The only thing more interesting than a story about another person is a story about our own self.
Why is this so?
Because, naturally, most of us are more interested in reading about ourselves than reading a condensed history of the ten most famous people who ever lived.
This is the natural way of human behaviour and there doesn’t seem to be any indication that this is suddenly about to change.
DFQ #07:
In 100 words or less, post a story about yourself.Focus on your Top Strength from DFQ#6 and think of an amusing story that illustrates, or derives from, your top strength.
As you think about this story, recall some details about the setting, the people involved, the provocation and the ‘punch line’ or the outcome.
Don’t feel the need to interpret the story or comment too much on it–just tell it!
We are your devoted audience. Make it a good one 🙂
(NOTE: I realise this is a bit like karaoke and asks you to step-up. But if this DFQ is not for you, no problem, just skip it. All SOT training (even leadership training) is opt-in/opt-out).
Years ago I became acquainted with a young woman who was acting as an administrative assistant to one of my partners. She was attending graduate school in international business (MBA degree) and thought that an advanced degree would help her advance in the investment management field. One day I asked her wjat sje read pm weelemds. She said, “well, I have my school stuff and all these journals in a big stack..” I said, “what would you rather read?” She launched into a long and passionate description of the various french language books she read “for fun.” It turns out that she was a french language tutor and quite fluent in french. She spent considerable time in France and loved the culture. I asked her, “so what is your dream job?” and she said, “teaching French to adults.” I asked, “where would you become qualified to do that?” She said, “at the University of Minnesota in their graduate program.”
With some encouragement from me, within two weeks she had withdrawn from her MBA program and was accepted into the French MA program at U of M. Today, she is teaching college level French on tenure track to full professor.
i saw a motto on an escalator in Singapore, which read something like —
i dont stop when the day is done, only when i am done
Creativity
I don’t have a strong affinity to grass and even less so when it doesn’t grow well. Our front yard had just such a lawn. When I finally got tired of the scraggly look I undertook to redesign it. With the help of my husband and my son we replaced the front grass with a stone and pebble covering with gardens around the edge. We chose and purchased 3 large rocks (totaling nearly 3 tons and had them delivered to our property. They were delivered by boom truck on wooden pallets and placed just inside the garden bed areas. We had to figure out how to get them off the pallets and move them to the locations which I wanted them in. Brute strength and a whole lot of creative thinking got those rocks moved into position using 3 people, pry bars, a come-along and a tree. The result is a very unique head turning front yard which we can take great pride in creating.
I am like a tortoise. I go slowly and steadily, but at the end I make it. In business, I do not make-up my mind immediately, I take a time. Look at it from different angle and then decide . This is nice and I have benefited a lot. But on the other hand, when it comes to emotional issues; when I try to be empathetic with someone’s problem; chances are more that I tie myself into the process of solving his/her problem and I start deciding things for him/her and that problem, at the end it becomes my problem. And the other person waits for me to decide. I do not know where to draw the line where I should say this is all I can do. Eventually if I can help the person; (s)he is happy or otherwise I am bad guy. This behaviour is my one of my weakest points of my character.
I have fairly good repulation a speaker – specially on subjects of food and agriculture. Here was an institute that happened to organize many training programmes on development. I used to visit them often as guest lecturer related to my subjects. The organizer once came to me for guidance on a course formulation on health. I was surprised as I had not had any clue. However she insisted that I gave it a try as she could not get any good idea from so-called health professisional.
I gave her a structure of topics as per my understanding and she was immensely happy. After the end of the programme she came up to tell me that she had the best programmes done on health. All these due to my inetrest in learning new things and think little little differently – creatively. This strength has stood me in good stead throughout my life.
Persistance. I have recently started running long distances – 10km+ up to half marathons. Why? Simply, because i like to test myself. I like to know that when I’m under pressure that I can see it through. It gives me the confidence to know that I can do the same in my day to day life. Just put the head down and push through the discomfort. The result is immensly rewarding.
LOVE OF LEARNING:Once upon a time there lived a man called kofi.He was born in a village in the forests of Africa.Ashe grew up he came to realise that everything he owned materially was not his.The clothes on his back could be taken away from him.His home could literally be erased by a tornado.Then one day it dawned on him that all was not lost.There was something that really was his HIS BRAIN.That whatever he stored in his brain was really his .Not even a surgeon could bring it out.And whatever he put in his brain he could always help him get what he had lost.So kofi learned that KNOWLEDGE was POTENTIAL POWER.Thus developed his LOVE OF LEARNING.
The love of wisdom ( of learning) is one of my strengths.
I worked at construction in Holland for almost 9 years. I used to work long hours, about 70 in 5 days. I used to study a half- year module for an honors degree in Psychology on Saturday and Sunday. It was hard going , but i persevered and completed the degree.
There is nothing you cannot do if you put your heart and mind into it. Visualize yourself achieving that particular task . break it down into realistic and achievable steps, and proceed one step at a time. As Confucius said “A journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step”
And as Jean-Paul Satre said “All that we are is the result of what we have thought”
Become what you want to become!
Take that first step!
Following many years of working as a Recruiter in the corporate environment I set up my own company, recruiting personnel for the fresh produce industry. Having gone to visit a new client, he enquired as to why he should give me the contract to work on their behalf – after all I had no experience of the industry.
I could see his point, and keen to show my enthusiasm suggested that perhaps I take a couple of days working within the company to get a beter understanding of their business.
He agreed to this, and three days later I found myself not in their beautiful plush offices as I expected, but on the docks unloading fruit. Having turned up to commence working in a nicely tailored skirt suit and high heels, I was of course at a distinct disadvantage.
I had wonderful learning experience once I borrowed wellies and white coat!
I began life cocooned in a forest, illegitimate first child in a poor undereducated family adapted to the rural economy. Like every other kid I walked miles to play with friends, climbed trees, explored streams, picked caught and classified plant, fish, and insect life. Then I got electronics. Back emf from transformers, motors and countless parts stripped form discarded TV’s and Radios- mostly valve sets, but like gems in the dust some few germanium transistors. At 14 I built my first computer (Sinclair MKIV) by soldering from a kit. Learned the processor’s code and started to program. Learned and loved Maths. Physics less so, but studied it with enthusiasm at Uni. Just as well – or I may never have even seen the CERN laboratory, asked questions of nor met some of the smartest people, nor idled time with some of the best human beings I know.