House of Cards: A flimsy structure, arrangement, or situation that is in danger of collapsing or failing:
Contractors know that a house built on a shaky foundation will never be safe and strong. And in all things that have to do with Career, if there is no time spent on understanding and strengthening the foundation, there will never be resilience and confidence at work. Your unique design is that foundation, that thing that has been giving you the best moments of your life all along. Learn to recognize it. Learn how it feels to align with it. Learn its voice, and what is pleasing to you about it. And for heaven’s sake, don’t judge it!
Most of us have been taught that the thing that comes easily to us is not the thing to stay in touch with. In school, if we were good at English, never mind, spend time studying Math. If we were good with our hands, let that go and work on the intellect. My husband gave me a book recently that was originally published in the 1940’s as an article by George Reavis, an assistant superintendent of the Cincinnati Public Schools. He called it The Animal School. This school’s curriculum consisted of running, climbing, swimming and flying. To make it easier to administer the curriculum, all the animals took all of the subjects. You can imagine what happens next. The Duck was terrific at flying but failed at climbing, in fact, “had to drop swimming in order to practice running.”
The Rabbit was terrific at running, but had a nervous breakdown trying to learn to swim. And on it goes.
We do the same thing ourselves. We are born with an intelligence, a gift, that is ours and ours alone, that comes so naturally to us that it seems like surely everyone sees things this way as well, which is why we judge others so harshly when they behave as though they are ignoring what they must obviously see and understand. It never occurs to us that the way we see things is unique to us, and is our job to teach to others.
Here are some questions that begin to help you find your way to design. These questions must be thought about in a completely positive point of view. It is so easy to add noise to this work by noticing what has not worked. Let that go for now and concentrate on your good moments.
- What do you always notice? (You can’t help it)
- What is the thing you do that you can’t help but do? (What’s easy for you?)
- What is something that is commonly said about you by your friends and family? (Remember, positive!)
- What articles and books do you always have around to read?
- What gives you the most satisfaction in life?
If you find you are having trouble thinking about this, let it go and just start to notice things from a design perspective. What are you good at? What do you love? If you had all the money in the world, what would you do? When you go out, make note of the things you love and appreciate. Color? Taste? Babies? Dogs? Nature? Technology? A smile? Those are all clues to what you are uniquely designed for. Begin to see what you’ve always been good at. So, what are you designed for? Flying? Swimming? Running? Climbing?