We all have that one friend who makes something difficult look completely effortless. Perhaps it’s the way they connect with people, how they visualise creative concepts, or their ability to solve complex problems with surprising simplicity. When we see these natural abilities in others, we immediately recognise them as special. Yet strangely, we struggle to identify or value these same exceptional qualities in ourselves.

This blindness to our own natural strengths is something I’ve observed repeatedly with creative business owners, and I’ve experienced it firsthand in my own journey.

The Hidden Pattern Behind Business Struggle

I’ve watched countless talented creative entrepreneurs work themselves to exhaustion, constantly battling feelings of inadequacy despite their impressive skills. They chase visibility, perfect their websites, follow all the “right” strategies, yet still feel something fundamental is missing.

The irony? These business owners aren’t failing because they lack talent, dedication, or even the right strategies. They’re struggling because they’ve built businesses that don’t fully align with what they naturally do best.

Noticing the Signs of Misalignment

How can you tell if your business isn’t fully aligned with your exceptional strengths? These signs appear consistently:

• Persistent exhaustion despite passionate investment – You love your craft but feel continually drained rather than energized by your work
• Difficulty articulating your unique value – You struggle to explain why clients should choose you over equally qualified competitors
• Resistant pricing conversations – Setting and maintaining rates that reflect your true value feels uncomfortable or impossible
• The constant search for external validation – You believe that one more feature, qualification, or testimonial will finally make things click
• Comparison that leaves you feeling inadequate – Looking at industry standards leaves you feeling that you’re perpetually falling short

These aren’t simply challenges to overcome through harder work or better marketing. They’re signals that something more foundational needs attention.

The Textile Artist’s Transformation

I recently worked with a textile artist experiencing exactly these symptoms. She had built a business doing everything she “should” – teaching workshops, taking commissions, selling at craft fairs, maintaining an online shop, and freelancing on the side. She was competent at all these things, occasionally even excellent, but always exhausted.

The breakthrough came when she identified her exceptional strength – not just what she was “pretty good at,” but what came to her naturally when all constraints were removed. She discovered that while she could teach and sell across multiple platforms, her true exceptional strength lay in creating signature installations for specific environments.

When she finally gave herself permission to focus primarily on this work – the area where her natural talents shone brightest – everything changed. Instead of chasing scattered opportunities, she built a business that amplified what she naturally did best. Clients began seeking her out specifically for her distinctive approach, pricing became straightforward, and most importantly, she rediscovered joy in her creative practice.

The Brand Designer’s Revelation

Another example comes from a brand designer who had been struggling for years. She had adopted the common industry model – offering standardised packages for logos, websites, and brand collateral. She was technically skilled and had satisfied clients, but something always felt slightly off. Pricing was a constant battle, client relationships often felt strained, and she perpetually felt she needed to prove her worth.

When she finally stepped back to identify her exceptional strength, she realized that her natural ability wasn’t just in visual design, but in helping clients uncover the deeper meaning and messaging behind their brands. She was naturally gifted at drawing out what made each business unique and translating that into visual systems that told their story.

Once she restructured her business around this strength – shifting from standard design packages to a more consultative approach – everything transformed. Her confidence grew, pricing became easier, client relationships improved, and she no longer felt she was competing in an overcrowded market. Most tellingly, she started enjoying her work again.

Finding Your Exceptional Strength: The Counter-Intuitive Approach

So how do you identify your own exceptional strength? The process often requires looking in exactly the opposite direction from where we typically search.

Here’s what I’ve discovered works:

1. Notice what you discount – The tasks or abilities you dismiss as “that’s just basic” or “anyone could do that” are often your exceptional strengths precisely because they come so naturally to you.
2. Look for flow states – When do you lose track of time? When does work feel less like effort and more like a natural extension of who you are? These moments often reveal your exceptional strengths.
3. Pay attention to consistent praise – What do clients consistently thank you for, even when you didn’t consider it a primary part of your service? This feedback often points to exceptional strengths you’re taking for granted.
4. Identify energy sources vs. energy drains – Which aspects of your work leave you feeling energized rather than depleted? These energy-giving elements often align with your natural strengths.
5. Consider childhood patterns – What came naturally to you long before formal training? These inherent tendencies often reveal fundamental strengths that have been with you all along.

