It's one thing to understand your strengths theoretically; it's another to use them in real-world situations. A fellow entrepreneur recently asked me the question below, and since it's a challenge many of us face, I wanted to share my response:

Q: How can I use my strengths to make difficult tasks less overwhelming? Is it possible to eliminate the tasks I hate completely, or will some things always be challenging? I know a lot about myself from different assessments I’ve taken but how do I actually apply that knowledge? How can I translate my theoretical self-knowledge into making my workday easier?

This is a great question, because it's something I struggle with myself and get asked about all the time. We tend to instinctively know the areas we're not good at — we may even be more aware of our flaws than our gifts. And even when we take assessments meant to highlight the best parts about us we can focus on what’s not there or what shows up at the bottom of the list.

Unfortunately, you can't simply avoid these difficult tasks altogether (usually). And let’s face it, you’ve tried that and it only created open mental loops that drained your energy even more.

But there are ways to lighten the load.

1. Stop Over-Investing in What Drains You

So there’s something you hate doing. The first and most obvious strategy is to do less of it, or at least spend less time on it.

As solopreneurs, we end up putting more time, energy, and attention into the things that drain us because we feel like it's the only way. We refuse to stop working on something until it's done (to perfection), sacrificing other important work in the process.

What if you don't have to do it perfectly? What if you don't have to do it alone? What if you don't have to do it at all?

Sometimes we're pushing a boulder up a hill when we could carry a rock instead.

What is spending all this time getting it to "perfect" actually costing you? Sometimes it's okay to accept good enough. Not everything needs to be done to the nth degree.

Maybe you don't need a shiny sales page when a simple Google doc will do for now. Maybe you don't need a complicated Notion dashboard when a spreadsheet will actually get you moving forward.

There's a time for being exceptional, and a time for getting to good enough. This isn't school — you don't need to aim for "exceeds expectations" in every category. (In fact, you never did.)

2. Get By With a Little Help From Your Success Pack

If the boulder does need to go up the hill, can you get some support to make it easier and smoother? As solopreneurs, we often think, "I don't have a team. I have to do this all by myself." But is that actually true?1

Yes, you could bring on support like a contractor, a VA, or a piece of software to take on this task for you.2 And before you dismiss this idea due to limited funds, consider what doing it all yourself is actually costing you. Is saving that money worth the time and energy burn that could be put toward something in your zone of genius — something that might bring in more revenue than the cost of the support?

But what I want to focus on here is another type of support: less do it for you and more support you through it. We all have people in our lives who are naturally gifted in areas we struggle with, or people who have traveled this road (climbed this hill) before and figured out how to deal with this particular boulder.

Who can you lean on for advice? Who might be a great thinking partner to help you see a different approach?

Or better yet, who could you partner with whose strengths complement your own — someone whose talents amplify what you do well or offset what you don't?

Use your peers as a brain trust, but also consider them as potential collaborators who bring different gifts to the table.

3. Play to Your Strengths

It’s easy to get so locked in on what we can't do that we forget we have other talents and gifts. Sometimes making things easier is just a matter of looking at what we're trying to do through the lens of our other strengths.

So rather than bringing in other people, how do we bring in other parts of ourselves to support?

I had a client whose very bottom CliftonStrength® is Woo®:

People exceptionally talented in the Woo theme love the challenge of meeting new people and winning them over. They derive satisfaction from breaking the ice and making a connection with someone. — Gallup®

That's her #34 out of 34 talents, and it was frustrating her because she was working on sales copy to connect with people in her world. So she did something interesting. She found someone who did this really well and went to their website. She wasn’t looking to mimic how this person connected with readers but rather, where that point of connection happened and what the ultimate result was for their readers.

Then she asked: How do I take the gifts I naturally have and achieve that same result?

Because at the end of the day, it wasn't about a specific way of messaging. It was about connection. How do I connect with my community in my own way? So she leaned on strengths at the top of her profile like Individualization®, Activator®, and Connectedness® to do it in her own voice.

What if you stopped beating yourself up for what you don't have, what you think you "should" be better at, and started thinking about what you do have? Think about what you're ultimately trying to achieve, and what strengths you have that naturally lean into that outcome.

The boulder still needs to reach the top of the hill, but maybe you can find a path that works with your natural strengths instead of against them.3

4. Charge and Recharge

And what do you with that boulder when you don’t have anyone to help, no alternate path, and no way around it?

That's when you need to consider your reserves.

We often think about rest and recovery after we complete a difficult task, and that's good advice. But another way to look at it is: How do you charge yourself before you tackle that hard task?

Think about your phone battery. It drains at a slower pace when it's fully charged. But once you hit that 30% mark, you're scrambling to find a charger because you know how quickly it can drop to zero.

If the task doesn't need to be done immediately, how do you build up the energy and momentum so that when you reach the top of the hill, you're not completely depleted? You'll still be tired and need to recharge, but that recharge might be an hour or two instead of days.

What charges you? Look to your strengths for clues, but don't assume recharging always means slowing down. Someone with high Achiever^® might actually gain energy by completing a few quick tasks first. Someone with Competition^® might need to turn the challenge into a contest.

If you're not sure what fills your tank, ask yourself: Do I gain energy through action or rest? Your strengths will point you in the right direction.

Five Questions to Ask Yourself

When you're facing one of these heavy lifts, run through these five questions:

1. Does this need to be done at all? Always a good place to start. You’d be surprised at how many tasks you’re doing that are doing nothing more than exhausting you.

2. Does this need to be done to this level or degree? More often than you think, the answer might be no. Sometimes 'good enough' really is good enough.

3. Does this need to be done by me? Is there someone or something you can bring in to either do the work or support you through it? Whose strengths might be a complement to your own?

4. Does this need to be done this way? How can you bring in and leverage your natural talents and abilities to move this task forward? What combination of strengths might get you the same result, your way?

5. Does this need to be done right now? If you're going to tackle it yourself and it's going to be a heavy lift, how can you ensure you're fully charged when you start?

The goal isn't to eliminate all the difficult tasks — that's not realistic. But by being strategic about which battles to fight and how to fight them, you can make those heavy lifts significantly lighter.

Need support lightening your load or learning how to apply your unique gifts to your work? I'd love to help. While I'm putting the finishing touches on my new offerings (coming soon!), I'm always happy to connect with readers who have questions about putting their strengths into practice. What boulder are you currently struggling with? Hit reply or the button below and let's find your easier path up the hill.