By Steve Beseke, beseke1@earthlink.net

Finding ways to use your strengths to retool your career. sounds hard and very intensive.  You know what, it is. But it is absolutely worth the effort and necessary in this uncertain economy.

After being laid off more than a year ago because of the economy, that is what I did and my career is now truly flying high. I developed a personal business plan, looked at my personal brand very hard and had a “heart to heart” on what I wanted to do for the rest of my career.

After being laid off from the dream job I mentioned, I looked at what I could control. My perseverance led me to developing an award-nominated resiliency blog worldwide attracting nearly 1 million hits and establishing a business where I could speak at organizations worldwide about resiliency. Developing additional resiliency materials for those in need led me to stay healthy and sane. It is very humbling…

Many of us spend too much time on what we could have done, or thinking about our perceived personal and professional weaknesses. Too often, we forget about our great – and sometimes untapped – talent that is just waiting to be used in a slightly different way.

To stay resilient in these challenging times, all of us need to focus on our strengths as a person, spouse, parent, friend and co-worker. This is especially true for many of us who have been seriously affected by recent layoffs, which are unfortunately continuing in our country today.

Adapting to new challenges always means looking at ways we can be a better person. But focusing on the past and any weakness(es) you see in yourself will diminish the fantastic person that you are everyday.

That is why this week I encourage you to think about one strength you see in yourself and how this positively affects your life. In fact, when you wake up in the mornings this week, let’s all try remember our strengths and the good people that we are.

Resiliency and adaptability is sometimes putting the past in perspective and creating a sense of future hope. Identifying your strengths will highlight the terrific assets you bring everyday to yourself, family and friends.

I heard someone say once: “You can’t always fix your weaknesses but you can definitely improve on your strengths. Focusing too much on weaknesses will expend far more needed resilient energy than continually showing the world your strengths.

Highlighting these strengths will allow each of us to tackle the variety of daily issues we face – and the uncertainty all of us may have in this economic perfect storm.

Yes, all of us have personal and professional challenges that are sometimes can cause us great pain and uncertainty. As I did, think about recrafting your toolset and looking beyond what you’ve accomplished in the past.

It will make a life-changing difference for you…it is definitely done so for me.

I look forward to talking with you next week. Thanks, again, for your constant readership!