In January, I published a post on my discovery of personal strengths. As excited as I was to have gotten more insights into myself, I wrote that post at a high level, not knowing what I would be doing with that information.

Honestly, it's hard to be self-reflecting, it's probably one of the rarest traits to have in a person. How much do we pay attention to our behaviors? Or our successes or strengths or even weaknesses? I am realizing more and more in my life that I bring something to the table as much as everyone else in the room.

We're grateful for people in our lives, we admire intelligence, beauty, kindness, but do we see those traits in ourselves? Sometimes our strengths are so personal that we don't realize how it affects our behaviors, believes, or attitudes.

I thought that if I focused on my strengths that I could be a better person. After consulting that Clifton Strengths Finder, I found that most of my strengths were under the influence category, which meant from that perspective that I should focus on being a team leader in my group projects. And it seemed that I was encouraged to step up and do so. In the classroom setting, all it got me was work that felt draining. I don't have the patience to coordinate large groups of people or to micromanage tasks for others. I often pick up too many tasks for myself daily. The thing about being you is that you're comfortable. What you bring to the table is your strengths; you don't just drop them unless you decide not to be part of the goal.

There's so much out there about being a leader and leadership. You don't have to be the loudest or brightest person in the room. You're a leader in your strengths, you're a leader to yourself too. I genuinely believe that the "Personal Journey of Strengths" is just a journey about being yourself.