There are many ways to do fine work. One approach is to build on your strengths, follow strategies that work and do your best to achieve success. This can involve focusing on the following themes.
Strengths
The first step is to clarify your strengths. Everybody has strengths. Bearing this in mind, it can therefore be useful to clarify the activities in which you may have the ability to deliver As rather than Bs or Cs.
Everybody also has a successful style of working. If appropriate, you can clarify the principles you follow when doing satisfying work and delivering success. You can then aim to follow these principles in the future.
There are many ways to find your strengths and successful style. One approach is to explore the following questions.
Different people will describe different things when exploring these themes. Here are some that they may mention.
My Strengths
The specific activities where I may be able to
deliver As rather than Bs or Cs are when I am:
Counselling people … Working as a First Responder … Growing organic food … Writing articles about the environment … Coaching young footballers … Being a trusted advisor to certain kinds of customers Leading pioneering teams … Doing other activities.
My Successful Style
The specific way that I work best is when I am able:
To play to my strengths … To do a stimulating project … To set a positive goal … To sometimes have a deadline … To have freedom, within parameters, in the way I work towards the achieving goal.
To put together a fine team … To do superb work … To sometimes stretch myself and discover new things … To be good at managing the key stakeholders … To get satisfaction from achieving the positive goal.
Imagine that you have explored some of these themes. If appropriate, you may then want to do the following things:
First, to clarify the specific strength you would like to build on.
Second, to clarify the specific thing you would like to do when building on this strength.
If you wish, try tackling the exercise on this theme. This invites you to complete the following sentences. It will then be time to move on to the next stage.
Strategies That Work
Imagine that you have begun to clarify how you would like to build on your strengths. The next steps involve setting a specific goal and following strategies that work on the way to achieving success. Let’s explore these themes.
Specific Goal
Let’s assume that you want to achieve a specific goal. This could be something in your personal or professional life. You may aim, for example:
To help another person … To adopt a healthy lifestyle … To renovate a house … To do a specific project … To tackle a particular challenge … To lead a team to success … To reach another goal.
There are many ways to set a specific goal. Bearing in mind what you can control in the situation, one approach is to explore the following questions.
What is the goal I want to achieve? What are the real results I want to achieve? What is the picture of success? What will be happening that will show I have achieved the goal?
What will be the benefits – to the various stakeholders – of achieving the goal? What will be the pluses and minuses involved in working to achieve the goal? How can I build on the pluses and minimise the minuses?
How motivated do I feel – on a scale 0-10 – to do what is required to achieve the goal? What can I do to maintain or improve the rating? Bearing this in mind, do I really want to do work towards the goal?
If you wish, try tackling the exercise on this theme. This invites you to complete the following sentences.
Strategies That Work
The next step will be to clarify the strategies most likely to achieve success. Bearing in mind the goal you want to achieve, here are some themes you can explore to settle on your chosen strategies.
Imagine that you have explored these themes. If appropriate, you can then do the following things.
You can clarify the key strategies you can follow to give yourself the greatest chance of success.
You can rehearse how you can follow these strategies and manage any potential challenges on the way towards achieving the picture of success.
Imagine that you have settled on your chosen strategies. If appropriate, you can describe these in headline terms by doing the following exercise.
Success
Imagine that you are building on your strengths and following strategies that work. The next step is to do your best to achieve the desired results.
Different people do their best in different ways. Some set aside blocks of times to do deep work on their chosen project. They then follow their successful style of working.
Some people follow a certain rhythm. They manage their energy to make use of their prime times – the times of the day when they have most energy – and make full use of these times.
Such people set reachable goals for a session and go through the stages of absorption, adventure and achievement. They aim to get successes on the way towards achieving their long-term goals.
Such people manage their energy properly. They follow a certain rhythm but also build in time for rest, recovery and rejuvenation. Rehearsing what they are going to do next, they then throw themselves back into doing the work.
Some people enjoy finding solutions to challenges along the way. Bearing in mind their successful pattern for finishing, they then aim to flow, focus and finish successfully. Some also add that touch of class.
Let’s return to the goal you want to achieve. How can you keep following your chosen strategies? How can you build on what is working and tackle areas for improvement? How can you do your best to achieve your picture of success?
If you wish, try tackling the final exercise on this theme. This invites you to complete the following sentences.
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