your strengths

If you don’t already know what you want to do,trying to settle on a passion may take longerthan building one by mastering something thatmeshes well with your strengths.

Either way,the important thing to remember is to build upmastery as quickly as possible—being reallygreat at what you do is a form of careercapital. Once you have that, use it to getautonomy. Don’t just keep working long hoursforever in the quest for a better office or moremoney. Quality of life is much moreimportant.30
But there’s more to life than your career; youcan find gratifying work in many areas of yourlife. The best way to do this is by building onyour strengths and focusing on work involvingthem. That’s where you’ll find the mostsatisfaction.If you’re not sure what your strengths are,there’s a test on the Authentic Happiness
website (www.authentichappiness.org) calledthe VIA Strengths Survey. Registration is free,and there are also many other happiness teststhere that you can use. This test will help youfind your signature strengths. Once you knowthem, maximize your potential by looking forwork that uses them.It’s also important to know what you’re tryingto accomplish. Do you know what’s mostimportant to you? What qualities to you valuein yourself? Take the time to list thesegoverning values. When you know them andact in accordance with them, you will feel innerpeace; when you stray from them, you will feeluncomfortable.31 In fact, if you feel a lot of
tension in your life now, there’s a good chanceyour actions are out of sync with your values insome way.If you’re not sure where to start, think aboutwhere you spend most of your effort, what youwould risk everything for, what you do withyour free time, what you would do if you onlyhad six months to live, what you want to beremembered for. These questions can helpguide you to your values. Examples of valuesheld by different people include: success,wealth, learning, being a good parent, health,personal responsibility, stewardship, andhelping others. Think about your values. Listthem, write a sentence or two to clarify eachone, and prioritize them.