I have been working with a performance coach for 7 months now. One thing that I am glad to have done is to take a Clifton Strengths Assessment. It’s a test to see a person’s talent. Not skills. Talent. It doesn’t show if someone is brilliant at coding or baking, but it will show if consistency or discipline is among one’s strengths. On the other hand, the Saboteur Test illustrates the opposite. If a strength is abused or not used in moderation, it can create some unwanted consequences and even weaknesses.

Learner and Achiever are my top strengths. Because I am driven and want to do more all the times, I tend to wonder “what’s next? what else can I do to accomplish things?”. The downside is that I don’t live in the moment and because I struggle to feel enough, I struggle to stay content, leading to unhappiness.

Another strength of mine is Analytical, the ability to base off my actions on logic and rationale. However, if overused, such a strength will result in my inability to take others’ feelings into action and lack of empathy.

While I can’t say that I know how to turn on and off my strengths/saboteurs at will yet, I am pleased to know what they are and be aware that they are somewhere inside me. I was in an interview with a prospect for an intership at our company. The whole time, I had a silent mental battle with myself on whether and how much I should look at the candidate through my lens and tunnel vision. That, for me, is something I’d not have done without this newly acquired awareness. I credit my coach and my wife, who actually introduced me to the Saboteur Assessment, for that.

I used to think that professional coaching did not offer much value. I was wrong. Done right, it could be a tremendous tool to ignite personal growth. If you can afford it, I’ll highly recommend you try., The two tests mentioned above are inexpensive. Even without a coach to device a plan based on the tests’ findings, they are already helpful by themselves.