Focusing on Leveraging Strengths

When I was working full time, part of every performance review had a section on improvement areas, the weaknesses that needed to be addressed to advance.   Working on weaknesses was always one of the toughest things for me to do.  It was challenging to improve in areas I wasn't naturally good at doing.  However, improving weakness was very important since I wanted to advance in my career.
One of the benefits of retirement is the ability to choose part time jobs that leverage my strengths.   For example, I am very good at math, science, finances and test taking.  Skills in these areas are very easy for me to learn and doing work in these areas sometimes feels effortless.    Although I've tried a variety of different jobs, the one's like like best are teaching science in after school programs, tutoring for college entrance exams, and doing seasonal tax preparation.  When I'm working, I often feel like I'm in "the zone."  In the two jobs with performance appraisals, I scored well with no weaknesses identified. 

For reference, none of these jobs are in the field of the career from which I retired.   While I'm glad I majored in engineering and worked in R&D, I'm even more glad that I can fully leverage my strengths in the retirement part time jobs that I've found.

For more on Reaping the Rewards, check back every Friday.


This is not financial, retirement or career advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

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