During my college years — a time when everyone was trying to “find” themselves — an online assessment gained huge popularity among my friends and the organizations I was a part of. The quiz, StrengthsFinder, was developed by a team of scientists and positive psychologists to help people uncover and develop their natural talents. I’ve taken the assessment several times over the past few years and find value in my results every damn time.
You may feel like you already have a grasp of what you’re good at, but StrengthsFinder offers something special: 1) validation (like, hey, you really are kickass at that thing you always kinda sorta thought you were great at!), and 2) suggestions for how to maximize your strengths so that you can operate at your full potential.
Read on to learn more about the test (it’s pretty interesting/fun…like taking a personality quiz in a magazine…except developed by scientists and 1000 times awesome-er) and what my own strengths are. Giggity. (By the way, This isn’t sponsored; I just think StrengthsFinder is pretty rad and figured you might, too!).
The basic philosophy behind StrengthsFinder is that everyone has natural talents and that we’ll get the farthest in life if we focus on elevating our personal strengths, rather than trying to balance out our weaknesses. StrengthsFinder lists 34 potential strengths, and after taking the assessment, you’ll get to see and learn about your top five with in-depth information and suggestions for using your strengths in your life and work.
The assessment consists of almost 200 questions, like the ones you see below, and takes about 30 minutes to complete. The questions themselves are often pretty interesting and get you thinking about what’s important to you and what you do well.
I recently took the test myself, discovering that my top strengths are “Empathy, Maximizer, Ideation, Relator, and Individualization.” Summed up quickly, this means that I love building relationships with and understanding other people — including what makes them unique. I’m also constantly striving for excellence, and fascinated by ideas.
It’s interesting to see what these strengths reveal about my life and business. For example, the downside of the “Relator” strength — which means that I love building closeness with other people — is that I can feel anxious or depressed if I haven’t heard from a good friend in awhile. Thinking about all of my top strengths helps me to understand which values are most important in my life and how I can better integrate them into everything I do.
Why should you take StrengthsFinder?
- It validates who you are. Rather than berating you for your weaknesses, StrengthsFinder recognizes the things you’re already awesome at, thereby motivating you to improve your strengths even more. Plus, whenever I read the lengthy descriptions of my strengths, I nod my head the whole time and think, “that’s so me!” It feels good to be known, doesn’t it?
- It’s excellent for teams. StrengthsFinder allows you to see what you and your team-mates are good at so that you can delegate work appropriately. It also helps team members see from each other’s perspectives, allowing everyone to understand what’s important to their peers and how they operate.
- It provides tons of suggestions for using your strengths in your life and business. It even includes an Action Planner to help you utilize your strengths in the coming months and year.
The test costs about $15 to take and comes with a book that explains everything you’d want to know about your strengths, including hundreds of strategies for applying your strengths. You can buy a copy of the book (which comes with a code to take the test) here. If you’re a business owner, you might be interested in the “Entrepreneurial Strengths” version. I haven’t tried that one yet, but it certainly sounds intriguing!
Want more introspective, personality assessments? Check out Myers Briggs (I’m an INFJ!) and the Enneagram!
This is super interesting. I’m graduating in May and one of those interview questions that always comes up in the job search is “what are your strengths and weaknesses.” It’s not always easy to self-assess. I would have to say one of my strengths is being honest. It’s one of the qualities that I hold at an upmost importance with my friends so I try extra hard to maintain the same standards for myself.
Honesty is always a good trait to have. I value honesty in all my friends. It’s better to be upfront and honest than lie to others. It always hurts worse when people lie than if they are honest. 🙂
Kiersten | KiwiCat
Like Sarah, I’m also graduating in May. This kind of assessment would be a wonderful resource. One of my strengths, I think, is that I love to learn. i’m always interesting in gaining knowledge on a wide variety of topics!
I love the StrengthsFinder! We did it at work….and what I learned about myself eventually led to me quitting my job to work for myself LOL! The more we know about ourselves, the more powerful we become. I’m also an INFJ 🙂
I see I’m not the only one who is graduating this year. I think one of my strengths is that I’m a fast learner, which allows me to adapt myself to almost any working situation. Thanks for this giveaway, I love quizzes!
This is lovely! I think I’m great at creating experiences for others!
People tell me that I’m very caring and generous. I jump at any chance to help someone even if I don’t know them. I’ll risk getting sick to take care of a sick friend and I’ll pull over and buy food for a homeless person. It’s just in my nature to automatically help people. I’m not one of those people who just walks by and ignores others. I’m very observant of others around me and I love to help out. Oh and I’m an INFJ too! Thanks for sharing. If I don’t win, I’m going to buy the book so I’ve bookmarked the link. 🙂
Kiersten | KiwiCat
I love love love Strengths Finder! My top five are Connectedness, Empathy, Developer, Context, and Restorative.
My workplace is really big on utilising StrengthsFinder, we all have taken it and discuss it in our ongoing projects and daily tasks. Mine are : input, strategic, learner, achiever and intellection.
I would love to win!! I have been wanting to read this book forever!! I didn’t know that they had the Entrepreneur one as well. I think that would be so fun too. I took the another type of strength test and It said I like to learn. Which is true because I am always reading and asking why.
I’m great at “leading the pack!”
