There are few things that make us as miserable as hating what we do, and it’s impossible to be excellent at something you dislike. How do you solve this problem? How do you figure out what you were meant to do … what makes you shine?
We’ve been discussing “Now, Discover Your Strengths, ” (http://www.amazon.com/
exec/obidos/ASIN/0743201140
/susandunnmome-20 ) by Buckingham and Clifton. These two management experts propose the theory that if you work in your strength areas, you can perform consistently and effortlessly at a near perfect level and find great satisfaction without a whole lot of stress.
Sounds like heaven on earth, doesn’t it? Well, here are some ways to discover your strengths.
Here is their theory: Talents + Skill + Knowledge = Strengths.
One way to discover your strengths is to take the StrengthsFinder profile (purchase the book, using the link above.)
What else can you do?
1. “Work like you don’t need the money…” What would you do even if you weren’t paid to do it? You may already be doing it “for free,” as I am in writing this article. What would you volunteer to do? One way to try out a talent is to do volunteer work where you get to use a new skill and see how it feels.
2. Flow. What activity do you ‘get lost in’? You start doing it — like working on your car, or empathizing with someone — and you ‘come to’ 4 hours later having missed your lunch and your 2 o’clock appointment. What absorbs you fully?
3. What gives you deep satisfaction? If you haven’t ever felt “deep satisfaction,” as many of us haven’t, having been forced into certain jobs for various reasons, you’ll have to do a little work on yourself to learn to hear that small, still, voice within.
4. Take notice of what you learn quickly. You may be given an assignment at work and almost instantly excel at it. That’s a sign that it’s pulling on an innate talent.
5. Listen to your self-talk. When you’re doing something that uses an innate talent you’re often thinking–“When can I do this again?” or even “This is fun. I’m in the groove.”
6. Work with a coach to accelerate the process.
Next time we’ll talk about why working with a coach who’s skilled in using the StrengthsFinder and other profiles can accelerate the process. And you would like to get this figured out quickly, wouldn’t you??
Susan Dunn, MA, Marketing Coach,
http://www.webstrategies.cc. Marketing consultation,
implementation, website review, SEO optimization, article
writing and submission, help with ebooks and other
strategies. Susan is the author or How to Write an eBook
and Market It on the Internet. Mailto:sdunn@susandunn.cc
for information and free ezine. Specify Checklist.
