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2010-08-21Do You Need a Push?

 


Last fall, I purchased a wakeboard boat with a friend of mine. We acquired it at the end of the boating season so we never really had a chance to use it before it was pulled out of the lake and put into storage for the winter. However, this summer my family and I have used the boat a lot and have taken to both wakeboarding and surfing. Although these are extremely fun sports, they can be very frustrating until you master the basics…..the toughest thing to master is usually the most important; getting up out of the water on the board.

 

During the summer months, we do a lot of entertaining at the lake and because of this we have quite a few people that want to try both wake boarding and surfing but they have no prior experience. It has resulted in many amazing wipeouts, lots of laughs and sometimes a lot of frustration. Most of the time the biggest struggle for people that are trying to get up out of the water on a board is determining which foot to put forward or which is their "strong" foot. If you put the wrong foot forward then it feels uncomfortable and you usually fall quite quickly. However, if you ask the person which foot is their lead/strong foot they usually do not know.

 

Fortunately we have discovered a simple test to determine which foot is your strong foot. However, the test is not very comfortable and can only be administered when the person is not expecting it. I first witnessed this test early in the summer when we had a few younger couples on the boat. One of the ladies was standing on the swim platform of the boat trying to determine which foot to put forward on the board and her husband gave her a shove. She instantly adjusted her stance to keep from falling into the water and then she immediately asked her husband "what are you doing?" He said "Look at your feet, your right foot is forward so you should put your right foot as the lead on the board."

 

When pushed, a person typically drops one foot "automatically" backward and the foot that remains in the front is their lead or strong foot. This is the foot that goes on the front of the board. Once people understand this strength, they can then succeed quickly on the wake or surf board.

 

This is very similar to life. Sometimes it takes a "push" in life for us to snap out of our everyday ruts and discover that we are really good at something and should spend our time concentrating on this strength rather than trying to wakeboard through life with the wrong foot forward. These pushes come in a million different ways from tragedies to career changes to lost jobs to missed promotions, etc. When we get hit by these unexpected pushes we automatically adjust our stance to keep from going down and we put our "best foot forward". This means that we unconsciously adapt to ensure we are using our strengths.

 

Take a walk down memory lane and evaluate some of the past "pushes" that you have experienced and ask yourself these questions;

1) What strengths were you relying on during these times of duress? Can you articulate them clearly?

2) Are you currently using these areas of strength wherever you can?

3) What are you doing to develop these strengths even further?

4) What can you do to productively use these strengths even more?

 

Make sure that you make some adjustments in your life to take advantage of your strengths and leverage them wherever and whenever possible. Make sure that your are "wakeboarding" through life with your strong foot forward!

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Thus the contrarian leader's maxim in this arena is: Anything worth doing at all is worth doing just well enough.

- Steven B. Sample more »

What is Strength Zone?

At Strength Zone we believe that every person has unique strengths that, when identified and leveraged properly, will allow you to achieve significantly more success in life with significantly less effort. This set of unique strengths is a combination of each person's Values, Personality and Talents.

Why do you need to live in your SZ

How much do you love your job? Do you end each workday feeling fulfilled? Are you confident that you are in the right position with the right company? Are you focused on activities that matter to you? Are you capitalizing on your strengths? Are you effective, and realizing your full potential? Are you having any fun?
 
For the majority of North Americans, the answer to these questions is a resounding “No!” Scholars and management gurus blame information overload, the pace of change, demands for instant service, downsizing, rightsizing, globalization and our new knowledge-based economy. For whatever reason, far too many of us are feeling burned out, stressed out, tuned out and turned off by the daily grind. We are living our lives in agonized mediocrity, desperately trying to avoid failure.
 
In order to break out of this downward spiral and live up to our full potential we must discover our Strength Zone and then redefine our approach to each role that we have in life to take advantage of this strength.

Failure to do this will result in more of the same…..continued frustration, lack of motivation, lack of purpose, low productivity and missed opportunities. Continuing like this will lead you to live a life of mediocrity at best.

However, discovering and working in your Strength Zone gives you the opportunity to unleash your true human potential and reach levels of success that you never dreamed of!

How do you discover your Strength Zone

 The Strength Zone process consists of five steps;

1. Complete the Values profile and determine your Values Strength Zone
2. Complete the Personality profile and determine your Personality Strength Zone
3. Complete the Talents profile and determine your Talents Strength Zone
4. Review the Values, Personality and Talents identified in the first three steps and determine your Overall Strength Zone
5. Redefine the approach to your current roles in life to take advantage of your Strength Zone and minimize your weaknesses

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