I’m always on the lookout to seek new knowledge and self-improvement strategies.  If you’re reading this post you should know what I’m talking about.

Your success in your personal brand relies heavily on how you interact with others as well as knowing yourself.

For your business, it’s a reflection of your leadership and how you engage within a structured group environment.

In my article “10 Tips on How to Transform Your Ideas into a Startup,” I focused on personal assessment and provided reference to the StrengthFinder 2.0, which I recently finished reading.

I truly agree with Tom Rath that you would have a greater potential for success if you focus on building who you already are.

The book is designed to provide you with the latest personal strength discoveries and strategies for application.

The best part is that it comes with a one-time use online assessment that you can take to identify your top 5 strength themes.

Then you get 10 “Ideas for Action” for each of those themes giving you 50 specific actions based on thousands of best-practice suggestions that they’ve received.

Practicality is what I like about this book because if you want to improve your life and the lives of those around you, you MUST take action.

Key Points And References From The Book

The book was the result of surveying more than 10 million people worldwide and here are some highlights:

“Most people think they know what they are good at.  They are usually wrong… And yet, a person can perform only from strength.” – Business guru Peter Druckers

“You cannot be anything you want to be – but you can be a lot more of who you already are.”

“Approximately 7 million people out of 10 million surveyed, don’t have the opportunity to focus on what they do best.”

“People who do have the opportunity to focus on their strengths every day are 6 times as likely to be engaged in their jobs and more than 3 times as likely to report having an excellent quality of life in general.”

“Far too many people spend a lifetime headed in the wrong direction.  They go not only from the cradle to the cubicle, but then to the casket, without uncovering their greatest talents and potential.”

“Talent X Investment = Strength”
– Talent (a natural way of thinking, feeling, or behaving)
– Investment (time spent practicing, developing your skills, and building your knowledge base)
– Strength (the ability to consistently provide near-pefect performance)

You get the point.  Sure, there is already a ton of books, websites, blogs, and videos on personal assessment but the StrengthFinder 2.0’s online test is what makes it different.

It’s a simple and fast way to find out how to improve on your strength and be aware of your potential and limitations.

If you’re interested, here is the report from my test result.

If you’ve taken the StrengthFinder 2.0 test, share them here or discuss what you’ve used that helped your personal development.