BE THE BEST OF WHO YOU ARE

2020 has been a humdinger – and a lot of folks are saying 2021 may be the same – or even worse. That’s why a quote attributed to Ralph Waldo Emerson comes to mind: “What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.”

These are great words to focus on as we enter a new year filled with questions. As an accompaniment to these words, you might consider the following:

Re-identify and re-focus on your strengths. Among your strengths, include things you feel you do well and things for which other people have complimented you, along with things that give you self-satisfaction.

Consider your intangibles, like your strong values and positive feelings you have about yourself. Consider contributions you have made to other individuals, to groups with whom you are affiliated, and to society in general.

Focus also on good work ethics you possess. Include teamwork and communication skills you might have. Everyone has strengths, and it is important annually to re-identify, give yourself credit for, and build on your personal strengths.

Knowing who you are helps you to be who you are.

Everyone also has weaknesses, and it is important annually to evaluate whether or not you have used your strengths to improve in your areas of weakness. Among your weaknesses are things you feel you don’t do well, things deservedly criticized by others, and things that bring you no self-satisfaction.

As God says in the Bible’s Haggai 1:7, “Give careful thought to your ways (NIV).”

Maybe you have some negative personal habits such as lack of discipline or concentration. Maybe you procrastinate, demonstrate poor organizational skills, or maybe your communication and/or teamwork skills need improving.

Keep in mind what Greek Philosopher Socrates said, “To know thyself is the beginning of wisdom.”

Once you have re-identified your strengths and weaknesses, which include basic talents and abilities, along with acquired skills, concentrate on how your strengths can be more effectively and efficiently used.

Don’t misuse or waste your strengths, and make sure you use them to improve in your areas of weakness. Socrates also advised, “An unexamined life is not worth living.”

Keep in mind that true humility is not thinking less of yourself than you really are, nor is it thinking more of yourself than you really are. It is having a right estimate of yourself. This begins with proper personal assessment and is helped by others’ observations and various available assessment tools.

With better self-knowledge, you can be the best of who you are. Like a smart athletic coach taking advantage of the individual strengths and improving the areas of weakness of his or her players to develop a stronger team, you can use this approach to develop a stronger you.

You are your own coach. You have your own team within you. Parts of you are strong in certain areas and other parts need help from those areas of strengths. When you really get to know yourself, you act as the coach who brings all the players within you together to reach victory.

Again I quote Socrates, “To find yourself, think for yourself.”

As you utilize and build on your strengths and improve your weaknesses, it is important to be thankful for what you have, including people and things.

Often, a feeling of not having enough of something, whether it's emotional validation, good fortune, material possessions or whatever, can be offset to various degrees when you become more appreciative of what you do have and continue to grow more thankful for your blessings.

I wish for you a very rewarding 2021 - as you build on yesterday and plan for tomorrow, continuing all the while to keep on learning more about yourself - and continuing to become the best of who you are.

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? 2020 by Carl Mays, National Speakers Hall of Fame member and author of over a dozen books, including A Strategy For Winning (foreword by Coach Lou Holtz). Email: [email protected].