There are many ways to clarify your specific drives and strengths. One approach is to follow the suggestion that was sometimes made by The Gallup Organization. This was to:
Focus on the things you cannot help but do
Looking at your own life, what are the specific activities you feel driven to do? What are those that give you positive energy? What are the things you cannot help but do?
Different people give different answers to these questions. Here are some things that some of the mentees I have worked with mentioned when exploring this topic.
The Things I Cannot
Help But Do Are:
To encourage people … To create technology that helps people to simplify their lives … To make films about fixing old Land Rovers … To teach people how to write pop music … To help people to manage pain.
If you wish, try tackling the exercise on this theme. This invites you: a) to describe one of the things you cannot help but do; b) to give some examples of you doing this thing.
Building On What You
Cannot Help But Do
Great workers often take this step. They focus on one of the things they cannot help but do. They then explore some of the following questions.
What is the specific thing I cannot help but do? How can I translate this into doing a specific piece of work? What will be the benefits – for myself or other people – of doing this work?
What are the real results I want to achieve? What is the picture of success? What are the key strategies I can follow to give myself the greatest chance of success? How can I translate this into an action plan?
How can I get a quick success? How can I deliver high professional standards? How can I find solutions to potential challenges? How can I do my best to achieve the picture of success?
There are many ways to clarify your specific drives and strengths. One approach is to build on what you cannot help but do. It is then to keep doing these things in the future.
Let’s return to your own life and work. The following exercise invites you to explore how you may want to follow elements of this approach. You will, of course, follow this in your own way.
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