CH 3: Be Yourself
Overview
Does your current profession allow you to utilize your unique skills? As an overachiever, it is very easy to fail to identify your unique abilities and even so, neglect them because of how our society pushes these “Type A” individuals into careers that offer the greatest recognition and pay.
This chapter is all about finding the characteristics that make you different from everyone else to help gain more satisfaction in your life.
Download CJ’s list of Skills and Abilities
Exercise
In this groundbreaking research Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (impossible to pronounce, don’t even try it) introduced the concept of “flow”, which he described as “a state of concentration or complete absorption with the activity at hand and the situation. It is a state in which people are so involved in an activity that nothing else seems to matter” (Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Flow: the Psychology of Optimal Experience).
In this exercise, you’re going to identify areas of your life when you felt like you were in a state of flow and how you could introduce this type of experience into your everyday life.
- Select at least one example of a time when you felt completely absorbed in an activity you enjoyed so much that nothing else seemed to matter.
- Decide on an activity that you could participate in which could help you get back into this state of mind. Note: this may not come to you immediately – that’s OK. Now that you’re clear about the experience, you’ll eventually identify an activity.
Click here to download a pdf of the Be Yourself exercise.
TED Talk
Who are you, Really? The Puzzle of Personality
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Templates
Weekly Habits Creator: This google doc will help you practice and add to some habits that you want to possess in your life.
I Resign: If you are at a financially stable place in your life to try to change your career to gear it more towards your unique abilities and skills then this site is very helpful. If not, this site can still be of use for you! It offers anything from non-quitting options (work-leave, vacations) to sample resignation letters and second-life job-hunting advice.
DISC Profile: This is inexpensive and only takes about ten minutes to complete. It is extremely easy to understand the results and it’s unbelievably accurate.
Myers-Briggs: Introspective self-reporting questionnaire that’s designed to tell an individual how they perceive the world.
Predictive Index: Skill and behavior assessment test used to help determine how employees will deal with work situations or different types of managers.
Core Values Index: Assessment that provides a description of the “innate, unchanging nature of an individual, which is different from personality and behavioral based assessments.
Wonderlic Personnel Test- Quick Test: This test identifies your characteristics and helps match you up with compatible jobs.
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Books
- The Power of Focus: How to Hit Your Business, Personal, and Financial
- Targets with Absolute Confidence and Certainty
- Discovering Your Divine Assignment: A Step-by-Step Plan for Living Out
- Your Purpose and Passion
- Who Are You Really, and What Do You Want?
- Perfectly Yourself
- Love Yourself Like Your Life Depends On It
