How to find your superpower and use it for good
Knowing strengths and weaknesses is a vital part of professional development—here's how to find your superpower and help yourself and others.
Everyone is born with strengths and inherent talents that can be channelled into personal and professional success—here's how to find your superpower and use it for good.
Along with the old questions about desert island discs, last meals and which three people you'd love to have over for dinner, you've probably been asked at some point which superpower you'd choose to have.
Ability to fly. Great strength. Invisibility. Incredible speed.
Thing is, like movie and cartoon superheroes, we all actually do have our own superpowers, although they're not usually as fancy as being able to spin webs from our wrists.
A lot of the time we focus on our weaknesses and what's missing in our lives. We get obsessed with how we're not hitting the mark and how we're not good enough.
In coaching, a basic principle is 'Where your attention goes, your energy flows.' So what you focus on is what you get. If you focus on what's missing, you'll feel like something is lacking whereas the idea is to look at what your natural strengths are.
This is called strength coaching.
I'm going to share some basic questions you can use to unpack your own strengths. Once you do, you'll notice an even deeper sense of confidence to go ahead and do what you're meant to in life.
There's an awesome quote by Einstein, which is something like, 'If you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will feel like an idiot.' A lot of people are the fish: in situations that don't play to their strengths, so they lack confidence.
I had a really, really creative client who was told early in life, 'You're too much of a dreamer. Your head is in the clouds.' I worked out that her head being in the clouds is actually one of her strengths. Her dream space is her superpower.
Don't be the fish. Don't be thinking your head in the clouds is a bad thing. Here's how to find your superpower:
THINK OF A TIME IN LIFE WHEN YOU WERE AT YOUR BEST
What comes up for you? It should be a time you were just in flow, when something was really easy and you felt strong and capable and empowered.
Maybe there was a time you were super determined to reach a goal, and it came naturally to motivate yourself. Or you were above and beyond caring and there emotionally for someone, and it felt effortless. Or you were playful or solved problems or were spiritual—and none of it was hard work.
It was you at your best, with authenticity and full tilt capability.
Most people have four or five major strengths, but let's start with one to make it easier to know how to find your superpower.
Second question:
WHAT WAS IT ABOUT THAT MOMENT THAT WAS EASY?
The answer is often this—it came naturally. You were empathetic towards someone because it feels like second nature. You did an incredible painting because it felt as if the strokes were being controlled by an unseen hand. You were in your element problem solving because it just made sense. You loved teeing up the family to spring clean your house because organisation of tasks and people is like fitting puzzle pieces together.
Write down what you've found.
What you've found is your superpower.
To hone it even further, you could ask what makes you fearless, what you can see more clearly than other people, and what truly amazes others about you. For me, it's communication and connection. I find connecting with people effortless.
On the flip side, organisation is not my superpower—more my kryptonite!
Roll your superhero power around in your head and see how it sits with you. You'll realise it's something inherently within you that you didn't have to do anything to get.
When you accept that and focus on it and bring it more to life, you're able to live with even more passion and fulfilment and purpose.
Interested in finding out more about strength coaching? Join me and more than 20 other international coaches including Remi Pearson and John Assaraf at The Coaching Institute's epic trainings. Would be great to see you there.
MATT LAVARS
One of Australia's leading coaches, trainers and speakers, and head facilitator at The Coaching Institute. In between mentoring thousands of coaches and leaders all around Australasia and helping others build incredible culture, Matt is passionate about fitness and music. His healthy office lunches whipped up in five minutes are the stuff of legend
