A friend introduced me to this book recently, Now, Discover Your Strengths, by Marcus Buckingham and Donald O. Clifton. If you haven’t learned this about me yet, I have an unusual attraction to self-improvement books and programs. If you haven’t read this book or done the assessment, please, do so immediately!  The insight it gives is meaningful and may very well change your outlook on your entire life. 

The concept is that while we all know our weaknesses, we overlook the value of our strengths.  We should focus on our strengths!

Here’s how I stand:

Ideation
People strong in the Ideation theme are fascinated by ideas. They are able to find connections between seemingly disparate phenomena.

Activator
People strong in the Activator theme can make things happen by turning thoughts into action. They are often impatient.

Strategic
People strong in the Strategic theme create alternative ways to proceed. Faced with any given scenario, they can quickly spot the relevant patterns and issues.

Input
People strong in the Input theme have a craving to know more. Often they like to collect and archive all kinds of information.

Learner
People strong in the Learner theme have a great desire to learn and want to continuously improve. In particular, the process of learning, rather than the outcome, excites them.

I picked it up in Hilton Head at the conference I went to back in December.  Eric Maisel is a wonderful author, also the author of Fearless Creating.  I was excited because he was to be a speaker at the conference, but for some reason his seminar was cancelled!  I flew ALL THE WAY to Hilton Head just to see Mr. Maisel speak of creativity coaching…OK, so his planned presence was just a bonus but I was terribly disappointed to have missed him.  (So if you’re reading this Eric you owe me a seminar!)

Anyway, if you are blocked or simply want to get a little more “flow” going, I highly recommend this read.

But first I have to get used to my new routines and get my home in order! I’d like to do some small-budget decorating to really make my home an inspirational place for me to live, work and heal. One up-side is that there’s more physical space at home so that my art doesn’t always require a trip across town to the studio, which should help with maintaining momentum once I get going on a project. I’ve recently finished reading Susan Magsamen’s Living Artfully: Create the Life You Imagine. Very inspirational, it shows how creativity is or can be part of everything you do, and it’s given me some wonderful ideas for my home. I’ll update the blog with my progress!  ~Jennie