When we played hooky from our almost-adult life and backpacked Europe during grad school, we were on a shoestring budget.
We slept places and ate things that would leave us hankering in major ways now.
I mean, a cement brick room on the top floor of a three-story shanty-flat in Normandy might seem like the springboard for adventure and mystique (perhaps it was). But, when it turns out that the “accommodation” sleeps three head to toe and we all of a sudden have a questionably clean roommate, well, you know something has been lost in translation.
Crossing borders and languages and cultures can really be exciting, and even thrilling at times. Other times, it is filled with fear and frustration and unmet expectations.
You ask for things you don’t mean, and you get things you definitely didn’t ask for.
This concept of our worlds and desires and gifts being “lost in translation” is my absolute favorite metaphor for why we need a tool like StrengthsFinder. As you’ve already commented to me along the way here at Isogo TV–the idea of using our Strengths is all good and well, but how do we really know what they are?
Sometimes, when we are trying to do what we do best, it’s like we are putting something down that no one is picking up.
We end up frustrated. They end up frustrated.
It’s lost in translation.
Today on Episode 5 of Isogo TV: Live and Work Your Strengths Video Podcast, I’m unpacking that frustration and giving you an idea of why putting words to our strengths really (I mean, REALLY) begins to clear away the muddled frustration and opens up opportunity to bring the best of yourself and bring out the best in others.
{Oh, and I take a stab at demo’ing my less-than-stellar Japanese skills!}
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What’s your best “lost in translation” story? Do you frustrate people at home or at work because they don’t understand that refreshing gift you are really trying to offer? Would you be willing to tell me about it? (Or about that loopy person who you think absolutely speaks a different language!?)
You can comment below or join the conversation on Facebook, and I’ll definitely respond. And, to make sure you get all the great content from Isogo TV: Live and Work Your Strengths Video Podcast, please subscribe, over at Podbean, YouTube or on iTunes.
