Posts Tagged ‘passions’

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What Is Your “Thing?”

Thursday, April 29th, 2010

We are not good at every ”thing” – but we are good at some “things.”

We create our best lives and work when we build them around what we are good at and love to do; when we build them around our “thing.”

You do your best work when you feel capable and competent. You are more creative, more interested and more focused; you are in your element. You feel confident; you reach for more; you do more – and better. You are at your best when you play to what you are good at.

Now imagine yourself working in an area where you do not feel capable and competent. You second-guess your decisions. You don’t feel very creative nor are ready to take risks for greatness. You feel unsure. You just play it safe. You watch and don’t participate.

What a waste.

Live is too great and too much of a gift to allow it to go by without playing to our talents and passions – our unique gifts. I believe it is part of the plan that we invent our lives around the unique gifts we received in our DNA – our hardwiring. The more we know ourselves, the more we can identify these gifts and include them in our lives. This way we play to our “thing” – and the quality of both work and life is better.

What are you great at? Not sure? Try this:
1. List what you feel you are good at.
2. Ask three others who know you well what they feel you are good at. Compare their comments to yours.
3. Start to see a profile of your talents and strengths – your “thing.” Identify how you can include these in both your work and life.

We are not good at everything. But we are exceptional at some things.

We each are given a very particular set of talents, strengths and passions – many call these our “gifts.” It is our responsibility to know them and to build them into as many aspects of life as we can – because they are our best areas. We are good at them. We love doing them. We make a difference with them. And I believe we each have a different great “thing” so we have the ability to bring something particular and extraordinary to our world. There is space for all of us to have our “thing.”

Please forward this to someone who may benefit from it. Please contact me if you need more information to help you find “your thing.”

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Stand Out and Get Hired in 2010 – Week 2 of the Plan

Wednesday, February 10th, 2010

Week 2: Know your talents and passions – learn what you are great at and love doing.

Most people continue to apply for the wrong jobs because they don’t know what they are good at. And today, to have the best performance, you must work in job that needs what you are great at and are passionate about. Without these, you don’t feel capable, competent or excited in your work – and it shows.

So here is how to proceed:
1. Write down what you think you are naturally good at – your talents – this will be things like connecting with others, focusing on details, committed to big performance, great at listening and relating to others, creating order out of chaos…etc. Don’t be humble. List everything you are good at; things that come naturally to you. This is difficult for many people so try these other two options:

o Take a talent assessment. These are on-line assessments that ask you questions and preferences to help you see what you are naturally good at (part of the way you think). If you purchase Stand Out and Get Hired on this website, you will have access to my on-line talent assessment. Or consider using others on the market. Or,

o Have three other people who know you well list five talents or abilities they find in you. Because our talents are so much a part of us, we frequently don’t identify them as talents. Others see them in us.

2. Next, write down what you are passionate about. What do you love to do – what gets you out of bed in the morning and what you could do all day? It may be teaching, helping others, running a business, writing, painting, cooking, selling…whatever you love to do. List as many as come to mind. You will find that you generally do not need help with this – each of us is far more aware of our passions than our talents.

Now: look for the intersection of your two lists – what are you good at AND passionate about doing. This is the starting point for finding a job that fits you. This is key to finding a job AND loving your job.

You may be great at connecting with people and passionate about sharing stories. A job in sales, customer service or retail in any industry may be a good fit. You may be great at focusing on details and precision and are passionate making a difference. You may find that careers in the medical field, IT, law or similar fields will play to your talents and passions.

Know yourself – because your next step is to learn what the hot jobs are – so you can determine which jobs are a good fit for you and which needs what you are great at. This will give you a competitive advantage in getting hired.

Click here for the full “Get Hired” Plan. See all the “Get Hired” resources at www.LiveFIredUp.com, click on “Job Seeker.”

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Are You Bland and Boring or Fired Up?

Sunday, September 20th, 2009

We all need some excitement in our lives – at work and at home. Excitement means playing to your passions – to those things that get you out of the bland and boring and into a fired up! life and work.

I have been speaking and working with both companies and individuals for over 25 years. Most seem to be convinced that their work life and their home lives are supposed to be average; that passionate and exciting lives are reserved for the famous and the few. My message in all that time has been to train people to spend time with themselves – to learn what they are great at and what they love to do. It may be reading, cooking or gardening. It may be flying, singing or investing. It may be connecting with others, inventing or working with computers. Each of us is gifted with a very specific combination of talents and strengths. Our lives are given to us to discover who we are, discover our combination of talents and strengths, and then build a work and home life that plays to what we are the best at and the most passionate about. This is how we own our lives. This is how we live more authentically and honestly. This starts with a greater self-awareness by answering the two questions: What am I a great at? What am I passionate about?

Life is not a dress rehearsal. The sooner we learn what gifts, talents and passions we have, the sooner we can build our lives around them. Not only does this make us more competitive in our work lives, but it amplifies each day of home lives. We live more fully, contribute more significantly and enjoy our lives. Albert Einstein said, “The single most important decision any of us ever have to make is whether or not to believe we will live in a friendly universe.” That means do we feel that life is supposed to be extraordinary and that the world is a positive place waiting for us to contribute our best. Or, as many feel, life is meant to be bland and boring…and they just count the days until it ends.

For me, and for those I speak to, the only way to approach life is Fired Up! Be passionate, be excited, love what you do and the life you have. Know yourself, play to your strengths and build a life that lets you work and live in a way that excites you and moves you. It is your choice. The buck stops with you. You own your life and your decisions about it and work. If you hate your job, start to identify a job you love and build a plan to get it. If there are aspects of life that are bland or are not for you, start to build a plan to change. Time doesn’t wait. Bland and boring is a waste of your time. Choose great. Choose passionate. Choose Fired Up!

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