The Power of Coaching: Unearthing Strengths

One of the things I love most about coaching is the core belief that every individual already possesses the skills, resources, and strengths they need to create meaningful change. Coaching isn’t about fixing what’s broken—it’s about uncovering what’s already strong and building from there.

Do You Recognise Your Strengths?

So why do so many of us struggle to see our own strengths? Why do we doubt our abilities, our worth, or our potential?

For many, it’s because we have absorbed the views of others—the way people have spoken to us, treated us, or labeled us over the years. If you’ve ever had an experience where someone dismissed your ideas, overlooked your abilities, or made you feel small, it’s easy to internalize those messages.

Have you ever been told you’re too sensitive when you were actually being intuitive?
Have you been called too much when you were simply passionate?
Have you been overlooked, only to later see someone else praised for the same thing you do naturally?

When we accept other people’s views of us as truth, we disconnect from our strengths. Instead of seeing our resilience, creativity, and uniqueness, we focus on our supposed shortcomings.

The Power of Strength-Based Approaches

Studies in positive psychology and strengths-based coaching support the idea that when people focus on their strengths rather than their weaknesses, they experience greater confidence, motivation, and success.

A study by the Gallup Organization found that people who use their strengths every day are six times more likely to be engaged in their work and three times more likely to have an excellent quality of life. How Employees’ Strengths Make Your Company Stronger

The reality is, you have strengths you may not even realise, simply because no one has ever pointed them out to you—or worse, because someone else has made you believe they were not strengths at all.

The Coaching Shift: Seeing Yourself Differently

In the Safeguarding and Helping professions and speaking from experience as a social worker, the focus is often on supporting, advising, and guiding—important work, but often centered on identifying problems to solve. Coaching, however, is different. It shifts the lens.

It doesn’t start with what’s missing—it starts with strengths and abilities and what is already there.

Coaching with Honesttogoodness.life can:
Reignite—Rediscover the confidence that you already have the answers.
Reframe—See yourself not as someone in need of fixing, but as someone with untapped potential.
Redefine—Shift the focus from limitations to strengths.
Restore—Trust in your ability to move forward, knowing you are equipped for the journey.

What Strengths Might You Be Overlooking?

I want you to take a moment to think:
What if the things you’ve been criticised for are actually your greatest strengths?
What if the labels others have given you don’t define you?
What if you already have everything you need—you just need to see it differently?

I’d love to hear from you—what’s a strength you once overlooked because of how others made you feel? Drop a comment, send me a message, or just take a quiet moment to recognise something amazing about yourself today.