What makes this approach counter-intuitive is that we typically look for our strengths in the areas we’ve worked hardest to develop. But exceptional strengths often lie in what feels so natural that we discount its value.

A Surprising Family Lesson

This principle extends beyond business. A few years ago, my daughter was struggling academically, a challenge familiar to many families dealing with dyslexia. Her confidence was suffering dramatically, and school had become a source of anxiety rather than growth.

Rather than focusing solely on academic interventions, we made an unconventional decision. For one term, we changed her environment completely, allowing her to join a ski academy where she could train and compete on the British ski circuit. This wasn’t about avoiding academic challenges, but about giving her the opportunity to discover an area where her natural strengths could shine.

The transformation was remarkable. In skiing, she encountered plenty of challenges – training in harsh conditions, maintaining equipment, handling competition pressure – but they were challenges that aligned with her natural strengths. For the first time, she experienced what it felt like to excel naturally at something demanding.

When she returned to traditional academics, she was still dyslexic. The reading challenges hadn’t disappeared. But her approach had transformed completely. She no longer saw difficult subjects as evidence of personal inadequacy but simply as areas that required different strategies. Most importantly, she had discovered what it felt like to work from a place of natural strength.

Building a Business Around Your Strength

When we apply this same principle to our creative businesses, the results can be equally transformative. Building around your exceptional strength doesn’t mean ignoring challenges or refusing to develop new skills. It means creating a business model that places your natural abilities at the center rather than forcing yourself into a predetermined industry structure.

This approach creates several profound shifts:

• Authentic differentiation – When you build around your exceptional strength, you naturally stand out without trying to compete on standard terms
• Aligned pricing – Charging appropriately becomes easier when you’re offering something that emerges from your unique strengths rather than comparing yourself to industry standards
• Sustainable energy – Work becomes energizing rather than depleting when it’s built around what naturally engages you
• Clearer decisions – Choosing which projects to accept, services to offer, or directions to pursue becomes more straightforward when filtered through the lens of your exceptional strength
• Magnetic marketing – Communicating your value becomes more authentic and compelling when it’s grounded in what you naturally do best

The Permission to Excel Differently

Perhaps most importantly, this approach gives you permission to excel in your own way rather than trying to conform to someone else’s definition of success. It acknowledges that there are infinite paths to creating a thriving creative business – and the one that will work best for you is the one aligned with your natural strengths.

I think of another client who struggled for years trying to build her business according to her industry’s conventional model. She was working constantly, always busy but never quite breaking through. The turning point came when she finally recognized that her exceptional strength wasn’t in the technical execution that her industry valued most highly, but in her unusual ability to translate complex concepts into simple, actionable approaches.

Once she rebuilt her business around this strength – focusing on strategy and guidance rather than technical implementation – everything changed. Instead of competing in an overcrowded market, she created her own category. Her confidence grew, her pricing reflected her true value, and most importantly, she rediscovered joy in her work.

Your Next Step: A Single Question

If you’re feeling that resonance of recognition – that sense that perhaps your business isn’t fully aligned with what you naturally do best – I’d like to leave you with a single question:

What aspect of your work feels so natural to you that you’ve been taking it for granted?

The answer might reveal the exceptional strength that could transform your business from a constant struggle into a natural expression of what you do best. It might show you the foundation upon which to build a business that energizes rather than depletes you, that stands out naturally rather than through constant effort.

Because the truth I’ve witnessed again and again is this: When you build a business around what you naturally do best, success stops being something you chase and starts being something that emerges organically from doing work that perfectly aligns with who you are.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on this. What exceptional strengths might you be overlooking in your own creative practice? Where do you find that natural flow state in your work? Share your reflections in the comments below or join the conversation on Instagram.