career strategies

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Top Ways to Identify Your Strengths

September 11, 2023 John Uncategorized No comments

What are your strengths? Are you uncertain how to answer the question? Get some clear answers with this GenuLines look at finding those strengths.

Top Ways to Identify Your Strengths

We all have unique strengths and unique weaknesses. This is part of what makes us, well, unique.

And it’s what makes teamwork so important in a working environment.

This way it’s possible to leverage the individual strengths of many different people. The result is a well-oiled machine.

The problem is many of us actually don’t know our own strengths. We’re unable to be objective in analyzing our skills

Our ego or our self-doubt kicks in to prevent us from finding out what we’re good at. So how do you find where your strengths lie?

Ask People
One approach is to ask people what they think your strengths are. Now, you don’t want to take anyone’s word and leave it at that.

But when you start noticing patterns in the responses there could be at least a bit of truth.

Look at Your Experience
Another way to find your skills is to look at your own experience. If you’ve spent a lot of time on a particular career path, you may have gained specific abilities related to that.

And they may open your eyes to strengths you weren’t aware of.

Asses Your Weaknesses
Another good way to find your strengths is to look at your weaknesses. In other words, as you drop the things you’re bad at, it should leave the things you’re good at.

Look at your own career. Let’s say you’re a web designer – do you work better with the code, with the layout or with the artistic part?

Which of these is your skill and which is the weak link?

Look at What You Love
As a general rule, you’ll tend to enjoy doing the things you’re very good at. So if you want to know what you’re good at, try to spot the times when you’re the most engaged and the most switched on.

Try Lots of Things
There’s a good chance that the thing you’re good at is something you haven’t even considered yet. That’s why it’s important to broaden your experiences.

Give yourself more leverage in finding your strengths and skills.

JohnK 9-11-2023
chiforyoursef.com

Overheard: ” Rudeness is a weak imitation of strength”

~Eric Hoffer

5 Steps To Boost Your Motivation Skills

September 12, 2022 John Uncategorized No comments

Motivation is like a muscle, and it can get flabby over time. There are ways to deal with this.

Let these GenuLines pointers be your strength coach and motivator.

5 Steps To Boost Your Motivation Skills

Life can sometimes feel like nothing more than one struggle after another. This is especially true for anyone set on living a life of fulfillment and achievement.

Motivation is the one variable that allows you to push yourself when those around you give up.

Today’s post is worth your attention. Even if you’ve never thought of yourself as driven , but would like to change that.

We’ll look at 5 helpful steps, in no particular order, to help boost your motivation and drive.

Know Your Why

When you first set out toward a goal or achievement, your “why” for doing so tends to be pretty clear. But as you work toward your goal, the foundation can become obscured.

No matter what you pursue there WILL be days on which you feel less motivated than others. Stay aware of why you started in the first place.

It will serve as your second (or third, or fourth) wind to get back up and keep pushing.

Know Your Direction

Extreme motivation has a tendency to cause you to put your head down and work like a maniac. At times this mindset is beneficial.

You want to maintain some sense of direction.

Big goals rarely consist of point A and point B. Instead, it’s important to have a general outline in mind of each step toward your destination.

So yes, keep your nose to the grindstone.

But look up every now and then. Adjust and begin the next phase of your blueprint.

This is the way to continue heading in the right direction!

Allow Small Victories

Make sure you enjoy small successes in pursuit of the finish line. No matter how much (or little) motivation you have towards your goal.

You won’t run out of gas before you get there. Take some time to reward yourself when you do one of the (often many) small steps along the way.

And remember: You Versus You, not You Versus Them

Keep in mind that your goals are YOUR goals. Letting other people’s pursuits dictate what you strive for is counter-productive.

You won’t find the motivation to achieve great things without personal conviction. Whatever it is you want, the only comparison to consider is to the person you were the day before.

Controlled Tunnel Vision

Consider this: whatever you’re after most likely involves only one facet of your life. Career, athletic, personal and other areas won’t stop while you go after it.

Balance is always key. Don’t let the rest of your life fall to the wayside while you pursue your dream!

JohnK 9-12-2022

chiforyourself.com

Overheard: “Hold the vision, trust the process”

~Unknown

What Does It Mean to Think Strategically?

January 3, 2022 John Uncategorized No comments

I’ve always felt that improving how you think will go a long way toward improving what you think. The result is a marked improvement in your life.

As a new year begins, GenuLines offers a closer look at the thought process.

What Does It Mean to Think Strategically

“The purpose of life is a life of purpose” – Robert Byrne

Have you ever thought about what it means to think strategically? Does it mean to create strategies like in a war?

Is it a skill you are born with or something you learn? Strategic thinking seems like vague buzzwords.

The kind that CEOs toss around to sound important.

Learning

Actually, strategic thinking is a skill we can all learn. It’s how we plan, think, and ask questions to grow and learn while we work toward a goal.

It’s embracing what you were like when you were young child. When you asked questions like, “why?”

