Your happiness at work is directly related to your ability to share your unique talents and strengths. You deserve to be well-compensated while you fulfill a life purpose for which you are uniquely programmed. Smart entrepreneurs, managers, and employees escalate joy on the job by identifying and capitalizing on strengths.

Pat and Nat work together. Both employees have a keen eye for effective layout and design. When the company offers an advanced design class, Pat leaps at the opportunity. Nat moans, “I’ve got to pass. I’m so busy trying to upgrade areas where I have weaknesses that I don’t have time to build on my strengths.” Pat is shocked, “I can spend all my time trying to be good at what I’m not or I can manage my weaknesses while doing what brings me joy.”

Do you focus on your strengths or on your weaknesses? Although it’s important to identify and strive to correct your weaknesses, it’s even more important to identify and capitalize on your strengths. You can spend an entire lifetime focusing on ways to mend your weaknesses, but you’ll be much happier and more successful if you focus on the unique ways you can share your skills and talents.

If you want more happiness at work, make a firm commitment to accurately identify your strengths. Play to your strengths while managing your weaknesses.

Socrates said, “Know thyself” for a good reason. Feeling inadequate is stressful, but knowing you have unique gifts to contribute to the world of work provides immense satisfaction. The more you know about your strengths, the more you will be able to create joy on the job. You’ll set yourself free to unleash the gifts your DNA has programmed you to deliver to a world that desperately needs your assistance. Identify your strengths so you can redesign your job in ways that make it more meaningful and fulfilling because it capitalizes on your strengths.

You will understand your life purpose and define yourself in terms of who you are rather than what you do. Knowing your life purpose will allow you to create a passionate work life that feels more like play than work. Expressing your true self will escalate your self-esteem. You’ll more easily perceive additional work oportunities that reflect your heart’s desire. Knowing your special strengths also makes self-promotion, a necessity in the world of work, seem effortless.

Since our lives move toward the direction of our focus, you will receive the richest rewards when you support your strengths rather than warring against your weaknesses. When you concentrate on your most valuable talents and contributions, seen and unseen resources help you accomplish your purpose.

You deserve happiness at work, so begin cashing in on your strengths today.

* Identify at least one talent or strength as a focus.
* Acknowledge your passion to excel in that area.
* Identify social or planetary needs related to your talents.
* Challenge yourself to continue developing your strengths.
* Learn from spending time with individuals who have similar talents.
* Take healthy risks so even more of your true self can emerge.

© 2007

This article was excerpted with permission from “Joy on the Job — Over 365 Ways to Create the Joy and Fulfillment You Deserve,” a 484-page book published by Shimoda Publishing.

Download a free chapter at joyonthejobbook.com

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Doris Helge, Ph.D. is author of many books, including “Joy on the Job” and “Transforming Pain Into Power,” now published in four foreign languages. Her clients call her The Joy on the Job Coach. Businesses of all sizes have hired Dr. Helge to train employees and managers to use the proven Happiness at Work Techniques she identified during a decade of research. Each strategy was validated during a series of Joy on the Job Seminars.