What is your blueprint as a professional?
I’ve been using BP10™ and CliftonStrengths® from Gallup® and the How to Fascinate assessment by Sally Hogshead for the past 5 years as part of my coaching foundation. I’ve found that the assessments complement each other and connect as true with my clients.
I was recently made aware of the Wealth Dynamics (GeniusU) assessment which adds some additional information for entrepreneurial-minded people, which includes most salespeople. There are a bunch of other assessments that I sometimes guide clients to based on their needs.
It all comes down to where you are in your growth curve and how self-aware and hungry you are at the time of your coaching journey. It’s easy to lose your rock star mojo when you feel like crap. Assessments are one way out PLUS looking at your experience to date, your passions, interests, values, skills, and more.
Why does a personal brand matter?
You have a personal brand whether you do something about it or not. What these assessments help you with is to get CLEAR on what you bring and a way for you to communicate that. It’s what’s in your blind spot area and what you bring by merely being YOU.
There are several assessments, tons of books, and teachings out there to help you identify HOW you create success best; who that ends up being can only be decided by you.
I’ve had many teachers, mentors, and guides throughout my life and have learned there’s not ONE person with all the wisdom you need. We continually evolve, and our interests, focus, and needs change throughout life.
The key is to tune in to yourself, establish what’s true for you, and listen to your own inner guidance. Taking courses, reading books, and getting coaches in different areas help speed that process up; you get the shortcuts that can save you time on your journey.
Your personal roadmap
How can you set targets that work for you without them being linear in nature? Knowing your strengths gives you the key to how you best do anything, including setting targets. For some, that means linear thinking; for most salespeople, it doesn’t.
I was listening to an interview with a fellow strengths coach, and they mentioned Wellbeing: The 5 Essential Elements by Tom Rath and Jim Harter.
The five elements are career, social, financial, physical, and community wellbeing. The book is based on a global study by Gallup of more than 150 countries.
One piece of data that stood out to me is that while only 66% of the global population are fulfilled in at least ONE area, only 7% are thriving in all five!… Wowza that makes you stop and think a bit, doesn’t it?
What that means is that most of us have areas that are not being addressed or prioritized.
While listening to this interview, I thought about what I could create with this since I haven’t read the book yet. Since I’m always looking to simplify stuff, I was thinking about how I could integrate these areas and some other items into a personal roadmap. Hence this post.
When you’re in sales or marketing, for that matter too, you need variety, and filling out forms is not always what inspires you. Having said that, there’s no way around doing the work; it can, however, be done in a way that makes it FUN for you.
Assessing how things are now
So take the 5 areas of well-being mentioned in the book, and take a few minutes to explore what’s working and not working, how happy you are on a scale from 1-10, and what you would like to create in these areas short-term (up to 6 months) and long-term (6 months to 5 years);
- Career
- Social
- Financial
- Physical
- Community
Looking at what you’ve written above, you’ll see what your priorities are. Ask yourself what experience and current skills you have to achieve these targets and where you may need help or additional education.
How do your values fit into this? What are they?
If you have taken the assessments, you will know what you bring and what you need, which will help you prioritize how you approach the creation of all of this. If you haven’t, take a moment to explore your deal-breakers in these different areas.
For me, freedom and flexibility are important ingredients in everything I do, so I will create a format that allows me to tweak, shift and change priorities ongoingly.
My steps are more related to asking questions like does this add more “freedom and flexibility” to my life/business [insert your values and priorities].
Once you’re clear on your priorities, values, and areas that you want to focus on, you’ll have the beginning of an action plan that is customized to you. Additionally, when you apply your strengths to this, you’ll create a blueprint that will feel easy to follow as it’s based on how you create.
To find out how you can work with me on topics like this, go to my work with me page or schedule a call.
