Have you ever gotten immersed in something that you enjoy, then you look up and realize that so much more time has passed than you thought? Have you wondered why someone would do something so ridiculous or not do it as you do it? Do you ever wonder why you make certain choices and why you do what you do? Do you ever wonder why you like certain things and why you see something that others don’t see? Why are you better at some things than others? It is because you see the world through your own personal lens, which differs for everyone, your talents.

CliftonStrengths is a timed assessment of 177 questions of with its results reveals and confirms how people think, feel, and behave while giving them language to communicate themselves to others. After the assessment is completed, reports are immediately produced. There are 34 specified talents that we all possess in differing degrees, and this assessment reveals in detail how we function. Through learning deeply about the talents, we can invest in them, master them, and turn them into strengths that we can consistently use to provide exponential success.

Talents are naturally recurring patterns of thoughts, feelings, or behaviors that can be productively applied. It is the source of your true potential. The better you can use those talents, the higher your potential to consistently provide near-perfect results that will result in confidence, direction, and hope. It also creates more productivity.

Many people have a general idea as to why and how they do things but often cannot precisely pinpoint and communicate themselves to others the reasons as to why they think or do something. Knowing and articulating why you do what you do gives confidence. Consistently do what you love, and manage things that exhaust or frustrate you.

Over 21,000,000 people have completed the assessment. Gallup researchers examined 30 years of research data on topics of individual performance and personal development. Gallup studied more than one million work teams, conducted tens of thousands of individual interviews, and coached tens of thousands of executives, leaders, managers, and individual contributors.

All of this research showed that traditional approaches to personal development are incomplete. Traditional/conventional methods hold to the notion that everyone can do everything and anything they want as long as they try hard enough. I would advocate that people follow their dreams, but to do so, they should strive to achieve them through utilizing their talents.

“You cannot be anything you want to be — but you can be a lot more of who you already are.” – Tom Rath