As I think I might have mentioned before, I’ve become
fascinated with personality profiling, like Meyers Briggs. Therefore, my
spiritual director recommended that I take the strengths finder test using the
book Living Your Strengths (http://www.amazon.com/Living-Your-Strengths-God-Given-Community/dp/1595620028/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1332821968&sr=8-1)
This book has helped me see who I am in a different light and as a saint once
said, we get to know God better by knowing ourselves better. Learning more
about my strengths has really helped me to know myself and understand why I do
things.
My five strengths are (in order): context, connectedness,
intellection, learner, and belief. Reading the book, I have started to see how
these strengths work together to make me who I am.
Here are the descriptions that are provided for my strengths
(both online and in the book, I don’t know who originally wrote them):
“Context: You look back. You look back because that is where the answers lie. You look back to understand the present. From your vantage point the present is unstable, a confusing clamor of competing voices. It is only by casting your mind back to an earlier time, a time when the plans were being drawn up, that the present regains its stability. The earlier time was a simpler time. It was a time of blueprints. As you look back, you begin to see these blueprints emerge. You realize what the initial intentions were. These blueprints or intentions have since become so embellished that they are almost unrecognizable, but now this Context theme reveals them again. This understanding brings you confidence. No longer disoriented, you make better decisions because you sense the underlying structure. You become a better partner because you understand how your colleagues came to be who they are. And counterintuitively you become wiser about the future because you saw its seeds being sown in the past. Faced with new people and new situations, it will take you a little time to orient yourself, but you must give yourself this time. You must discipline yourself to ask the questions and allow the blueprints to emerge because no matter what the situation, if you haven’t seen the blueprints, you will have less confidence in your decisions.
Connectedness:Things happen for a reason. You are sure of
it. You are sure of it because in your soul you know that we are all connected.
Yes, we are individuals, responsible for our own judgments and in possession of
our own free will, but nonetheless we are part of something larger. Some may
call it the collective unconscious. Others may label it spirit or life force.
But whatever your word of choice, you gain confidence from knowing that we are
not isolated from one another or from the earth and the life on it. This
feeling of Connectedness implies certain responsibilities. If we are all part
of a larger picture, then we must not harm others because we will be harming
ourselves. We must not exploit because we will be exploiting ourselves. Your
awareness of these responsibilities creates your value system. You are
considerate, caring, and accepting. Certain of the unity of humankind, you are
a bridge builder for people of different cultures. Sensitive to the invisible
hand, you can give others comfort that there is a purpose beyond our humdrum
lives. The exact articles of your faith will depend on your upbringing and your
culture, but your faith is strong. It sustains you and your close friends in
the face of life’s mysteries.
Intellection:You like to think. You like mental activity.
You like exercising the “muscles” of your brain, stretching them in multiple
directions. This need for mental activity may be focused; for example, you may
be trying to solve a problem or develop an idea or understand another person’s
feelings. The exact focus will depend on your other strengths. On the other
hand, this mental activity may very well lack focus. The theme of Intellection
does not dictate what you are thinking about; it simply describes that you like
to think. You are the kind of person who enjoys your time alone because it is
your time for musing and reflection. You are introspective. In a sense you are
your own best companion, as you pose yourself questions and try out answers on
yourself to see how they sound. This introspection may lead you to a slight
sense of discontent as you compare what you are actually doing with all the
thoughts and ideas that your mind conceives. Or this introspection may tend
toward more pragmatic matters such as the events of the day or a conversation
that you plan to have later. Wherever it leads you, this mental hum is one of
the constants of your life.
Learner: You love to learn. The subject matter that
interests you most will be determined by your other themes and experiences, but
whatever the subject, you will always be drawn to the process of learning. The
process, more than the content or the result, is especially exciting for you. You
are energized by the steady and deliberate journey from ignorance to
competence. The thrill of the first few facts, the early efforts to recite or
practice what you have learned, the growing confidence of a skill mastered—this
is the process that entices you. Your excitement leads you to engage in adult
learning experiences—yoga or piano lessons or graduate classes. It enables you
to thrive in dynamic work environments where you are asked to take on short
project assignments and are expected to learn a lot about the new subject
matter in a short period of time and then move on to the next one. This Learner
theme does not necessarily mean that you seek to become the subject matter
expert, or that you are striving for the respect that accompanies a professional
or academic credential. The outcome of the learning is less significant than
the “getting there.”
Belief: If you possess a strong Belief theme, you have
certain core values that are enduring. These values vary from one person to
another, but ordinarily your Belief theme causes you to be family-oriented,
altruistic, even spiritual, and to value responsibility and high ethics—both in
yourself and others. These core values affect your behavior in many ways. They
give your life meaning and satisfaction; in your view, success is more than
money and prestige. They provide you with direction, guiding you through the
temptations and distractions of life toward a consistent set of priorities.
This consistency is the foundation for all your relationships. Your friends
call you dependable. “I know where you stand,” they say. Your Belief makes you
easy to trust. It also demands that you find work that meshes with your values.
Your work must be meaningful; it must matter to you. And guided by your Belief
theme it will matter only if it gives you a chance to live out your values.”
I am not entirely sure that I agree with all of this, but I
definitely see myself in these signature themes, as the book calls them. I am
also seeing how God, by giving us each a different set of signature themes, has
different plans for each of us that are tailored to the talents he has given. I
think that everyone should take this test and read the book (which I’m almost
finished with) to help them see where they can work better and under what
circumstances.
Also, if you’ve taken the strengths finder test, send me
your results! I’m always curious about everyone else.