabilise a failing process. They had used Collaboration to rebuild a project team. None of this sounded like bragging. It was simply a clearer way to explain what they had done, using words that matched how they actually work.

Their shoulders relaxed as they spoke. Their voice steadied. You could see the moment they reconnected with who they were.

The same is true for me. Developing Others sits at the centre of my coaching. It is why I am drawn to help people make sense of what is next. Self-confidence supports firm, steady guidance when a client feels overwhelmed. Optimism keeps attention on possibilities, not just problems. These strengths set the tone in my sessions. They shape the questions I ask and the tools I choose.

If you feel unsure about how to present yourself in interviews or reviews, start with your strengths. Use them to frame your experience. You are not overselling yourself; you are giving people a clear picture of how you work best.

5. Balancing Strengths and Energy Drainers.

Every strength has a sweet spot. Used well, it energises. Used too much, it can cause friction. Used too little, it goes quiet and you do not feel like yourself.

There have been times when my Initiative and Optimism created too much stretch. I saw a need, moved fast, and later realised my time and energy were too thin. My recovery was always the same. Return to Common Sense, pause, prioritise, and trim. Build boundaries that protect thinking time, creative time and coaching time. Make space to recharge before committing to the next thing.

That pause is what turns strengths into sustainable habits.

Strengthscope® uses the language of energy drainers to help you notice what takes more from you than it gives. For me, overly rigid environments or long periods working in isolation can drain energy. For others, constant change or conflict might be the drain. Once you know your pattern, you can make small shifts that add up. You can pair strengths, delegate where possible, or approach a task from a different angle.

Balance does not mean holding back. It means using energy wisely.

Here is a simple way to think about it, drawn from both research and day-to-day coaching practice:

Cover your blind spots with people or systems.

Examine your goals and focus on what is relevant.

Prioritise pervasive weaknesses.

Get a second opinion.

Place most of your time on relevant strengths.

Do not over-invest where you already excel.

Keep your ego out of it.

These seven small reminders help you manage strengths and weaknesses intelligently, without burning out or losing focus.

6. Bringing Your Strengths Into Everyday Life.

Strengths are not only for the workplace. They show up in how you parent, volunteer, support friends, make decisions and manage change.

My Creativity shows up in how I write, plan and design workshops. It also shows up in everyday problem-solving, where a small shift in approach can make a big difference. Developing Others appears when I mentor or simply offer a listening ear. Enthusiasm and Optimism shape how I connect with people day to day. These strengths do not switch off when the laptop closes. They are part of how I move through life.

And that is what makes strengths work so powerful, it reconnects you with who you are beyond your job title.

Using strengths in your personal life builds authenticity and resilience. When life is heavy, reconnecting with what energises you can steady your footing. It reminds you that your best qualities are still available, even when circumstances are difficult.

If you are not sure where to begin, try a simple practice. Each day, notice one moment where you feel completely yourself. Name the strength that might be at work. Then ask how you could bring a little more of that quality into tomorrow.

Coaching question: What difference would it make if you used one of your top strengths intentionally every day, in both work and life?

Conclusion.

Understanding and using your strengths is not about ignoring your weaknesses or pretending everything is fine. It is about noticing what gives you energy and choosing to use it with purpose. It is also about being honest with yourself. Some weaknesses matter because they limit your goals or affect everything you do. Address those with small, focused steps. Let your strengths carry the rest.

Through my Strengthscope® journey, I have seen how clarity around strengths changes everything. It deepens self-awareness, builds confidence and helps people make career and life decisions that feel more authentic.

When you know your strengths, you stop trying to force yourself into roles that do not fit. You start to place your energy where it counts. You feel more like yourself, and others notice it too.

Because when you operate from your strengths, you are not just more effective you are more alive.

If this resonates with you, perhaps it is time to explore your own strengths. Through Strengthscope® coaching, I help professionals uncover what truly energises them and how to use it with purpose. We can map your strengths, identify energy drainers, and build a simple plan that matches your goals.

If you are curious about what drives your best performance, let us talk. A short conversation could be the start of understanding yourself in a whole new way and unlocking the energy to move forward.

Ready to discover what truly energises you? Get in touch to book a Strengthscope® coaching session or learn more about how I can support your next career move.

📧 info@donnancoachingservices.com

🌐 www.donnancoachingservices.com