My friend and colleague Allegra Stein posted the following about productivity, and it's too important not to share. She said:

This is so perfectly said.

The better you know and understand your own natural talents, the more intentionally you can direct yourself towards your best and most important work. In doing so, you also release the pressure of doing things the way you think you "should."

There are many ways to uncover your natural strengths. I like CliftonStrengths® by Gallup®, an assessment that is widely used across the world and in many organizations. CliftonStrengths is one pillar of the YouMap® profile which I use in Career Pathfinding. It rounds out three other pillars that include your values, energizing and burnout skills, and personality-based interests.

Put together, they help you answer the really important questions about work we don't always give ourselves time to consider. Questions like:

• What am I good at?
• What am I interested in?
• What do I enjoy doing?
• What's important to me at this stage of my life?

The answers to these are all ingredients in your special flavor of work / productivity.

So today, I urge you to take some time and figure out your own natural talents. Notice if you've been trying to work in a way that's counter to what you naturally do best.

x

Catherine

p.s. Do you already know your top 5 strengths? Tell me what they are! Mine are Activator, Ideation, Adaptability, Connectedness and Input.

p.p.s. Grab a coffee chat on my calendar! Two of my top 5 Strengths are Relating strengths (Connectedness and Adaptability), which means I love connecting with other people. I'd love to catch up with you, whether it's meeting for the first time or reconnecting. :)