I'm Not Throwing Away My Shot
Artisans and athletes have long inspired me towards reaching big potential in life. It’s a way of life that combines a certain independence, hard work and an unusual sense of focus. It’s easy to witness a skilled artisan's strengths in action.
Have you ever wondered how to craft a more meaningful life? A life that leaves the world around you better than you found it. If so, then creating a Legacy In Action (LIA) plan may help you live a more satisfying life. After all we only have one shot at this life.
Legacy In Action - A Blueprint for Your Life
Over the next several post I will guide you through the process I use to help my clients and myself intentionally craft a life filled with meaning and purpose...
It all starts with focussing on what’s right in you and then forming a plan for your living legacy. A LIA plan connects you to your inner artisan and adds the power of focussed creativity and purpose to your life.
What are your CliftonStrengths Signature Strengths? Identifying those is a must because research shows that when you understand and connect with your natural patterns of thinking, feeling and behaving you are more prone towards reaching big potential in life. I’ve spent seasons of life uninspired and settling for pleasing people. When that happens my life’s highlights are solely the pepperoni pizza from Big Freds Pizza down the road.
Your first step is to Identify Your Signature Themes (Strengths).
Mine happen to be Strategic, Maximizer, Relator, Activator, and Positivity. My favorite is Positivity as I love to encourage high performance in people and teams. It's important that you understand Gallup’s definition of each strength and what parts of each definition you connect most deeply with.
Yes , dear friend, you need to do a little homework.
However, Gallup makes it easy — simply utilize your complementary resources when you log into your CliftonStrengths account.
Second, you’ll need to spend some time and think about what your greatest accomplishment in 2018 (or the previous year) has been?
For example, I had a very intense 2018. For starters it was the hardest year I’ve had with the loss of my mom but, also one of the most successful years I’ve had in business. At work, my team and I were able to attract and retain incredible talent and consolidate our employee experience within the Organizational Development department.
We launched new initiatives that drive active engagement levels and coached hundreds of others in how to put their talents and strengths to work. This led to tremendous impact for our company, and me personally. However, one of the things living through the loss of my mother taught me was how to increase my ability to be resilient and I am strengthening my Grit daily by using my strengths. Mom would be proud as she always focussed on what’s right in me.
Next, spend a few moments examining your highlights from last year by asking yourself how each of your Signature Strengths showed up in your success.
I’ll give you an example of what I wrote in my Legacy In Action Plan...
Strategic – this has helped my team and I stand up and position the Organizational Development at work. It’s now an influential force that drives measurable return on investment. We’ve been able to expand and gain the confidence of the entire company. My strategic strengths help me to think on my feet while forming strong relationships with others.
Maximizer – I’m so lucky I work with amazing people. This year we’ve added exceptional talent to our team. My maximizer strength lets me coach good efforts and help to make them great. There has been many success stories and my maximizer strength is responsible for helping my team and others perform better with more consistency.
Relator – This is my trust builder and how I am able to gain and keep the trust of others. I may not be able to work a room without a little help from a friend but, I understand how to cultivate and develop deep and trusting relationships.
Activator – For me, I’m leaning on this strengths to help me keep up with pace of business and the big time growth we’ve experienced at work. My Activator strengths is my energy cell to get things moving in the right direction.
Positivity – The big difference is I’m learning to use my natural talent of positivity and build on it. It keeps me calm during crazy and steady when the world is crashing down. My positivity strengths is key to my increased grit levels as a leader and coach.
Finally, it’s the time to ask yourself, going forward what should you do more of? Less of?
I offer you an example below of how I answered this question.
I definitely need to do more in my development and understanding of positive psychology and strengths coaching. I’m learning at an accelerated clip and impacting people's lives for the better. I need to spend more time on personal development, teaching and coaching. I need to focus on what’s working great and do less launching (Activating) of new programs. Focusing on excellence is the key to a strong 2019. I also need to do more by intentionally focusing on my family. Making time for us to create memories is important. I work a lot, and it paid off but, now I must do better at integrating my work and life.
Couldn’t we all use a solid plan to guide us? Instead of creating a work of ART we’ll be drafting a Legacy in Action (LIA) plan for our life. I’ll take you through my process step by step so that you can discover the power of living freely and fully alive and crafting excellence in your daily life through positive strengths-based coaching and planning.
I hope you will consider giving the LIA plan a shot. Let me know how I can help you take full advantage of your shot in 2019 and beyond. I know - I’m not throwing away my shot!