StrengthsFinder 2.0 Personal Assessment Findings

I recently took the online personality assessment test from the book StrengthsFinder 2.0 which attempts to focus one on improving their strengths (hence the book title) rather than focusing on their weaknesses. While I don't find this book ground-breaking, it does provide a pretty good method for re-evaluating yourself so that you can keep in mind the important things to focus on in your life.  Here are my top five strengths, and what I plan to work on this year to better myself:

Ideation
Strategic
Maximizer
Analytical
Learner

Here are how I plan to work on what I consider to be my top 3 strengths, and the areas in those strengths that I can best capitalize on in the coming year:

IDEATION

• You are likely to get bored quickly, so make some small changes in your work or home life. Experiment. Play mental games with yourself. All of these will help keep you stimulated.
• Understand the fuel for your Ideation talents: When do you get your best ideas? When you're talking with people? When you're reading? When you're simply listening or observing? Take note of the circumstances that seem to produce your best ideas, and recreate them.
• Sometimes you lose others' interest because they cannot follow your abstract and conceptual thinking style. Make your ideas more concrete by drawing pictures, using analogies or metaphors, or simply explaining your concepts step by step.

STRATEGIC

• Take the time to fully reflect or muse about a goal that you want to achieve until the related patterns and issues emerge for you. Remember that this musing time is essential to strategic thinking.
• Trust your intuitive insights as often as possible. Even though you might not be able to explain them rationally, your intuitions are created by a brain that instinctively anticipates and projects. Have confidence in these perceptions.
• Partner with someone with strong Activator talents. With this person's need for action and your need for anticipation, you can forge a powerful partnership.

MAXIMIZER

ANALYTICAL

LEARNER

• Because you are not threatened by unfamiliar information, you might excel in a consulting role (either internal or external) in which you are paid to go into new situations and pick up new competencies or languages quickly.
• Research supports the link between learning and performance. When people have the
  opportunity to learn and grow, they are more productive and loyal. Look for ways to measure
  the degree to which you and others feel that your learning needs are being met, to create
  individualized learning milestones, and to reward achievements in learning.
• Time disappears and your attention intensifies when you are immersed in studying or learning. Allow yourself to "follow the trail" by scheduling learning sessions during periods of time that will not be interrupted by pressing engagements.