WELCOME TO THE DARK SIDE

In some of my previous writings, I've talked about being stuck. Stuck in a job, stuck in a relationship, stuck in your mindset that you feel like you can't change. I have to overcome the idea of being stuck almost every day. I don't know if that's how most people feel, but I often feel like my feet are stuck in the muck and mire of my inability to move forward.

I don't know why. Maybe it's because of my strengths. If you look at them, I have a lot of Strategic Thinking in the top five of my strengths. Let me clue you in if you don't understand what I mean by top five. I took a Gallup Strengths Assessment back in 2018, and it uses an algorithm to rank your talents from one to thirty-four. These talents will become your strengths. I've learned about the strengths by digging into my own. Because of that, I know what's wrong with me when I go through these things. I don't always know the right way out of it. (That's why even a good coach needs a good coach) A good friend needs a good friend to talk to and work things out.

Because I have Communication high, I am a talker. And because I'm a talker, I can overwhelm the average person. I could be overwhelming to myself on any given day! The days that I don't talk a lot are the days I should be worried about. Those days I get up in my head, and I don't know how to get out.

So today, I will talk a little about why my influencing strengths can cause me to isolate myself. Especially when I don't understand what they need, I know it's weird talking about strengths like they're individual people, but they are different aspects of who I am. I have WOO, which means "win others over," at number four. I have Communication(the person who looks to talk and often does it with their hands!) at six and Maximizer(they see something pretty good but want to make it excellent!) at eight. Each one of these has its own set of obstacles to overcome. I will talk about anything that needs to be fixed, improved, and made excellently so I can help us get to where we should be.

I'll do all of this by Maximizing my Communication and my WOO. I want people to be ready to move, change, and simultaneously be comfortable. If I don't have anybody to do this with, I'll start going deep into my Strategic Thinking strengths, trying to connect them with my Relationship Building strengths. But ironically, there are no people to communicate with because I'm not moving outside my daily realm, which is my home. To clarify, I'm stuck at home by myself!

I have to say that I love my Strategic Thinking strengths with all of my heart. And as I've written before, I have to put them in their place often. But I love my Connectedness, first and foremost. I believe it is my most remarkable talent, gift, and attribute, you might say. I think that is why I do everything.

I am in constant contact with my Connectedness. With people, thoughts, ideas but most of all, with my creator. I believe He gave me these strengths and a unique ability with my Connectedness. I think that everyone has their uniqueness given to them by God. That is why we're blessed to get about the business of doing the work He left us. My Connectedness makes my Influencing strengths thrive.

How often do we even realize we have the strengths to use? Our strengths are unique to us in the way they are used. When we try to do things like someone else we know we're not doing it our own unique way. Our methods are built into the DNA of our strengths and are unique to each of us.

Understanding our strengths and how they lie within the four domains that Gallup has set up can help us understand and recognize where our weaknesses and strengths lie.

I've talked about how my strategic thinking strengths, Learner, Input, and Ideation, can hijack anything and everything for me if I don't understand what they are and how they are operating. It's the same thing with my Influencing strengths. Yes, I want to move people forward, but at what cost? And if I understand how my WOO wants me to be liked, I can share my charisma with people and influence them to change their minds without being obnoxious! I can use my Influencing strengths in a way that does move them forward. Yes, and allow them to grow, get, and do what they want. That's what influencing is.

The dark side of Influencing Strengths comes across as pushy and obnoxious. No one wants to be that person! Understanding each individual's strengths is invaluable to our growth process. As we grow in the ability to see how our strengths play with and against each other, we can progress by leaps and bounds above what we would without knowing ourselves better.

Hopefully, you have become intrigued by understanding your strengths. I'd love to book a free 30-minute session with you to review your results! Fill out the form below!