Last time we were 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.

The theory: Talents + skill + knowledge = strengths.

So how can you figure out your innate talents are?

You can buy their book and take the StrengthsFinders profile. It will give you your top 5 signature themes and they’re such things as: Achiever, Self-assurance, Relator, Empathy, Focus, Analytical or Strategic.

You can see that they’re work-related, thinking styles, and ways of approaching life rather than qualities such as “courage” or “bravery,” or fields of knowledge such as “math” or “English,” or particular talents, such as “writing” or “singing.”

Here are 5 more things you can do:

1. Think about what you liked to do as a child. Talents are innate; they appear early. Reading? Writing? Teaching? Acting? Examining bugs? Helping others? These are clues.

2. Ask your parents what you liked to do as a child. I suggest to clients that they ask their parents “What about me drove you nuts?” What drove my friend Marcia nuts about her eldest son Quentin, was that he was always tinkering – taking apart bikes, watches, throwing away instructions and just putting together model, legos, little pieces everywhere. And what does he do quite happily as an adult? He’s a mechanic.

3. Keep in mind that your parents were human, and they had their own “issues.” For instance, I have a client whose father thought he shouldn’t be a minister, and degraded all his natural talents for ministry, even his “calling.” It’s hard to buck such parental pressure. However, now’s the time!

4. Parents can’t recognize what they don’t know. A mathematical genius born to two English majors may never get reinforcement for his talents. If you have a child like that, and see it, please find them someone who can affirm and value their talents so they don’t feel alone in what they like to do, and receive no affirmation or guidance.

5. Think about what you like to do when you have a choice. What do you do in your spare time? What do you do on Sunday afternoon? Paula always sneaks off and reads. Two of her themes are Intellection and Learner. She surfs the Internet for information, and is happy at work doing market research and writing reports.

Spending some time investigating your natural talents can pay off handsomely in the long run. Next time we’ll discuss 5 more ways to reach your goals.

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
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