DATED – 18th April 2016

Invariably this word, ‘exploit’, is considered in the negative sense. When we hear this word, the first impression is that we are gaining something by putting the other person down. The Oxford dictionary defines ‘exploit’ as – ‘make use of (a situation) in a way considered unfair or underhand.’

However, I feel it also has a positive side to it. Though the word ‘exploit’ might seem too harsh for a positive light, yet exploit we must –

• You have a product that no one else in the market has. Exploit it to the maximum and earn good money out of it.
• You have great speed and agility. Exploit that strength of yours and win medals for your country in Olympics.
• You have a very strong network around you. Exploit it and make things count. Make work happen at jet pace.
• You have great business acumen. Exploit it to create a powerhouse like TATA. India hasn’t produced one in recent times.
• As an architect/interior designer, you have very creative concepts to design structures. Exploit them and let it reach to enough people. People will be waiting in queue to get their sites done from you.
• If you think you have a knack of convincing people, exploit it to make it count in the results you produce.
• Building relationships might be the easiest thing to do for you on this planet. Exploit it and create rock solid relationships for a lifetime.
• You think you have real guts and can talk anything with anyone? Exploit it and lead any social movement where India desperately needs a change.
• Anger comes to you in a split-second when anyone does something wrong. Exploit it and become angry on yourself whenever you underperform.
• If you have a unique ability to be totally energetic in spite of less sleep, exploit it and make the most of the extra time available at your dispense.

Whoever we are and whatever we are in life today, all of us have certain strengths. But unfortunately, we are not using them to the full capacity. We don’t realise that we can use these strengths to do something worthwhile in life. These strengths can act like the pole that pole-vaulters need to jump the height. It’s a pity that a few of us don’t even sit down to analyse our strengths. We need others to tell us what is good about us.

Vis-à-vis my life –

I know what all are the strengths I possess. But exploiting them and making the most of them is something that has dawned upon me as I thought about this blog. It has made me go one level above than just knowing my strengths.

I have heard another school of thought where people say – exploit others/ opponent’s weaknesses. My school of thought is – if we can instead focus on exploiting our strengths, it will be more fruitful rather than wasting time on finding other’s weaknesses. This is how all masters become masters in their fields (master of ONE)

All of us use our strengths every now and then. But that isn’t necessarily because I want to exploit it. It just happens. Hence, there is no consistency in exploiting our strengths. A few of us are too nice to exploit our own name, fame and goodwill. We feel shy to exploit our own strengths. However, I strongly advocate that for all that we have built (as in our ‘image’), we deserve to produce results with those strengths. I would like to end this blog by saying in caps – EXPLOIT!