History’s smartest business people have known – whether consciously or instinctively – to make the most of their strengths. Before you can follow in their footsteps, you have to determine what your personal strengths are. And they might not be obvious, especially if you’re a newbie entrepreneur or looking to make a big career change.

So, how can you zero-in on your particular strengths? If they’re not obvious, what clues should you be looking for?

Following is a six-question self-assessment. By the time you’ve given thoughtful consideration to all of them, you should have a pretty good idea of what you bring to the table.

1. What tasks attract you? In every job and in every business, there are tasks we dread doing, and tasks we actually look forward to. What are the things you get most excited about? Which tasks would you find some way to perform, even if you weren’t getting paid?

2. What tasks do you lose yourself in? There are certain things you do that make you lose all track of time. Before you know it, hours have flown by. What are those things that absorb you so completely? These are usually the jobs that best utilize your skills.

3. What do you learn quickly? We all struggle to master certain skills, yet there are others we pick up almost effortlessly. If a skill seems easy to learn, it’s probably because you have some natural talent in that area and a deep desire to learn more. Typically, we show strengths in the same general skill areas all our lives. For this one, you can even think back as far as grammar school. What subjects came easily to you? In what classes could you consistently score an “A” without really trying?

4. What do other people ask for your help with? Pay attention to jobs you’re assigned or favors people ask of you. When your nephew’s struggling in math, does your sister always send him to you? Does your brother-in-law ask you for investment tips? Does your cousin the drycleaner always call you for creative marketing ideas? “You’re so good at this stuff,” he says. People wouldn’t come to you if you weren’t good in those areas. What do people lean on you for?

5. Where do you succeed? Here, some people miss the forest for the trees. Think back on the tasks you’ve performed best. You’ll probably find that these tasks made use of your most important skills. We often miss this one because we take for granted the things we do well. They’re so natural and effortless, we might not even think of them as having value. But to someone weak in those areas, you’re performing miracles every day.

6. What brings you satisfaction? You know that feeling of being “good-exhausted”? Think about times when you may have been tired at the end of the day, but felt really good about how you spent your time. Hard work that you love is a dead giveaway, revealing your true strengths every time.

Now that you’ve identified your particular strengths, you’re in a position to capitalize on those strengths in order to grow your small business.

And remember – you’ll do better in business and in life if you concentrate on work that fulfills you.

Salim Omar, author of \”Straight Talk About Small Business Success In New Jersey\”, specializes in providing accounting, bookkeeping and tax services to small business owners and professional practices in NJ. Learn how Salim can help you drastically reduce your taxes at http://www.OmarGroupCPA.com

Salim Omar, author of \”Straight Talk About Small Business Success In New Jersey\”, specializes in providing accounting, bookkeeping and tax services to small business owners and professional practices in NJ. Learn how Salim can help you drastically reduce your taxes at http://www.OmarGroupCPA.com

Author Bio: Salim Omar, author of \”Straight Talk About Small Business Success In New Jersey\”, specializes in providing accounting, bookkeeping and tax services to small business owners and professional practices in NJ. Learn how Salim can help you drastically reduce your taxes at http://www.OmarGroupCPA.com

Category: Business
Keywords: New Jersey small business, New Jersey CPA, New Jersey accountant