This is perhaps the most common experience I have when I start chatting with someone about their StrengthsFinder Top 5 Strengths:
Me: Oh really, you’ve taken StrengthsFinder already?? How cool! What are your Top 5?
Them: (Sheepishly) Oh yeah I did, um, er they were right-on…
Me: That’s such a great start.
Them: (Cautiously) It was something like Maximizing and Achieving….
Me: Maximizer and Achiever—what a powerhouse!
Them: (Really trying to pull it out of a hat) And, uh, is there something about feeling??
Me: Yup, that is definitely a Talent in a few of the Themes.
Them: (Resigned) I guess I can’t remember them all.
Me: Oh yeah, it’s easy for the report to fall to the bottom of the stack. Very common response!
And then we go on from there.
I actually love this response, not because I like to watch people squirm (I don’t!), but because it means they have already done the “pre-work” to life-change…and they are on the brink of something big!
And, what’s better, they can experience SIGNIFICANT change just by making one tiny change—adding in one, 10-second routine to each day.
It is Step 1 to Life Change Through your Strengths—Remember to Remember Your Strengths.
It is a dramatically simple, yet necessary first step. In order to experience the life-changing impact of the StrengthsFinder perspective, your Top 5 Strengths have to roll effortlessly off your tongue.
Currently, I am teaching our 5 year old daughter to read. For as smart as we know she is (no bias of course!), I continue to be amazed at how tripped up she can get over the sounds and symbols of K and F. She reads F and says “ck”. She writes K and says “ph”. When she sees either one, she has to stop and think and spend a bunch of mental energy trying to recall the correct sound.
Her 6-second recall for the K and F are not going to cut if for fluent reading. But when she gets there, where K and F say “ck” and “ph” so fluently and effortlessly that there is no break in the building of words, a whole new world will open to her. She reaches a new level of independence and a new level of exhilaration.
It occurs to me that flawlessly recalling your Top 5 Strengths is as fundamental to experiencing significant impact, as flawlessly recalling letters and sounds is fundamental to reading. Unless you know your Top 5 Strengths (or more!) off the top of your head, without skipping a beat, the whole new world that awaits you is just out of reach.
In order to remember to think about them, you need to have them hanging around somewhere obvious. Here are some ideas for making reading your Strengths (just 5 short words!) a part of your everyday routine:
- Write them on your most-checked mirror with a white board marker.
- Put them in a small frame on your bathroom counter (I had them there for years until we moved to NYC with a bathroom sink the size of a TV tray, shared by the 5 people in my family!).
- Use the app and set up a reminder to check it periodically throughout the day (gotta have some techy know-how here).
- Print them on a 3×5 card and put them in your wallet, when you reach for your Plastic in line at the store, give them a quick read.
- Use a sticky note and put them in the middle of your computer screen so that you have to move them in order to see your screen in the morning, then replace it each evening. Repeat.
- Do the same thing with your keyboard or your phone (see above).
- Magnetize them to your fridge.
- Laminate them and put them on top of your coffee machine.
- Add them next to the Increase Speed button on the treadmill.
- Put up a sign (small or large) with them under your coat in the mudroom.
- Use these cool mugs for your morning Joe.
- Decorate your office or cube with these amazing drawings or decals.
Or get creative!
Whatever you do —
Print them, or pen them, and post them.
Then, read them every day.
Become fluent and effortless in your recall.
Your greatest Strengths will never be life changing if they don’t come rolling off your tongue.
So, that’s STEP 1: Remember to Remember your Strengths. Join me over at our Facebook Group – Energy up. Frustration Down. By Strengths – to share how you are keeping your Strengths in front of you every day. And I’ll share my newest way as well.
You can also look back at last week’s blogpost with a summary of all 9 Steps, to get a jumpstart on what’s to come.
{Check out this FREE 3 page fillable OR printable Checklist worksheet for a fancy template you can use to post your Top 5 Strengths!}
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Wherever you are on your “Strengths Journey” I want to help you! So connect with Isogo over on Facebook, Twitter {both @IsogoStrong},or on LinkedIn…would love to be a positive part of your life-changing story through YOUR own unique, and powerful Strengths.
Stay tuned for next week as we dive into STEP 2. Or check out the summary of Steps 1-9 in last week’s blog post.
Until next time! Be strong!
