Let’s talk about how to realize our strengths. I think that the style of “one general-purpose tool and several specialized tools” could tell us our strengths.
Our characteristics and strengths
One day, I saw someone tweet on SNS, “I want to find my strength.” So he tried many personality classifications to find it.
Sometimes we want to know our strengths. Especially when we are experiencing pain in our lives due to our strange characteristics. We cannot change our characteristics. So we struggle with how to use our characteristics well.
In such a situation, there could be a way to realize it. I call it the “one general-purpose tool and several specialized tools” style.
I explained this style in an earlier article (this article). But at that time, that was only an organizing method. Now we will extend this method to our lives.
Creators who make everything with one tool
The logic is simple. We can simplify and integrate our tools. It brings us the best tools for our characteristics.
To explain that, I’ll talk about two examples here.
A creator who uses a slow cooker
The first example is a YouTuber who makes cooking videos. And she usually uses only a slow cooker for her cooking. Because she likes soups. A slow cooker is one of the cookware items suitable for making soups for a long simmer. So she has made many soups with it.
And I felt that she was a professional slow cooker. Because she uses her slow cooker for a variety of other dishes. Slow cookers have many different functions, such as sautéing, cooking rice, steaming, pressure cooking, or even making yogurt. She used its potential to the fullest. So I felt, “She is a professional slow cooker.”
A creator who uses VSCode
Another example is here. I also know a programmer who used only a programming app called Visual Studio Code (VSCode) for his programming. He used it for everything, not only programming for his work but also writing emails, writing blogs, or scheduling.
And I also felt he was a professional in VSCode. He was able to create many apps. So he didn’t need many other apps. Because he was able to make it himself. He automated every computing task with it. So once again, I felt, “He is a professional in VSCode.”
Making strange characteristics our strength
Every time I saw such people, I always looked attractive. Because they had strange characteristics, and they created their strengths from those characteristics. The YouTuber who used a slow cooker liked soups. Perhaps the programmer who used VSCode liked programming. These favorites are examples of characteristics.
In such situations, we can integrate our tools into one general-purpose tool. We usually have a tool that we use most frequently. We could use it in any other way in many cases.
And it could be our strengths. Because we use the tools’ potential to the fullest. Then it makes people, including ourselves, understand us as professionals of the tool.
Different kinds of tools make confusion
In other words, many different kinds of tools make us confused. For example, when we use computers, there are so many OSs, such as Android, iOS, Windows, or Linux. Many people use mixed. Of course, it’s easy to use for a light user. But the mixture of different kinds of things prevents us from concentrating on one tool or one style.
At such a time, we can integrate with one tool or lifestyle. We can use our laptops everywhere without any smartphones. Of course, we need to create a new lifestyle. Perhaps we sometimes need several other specialized tools, such as a camera or a music player. But we can master the OS or our lifestyle more deeply. It turns into our strength.
In addition, if we use one tool more often with our creativity, we come to love the tool. So we would like to use it for other creations. A good cycle begins.
Conclusion
So I think that the style of “one general-purpose tool and several specialized tools” could tell us our strengths.
We can simplify and integrate our tools. It brings us the best tools for our characteristics.
If we can apply this style, we might be able to find our strength in our tools.
Thank you for reading this article. I hope to see you at the next one.