Hmm, I’d say my greatest strength is my passion for learning.
i would say a strength of mine is humor…I have always been good and looking on the bright side of things and cheering others up
Love the contest and congrats to who ever wins this if its not myself 🙂
http://hayeschelsea.blogspot.com/
Oooh- I really want to win this! 🙂 I’m great at problem-solving and working under stress.
Great giveaway 🙂 I’m really good at being loving, solving problems & telling stories!
I think I am great at imagining and analyse things when making decision:)
I’m good at being creative, leading a group, and looking at pros and cons before making a decision.
Email: Ltdragon00@gmail.com
I’m good at not throwing bad words or curses at others, considering I live in an environment where cursing is a norm, I think me being like that is quite a good thing, I guess..haha
I’m good at encouraging others! :]
I’m a good writer and listener. Thank you for offering this giveaway!
This sounds weird but I have great spatial reasoning! 🙂 I’m a copy editor/page designer for newspapers so I can whip up a page pretty quickly and know how much space I’m dealing with before I even begin!
my intuition/gut feeling is my strong point. 99% of the time it is right!
I’m good making itineraries for trips and I’m very creative, I like to re invent myself as much as possible.
I think I am good at making unbiased judgments and decisions
I’m good at thinking before I speak. I am a thinker, always looking beyond the obvious, trying to see deeper connections, bigger pictures.
I’m good at getting along with everyone and making people smile
COOCOO FOR COCO
Wow. This is such a wonderful idea. Good job psychologists for changing lives for the better. I’ve great at being organized and keeping a positive attitude in negative situations.
I am good at pointing to important details that others miss.
I am completely in agreement with the recommendation to take this test. So often we focus on our areas of weakness, but it is depressing and frustrating when not balanced with an authentic awareness of our strengths. I know my five and am working on embracing them.
I am good at leading and planning with a small group and resolving workplace problems.
I love tests like this. They can be so interesting and revealing. I remember taking something like this in Psychology in college, but I don’t remember what I got. I know that one of my strengths is organization, though. And I have learned to use that super well with my business.
I love StrengthsFinder! All the officers in my sorority were required to take it before our installation. 🙂 This was a few years ago, but I was: Achiever, Relator, Maximizer, Responsibility and Focus. The personalized results were also super helpful. For example, I’m not really a “people person;” I’m more of an introvert and prefer working with words or ideas. But the way it explained Relator to me was that I surround myself with people similar to me so we can play off each other’s strengths, and that is so true!
This little old INFP needs to find her strengths to keep going forward, in work and home life – Strenthsfinder sounds interesting. You know sometimes how you stall and aren’t sure where to go next? What the next move should be? It would good to have some insights into my real strengths (and if they’re the same as self-perceived strengths!) – that would help move in the right direction. Great site – can see I’ll be spending some time browing here.. 🙂
What an awesome book/test! I would love to find out what my top 5 strengths are! Right now I would consider my biggest strength to be learning. I am constantly researching to be better at my jobs and I love to learn new things and implement them into my life and businesses! Great post! xo
Caroline
http://www.calijae.com
http://www.calijaedesigns.com
This sounds like an incredible resource, especially right now as I am starting my own small business while working for another! I would say my biggest strength is helping others and allowing their strengths to shine while increasing productivity.
My old boss just told me about this over the past weekend, it sounds pretty awesome. Something I know that I’m good at is thinking the best in people? Is that a strength? I vote yes.
LOVE strengthsfinder! I did it a few years ago and it totally helped me understand myself and how I can work most effectively. Everyone on our staff has done it as well and it’s so cool to learn their strengths and how you can work well together!
I’m pretty hilarious? Haha on a more serious note, I think I’m a really good listener.. but I’d love to know how I can use that to my strengths. Thanks for sharing this, Melyssa!
oh I’m intrigued! 🙂 Thank you for sharing this! People say I brighten up their day, so I guess a strength I have is finding the positive side to things and sharing that joy with others 🙂
I just took the test and it was really great! It’s nice to be supported on what naturally excites me. Input was my first one and it said, “accept that you will never feel you know enough,” What a relief! Instead of “AHHHHHH, I don’t know enough!” It’s nice to breathe into that new realization about myself, this is how I am… like an inner hug or wink. Thanks for the great tip!
Procrastinating!
This is such a great tool! Since you first took it, have you seen any changes?
Oh yes! I try to take it every year or two. It’s really interesting to see the strengths that consistently remain in your top 5 and the ones that flutter in and out. I feel like taking it multiple times will tell you even more about your strengths than just once. 🙂
I can’t wait to take this one! I find these quizzes fascinating and Myers Briggs changed my life—INFJ here too! Double high fives, lady ????
Woot! Thanks for reading!
Boohoo, I followed your links to purchase but I can’t purchase from the US store & it is not available in the Australian store … I’d love to be the randomly selected one …
Came across your website in search for the free alternative of the StrengthsFinder and accidentally found out about the HIGH5 test. Thank you!
Awesome, glad to hear that! 😀
I became a StrengthsFinder Coach after I was coached on my Top 5! StrengthsFinder totally changed my life positively! So happy to see my clients build stronger more connected lives at home and at work!
That’s so neat, Lizelle. I love taking assessments that help me learn more about myself. I re-took the StrengthsFinder this summer and actually incorporated it into an activity for my first team retreat. Super fun!
I am good at missing contest deadlines