3-Point Checklist: Are you Evolving Based on your Strengths?

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While I was at the Heartfulness headquarters in India, I participated in a workshop about relationships, including marriage. I was curious to see how it would compare to my work on self-love, and it was wonderful to see an initial focus on the self, and one’s individual strengths, before the content shifted to marriage.

One of those early sessions included the CliftonStrengths assessment. I had taken it in 2012 and it was powerful to see the evolution 7 years later in terms of my top 5 strengths. Later, I decided to peek at my top 10 and my entire 34 strengths lineup. Considering my top 10 in a nutshell compared to my top 5 from before, I discovered the following:

  • I’ve become more Strategic…my creative ability to evaluate options and choose directions is strong, and I’ve noticed this playing out in my coaching work. In the top 10, my love for learning and gathering insights is reflected clearly (Learner and Input).
  • I’m still a very committed relationship builder (Relator) with strong core values and ownership of my work (Belief, Responsibility), but looking at my top ten indicates I’m more flexible now (Adaptability), living in the moment and making use of opportunities as they come.
  • My execution ability – aka getting stuff done – is number one now (Achiever), and I suspect this is because I’ve cleared most of my trauma, which often presents deep obstacles to realizing our highest potential.
  • My ability to influence is targeted toward taking something good and making it the best it can be (Maximizer), which I do through coaching, consulting, and other projects.
  • My foundation still contains that sense of destiny and the Connectedness of all life, which drives my spirituality and do-no-harm ethic.

See the diagram below to see how I evolved:

I’ve evolved over the last 7 years in terms of living and working more effectively through my strengths. How about you?

So, pondering my evolution, I realize that I’ve grown a lot because previously I used to get stuck in the basements (negative aspects) of my strengths, such as being overworked (Achiever), and sad from taking in external worries (Empathy), whereas now I’m in the balcony (positive aspects) through the happy marriage of Achiever and Relator via science-based coaching and facilitation, as well as writing, speaking, and teaching work that is deeply fulfilling.

It’s important to evolve using our strengths, so here are three important items that need to be on your checklist and you should answer yes to all of them:

  1. Does your career evidence your strengths?
  2. Are you much more on the balcony than in the basement in general?
  3. Have you evolved to become more aligned with your strengths in the last 5-10 years?

If you answered “No” to any of these, let’s chat about getting you into a stronger position for work and life. There’s no better time than now. If you’ve not taken the assessment yet, take it now.

 

 

 

 

Identity, Leadership, Transformation, Wellness , , ,