#SpeakToHer Part I: No Longer Going It Alone

Part I

#SpeakToHer was developed from a gift that turned into clarity. That in turn became an idea that became a retreat. That retreat birthed the reason to continue building something that was bigger than me.

It's been just about a year since my friend and Triplet™ sent me the StrengthsFinder test. This test centers the mindset that instead of being hyper focused on improving your weaknesses, a person should look at their strengths and harness the power that those have. Of course you cannot completely ignore the parts of yourself that do need some work, however utilizing what you already excel at to create the life you want, let's you see your highest potential life pathways from a higher vantage point. Start with your strengths. You don't have to be great at everything. 

My results:

1. Connectedness

People exceptionally talented in the Connectedness theme have faith in the links among all things. They believe there are few coincidences and almost everything has meaning.

2. Relator

People exceptionally talented in the Relator theme enjoy close relationships with others. They find deep satisfaction in working hard with their friends to achieve a goal.

3. Deliberative

People exceptionally talented in the Deliberative theme are best described by the serious care they take in making decisions or choices. They anticipate obstacles.

4. Input

People exceptionally talented in the Input theme have a need to collect and archive. They may accumulate information, ideas, artifacts or even relationships.

5. Strategic

People exceptionally talented in the Strategic theme create alternative ways to proceed. Faced with any given scenario, they can quickly spot relevant patterns and issues.

When I got my results and was able to see what other people could do with each theme, a lot started to fall in place in my mind. The clarity around how I needed to proceed in accomplishing the smaller and larger goals, was warm and welcoming. One of the first things that instantly clicked into place for me was the need to create the space for women like myself to meet (connectedness) and not feel alone as they pursued the things that they wanted. 

As I have mentioned in the #SpeakToHer post on community, I often go on "adventures alone". I retreat to refuel quite often. I'm an introvert through and through. Whether that is spending 4 hours at the beach reading/writing/sleeping/meditating/praying, or it is getting lost between the familiar vendors and new flavors at my favorite farmers markets. I go alone because I enjoy my own company very much. But there are places that I know I shouldn't have to go alone to. There are journeys that I have attempted many times by myself and failed because I was too (fill in the blank) to ask for help. It has been a process to undo this way of thinking and I still have a long way to go.

It was an amazing thing for me to realize that the things that would bring me the most satisfaction in my life, would be to build with people I care about. Not being a recluse and showing whatever I made at its completion. It's not being a hermitic nomad who collects artifacts around the world and MAYBE puts out a book about my travels later in life. I'm certain there are people who knew me at different stages who would be surprised at this revelation, but I'm here now. I'm here and I'm going to share the next stage of #SpeakToHer and it definitely includes whoever is willing to take this journey with me.

With love,

E