Thinking strategically grows out of a combination of knowledge, experiences, and your hunches. It’s about taking calculated and uncalculated risks that we hope will pay off in the future.

It’s about shifting your focus. You go from just doing things to thinking and planning what should be getting done.

Three Behaviors That Inspire Thinking

Strategically Switching your focus is easier said than done. To cultivate a mind of thinking strategically, these three behaviors can help.

Question why. Don’t accept doing a task a certain way because it’s the way it’s always been done.

Ask yourself why it’s done that way. Or if there’s a better way to do it.

Thinking strategically is about knowledge to help you make an informed decision. Asking questions and listening to others’ opinions is important.

It supplies you with the information you need to make a well-informed decision.

Observe everything

Spending every minute doing stuff and getting things done might seem productive.

But it doesn’t allow for you to think strategically about what you are doing.

Instead occasionally step back and observe what’s going on. Look for areas that could be more efficient. Who’s doing what and how much each activity is helping things move forward.

Look at the big picture. See the way the pieces fit together.

Reflect on your day

Think about what gave you energy or took it away.

Reflect on the activities that helped the organization move ahead. And the ones that wasted your time.

Reflection time each day allows you to ask yourself if you’re on the right path. Whether you develop solutions, and stay on track with your goals.

This is where inspiration and creativity have a chance to grow in a visible way.

Takeaway

When you focus on doing and making something happen by doing this and doing that, you’re working hard. But you’re not thinking strategically.

Of course, working and doing is necessary up to a point.

Instead stop focusing on just getting things done. Take a step back and set goals for what you want in the future and how you can help the organization win.

Thinking strategically is inspiring. You move away from going through the motions in a mindless way.

You don’t jump at the commands of others. Or you plan and observe and put ideas into motion.

And that takes you (and your team) to success.

JohnK 1-3-2022

chiforyourself.com home

Overheard: “The essence of the independent mind lies not in what it thinks, but in how it thinks.”

~Christopher Hitchens, Lettets to a Young Contrarian

Should You Take a Chance On Finding a New Career?

February 26, 2020 John Uncategorized No comments

Your career takes up a big slice of your life. It informs many of the decisions you make along your path.

Today GenuLines helps you consider whether it’s time for a change of direction.

(you can listen to the article by clicking on the player below or scroll down to read it)

____________________

Should You Take a Chance On Finding a New Career?

When I was a kid we looked for jobs right out of high school or college. And we usually stayed with that same job for as long as we could.

Finding work automatically meant we were doing the right work.

Those of us who questioned what we were doing got an earful. Criticism came from friends, neighbors, and especially family.

You might be in a similar situation and disillusioned with your career. It just doesn’t seem to be what you thought it would be.

Change gonna come

You’ve thought about changing careers, but that sounds a lot like starting over.

It’s scary, especially if you’ve been in a certain career for several years, or you’re older.

Hey, you’re earning a decent salary and you’re even climbing the “corporate ladder.” Leaving means you’ll have to work for less money and no seniority!

You think to yourself “what if this affects the people in my life?”

Breaking it down

Sometimes, getting out of a bad situation is enough to overcome a salary hit. You can make money online, either by selling or working for others.

Being at a physical location is no longer necessary if you’re looking to make extra money.

The second factor with a lack of experience is the newness of it all. This can be exciting as well as scary.

Think back to when you first started in your original career. Any new achievement put you on top of the world.

The third factor concerns the lack of seniority. Remind yourself that you’ve got job and life experience that you bring to the table.

Any management experience that you have can work in your favor, too. And your age brings wisdom you can draw on in adverse situations.

Staying in a career that you’ve grown tired of can make you bitter and take years off your life. If you’ve thought about taking a chance on starting a new career, remember that many others have done it.

And they’ve made it work.

JohnK 2-26-2020

chiforyourself.com home

Overheard: “The only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle”

~Steve Jobs

Article photo by kate.sade on Unsplash

Oops! Correction on the Sam Bennett Interview Date

April 10, 2014 John Uncategorized No comments

The Sam Bennett interview will be heard today (Thursday) at 1pm Pacific time..4pm Eastern..This week’s post incorrectly listed the date as April 9th. Apologies for any confusion!

Can you really be successful in just 15 minutes a day? Sam says “Absolutely! I’ve had clients finish their graduate thesis, complete oil paintings, make jewelry, cut albums, create voice over demos, lose weight, reconnect with their sexuality and even write a novel. It’s absolutely astonishing how much a person can accomplish in just 15 minutes, and especially when you put in 15 minutes every day for a week, a month, six months, or even several years. Small, consistent effort can bring jaw-dropping results.”

Sam Bennett

The interview can be heard at chiforyourself.com’s Start page.

Chi For Yourself

Raising Consciousness..Living Genuinely!

Tag Archive for career strategies

Top Ways to Identify Your Strengths

5 Steps To Boost Your Motivation Skills