As I curved into my 40’s, my life turned upside down and all of the sudden I found myself in a state of BEING rather than DOING. But, DOING was what I was good at, never taking the time for reflection, or honestly just not desiring to reflect.
So, in the midst of my so called ‘life crisis’ I was forced to practice BEING (became rather good at it), which led to my life’s big realization that I was in the wrong career and change was desperately needed.
All along I was driven by the fact that independence, career, fitting in and attractiveness was all that counts in life. Today my values are clustered around growth, self-esteem, spirituality, happiness, and forgiveness. What has just happened?
We grow and we change. And as we change we seek meaning in everything we do… we search purpose, our own sweet spot.
The sweet spot can be defined as the convergence of your profession, vocation, mission, and passion.
When one or more of these areas is found wanting, we could find ourselves asking questions like:
· How can I make a difference?
· Does money mean happiness or equate to job satisfaction?
· What rewards am I seeking?
· How am I adding value in my current role, and to whom?
· What is my purpose?
Frequently there’s a blend of signs and a set of reflections, challenges and frustrations that signal it’s time for change. Let’s explore deeper!
Who are you?
You are not your body, nor your thoughts, not your emotions, and neither your behaviour. You are something much deeper!
Your unique design is the intersection of your talent, traits and track record. – Will Marre
Talent Inventory (exercise)
Choose three people you trust, know you well, you have lived and worked with, and are your advocates — want you to succeed and be happy. Tell them you are being interviewed the next day and you need their input. This raises urgency so they will respond to you quickly. Tell them their responses are very important.
Ask each member the following:
1. Please describe me in two or three sentences when I am at my best.
2. What do you most admire about me?
3. What do you think I do best?
4. What do you wish I would do more of?
The Track Record is the expression of your traits and talents in action that have become patterns of success you’ve developed throughout your life.
What can you do excellently without super human effort? What do you enjoy so much you lose track of time?
Success Stories (exercise)
Write down four short success stories that will help you see the pattern of your design. These are situations where you: really enjoyed yourself & felt you did something exceptionally well. Write one story from when you were a kid and teenager, and two from your adult life.
Here are my stories:
Childhood Success Story
At the age of 4, I started reproducing words from a local weekly newspaper (The Spark)… it was a double middle page title called: International Life.
Teenage Success Story
At the age of 14, I travelled to Russia for a one-month school exchange, with a group of high performance kids from different schools. It opened my curiosity for travel, learning and discovery.
Adult Success Story
At the age of 22, I resigned from my job as a nurse, to pursue my life curiosities and find my calling. It led to a travelling career that allowed me to see 58 countries and speak 4 languages.
Adult Success Story
At the age of 36, I embarked in a new learning journey and went back to school — earned a MA in Leadership, Innovation & Change (amongst other learning achievements). This opened up an insatiable passion for constantly learning new things and yearning to reinvent myself. Today I strive for passion, love and balance as my guiding rule.
Now, write your own stories!
To find your Success Patterns in your stories, answer the following questions:
1. What patterns do you see recurring in each of these stories?
2. What personal strengths did you employ?
3. How did you learn what you needed to learn to succeed?
4. What was the moment of greatest reward for you?
5. How did you feel when you were doing it?
6. When you succeeded?
Traits refer to your persistent personality, what you pay attention to, the inner you; what motivates you to think and act.
Exercise
Read the statements in each column below. Choose the column that is most like you and choose a second column that is like you some of the time. The remaining column should be statements that are unlike you.
Column A is the Visionary Innovator, column B is the Practical Doer, and column C is the Systematic Builder.
Now that you know a bit more about who you are, how can you make your traits the most positive and personally fulfilling to you, while creating the most value for others?
Every business is a vision for a better future. What is yours?
Originally published at medium.com