How to Know and Grow Your Unique Gifts & Truest Calling! (Part 1 of 3)

“Many people die with their music still in them. Why is this so? Too often it is because they are always getting ready to live. Before they know it, time runs out.” 

–Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr., former Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court

“The (Your) gifts and calling of God are irrevocable” 

-Romans 11:29, The Bible

Dr. John Maxwell, one of my mentors, once said, “You have to know the way, grow (in) the way, to show the way!”

But, how do you grow something you aren’t fully aware of?

A few of the MOST common questions that are asked of leaders today are:

“How can I know what my purpose is?”

“How do I discover my true calling?”

“How can I find out what I really am called to do?”

No matter how you ask it, the question haunts and plagues millions around the world. Have you been asking one of these...

One day, a teenage Benjamin Franklin entered the Boston home of the renowned Reverend Cotton Mather. After their lengthy discussion, he walked Franklin through a tight doorway on the way out with a low beam as Mather told him, “Stoop, stoop!”. Not paying attention, Franklin bumped his head on the beam. The older, wiser Mather found a teachable moment:  “You are young and have the world before you. Stoop as you go through it and you will miss many hard thumps”.

All his life, Franklin never forgot Mather’s immortal words.

2019 has produced many good things, and yet, it has been one of my worst years.

Can I be brutally honest, since you are my friends? I have taken quite a lot of shots this year, and am a bit beaten from the beams. Frankly I, like several others I have spoken to, am soooo ready for a new year! Now, this is NOT one of those downer letters that you read and feel sad after reading it.

The good news is yet to...

“You don't have to be great to get started, but you have to get started to be great.” — Les Brown

Dr. Buckley and The Strengths Academy want to offer you a FREE copy of his Amazon #1 Bestseller, Discover Your Personal Strengths NOW! Visit our website at www.thestrengthsacademy.com a get it today!

Also, get a FREE ebook at the bottom of this blog! The 7 Mindsets. It's a must-read!

Now...

How do you engage professional development? Do you have a leadership development plan? On your job? With a professional course or business book? Do you have an onsite coach or leader helping you?

Question:  What is THE best way to grow professionally?

Well, it begins with a foundation of at least these 5 essentials! What are they?

Well, I will share those with you momentarily!

First, though...

Announcement of Contest Winners!

Ashley S. and Rory K. are the two $25 Amazon e-gift card winners for September! Congratulations to you both!

We will be announcing...

5 Must-Do’s to Re-Engineer Your Career (or start one) for MORE MONEY!

Have you ever felt you wanted a fresh start or a new beginning in life? (A mulligan, for you golfers!)

 “It’s not too late to become who you want to be. I hope that you live a life that you’re proud of, and if you find that you’re not, I hope you find the strength to start over.” –F. Scott Fitzgerald, writer & author of The Great Gatsby

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. once said, “Take the first step in faith. You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.”

I know exactly how that feels!

In 2007, I started college for the first time…at the age of 44! (I know what you’re doing. You’re counting the years to see how YOUNG I am, aren’t you?! Lol!)

One of my favorite phrases I created is:  In order to be your best, you must assess!

So let’s dive in to A New You 2.0!

 ...

Napoleon Hill, the iconic American motivational speaker and author, once said, “Everyone enjoys doing the kind of work for which he (or she) is best suited.”

“Employee engagement is the art and science of engaging people in authentic and recognized connections to strategy, roles, performance, organization, community, relationship, customers, development, energy, and happiness to leverage, sustain, and transform work into results.” - David Zinger, Let’s Co-Create an Employee Engagement Charter, The Employee Engagement Network

So, what do you absolutely need to do to maximize your engagement at work?

Let me propose a MASTER KEY to living out your fullest potential in the workspace from over 3 decades of interactions with thousands of people.

As a former senior corporate manager and trainer, I an the first to acknowledge that other factors play essential roles such as…

chemistry, competency, contribution, character,...

Overcoming YOUR BIGGEST Hindrance to Your Breakthrough Right Now 

What is this BIGGEST hindrance to your breakthrough, you might ask? 

Well, I will let you in on a HUGE secret in just a moment that VERY few people realize.

A quick announcement though--------> Upcoming FREE Webinar

How to Use Your Personal Strengths

for Big Profits!

I will be holding a Zoom webinar on: Wednesday, 7-8pm, August 21st

***FREE $25 Gift Card Giveaways and other exciting gifts too!

PUT IT on your calendar RIGHT NOW! Don’t miss it!

To be on our FREE webinar list, go to The Strengths Academy  www.thestrengthsacademy.com and sign up by simply downloading a FREE copy of my Amazon #1 Bestseller!

Now back to some KEY insights...

Most people won’t do these things and YOU can capitalize on them for a huge breakthrough.

What is it?

1. Make a list of the top 10 things you want to achieve
2. Put them in order of importance
3. BEGIN right now on a small step towards...

Your PERSONAL POWER is multiplied and amplified when you:

-Truly accept and believe it…

-Grow and develop it…

-Use it to help others!

What exactly is your “personal power” anyway?

There are different definitions such as:

-Your influence

-Your integrity and ethics

-Your internal and external strengths

However Brian Tracy, one of the top sales trainers and motivational speakers in the world, has a Personal Power Formula…

YOU x Your Relationships=Your Personal Power

According to Tracy, your personal power grows by being “people-centered”. You have a tribe just waiting on you to influence their lives, hopes, and dreams! You just have to locate them through tribe tryouts. 

Intentionally seek out those that welcome you, your message and your gifts.

Remember in our previous blog post that you have:

-Your Story 

You have your own unique story, so learn to tell it powerfully and succinctly. Create an abbreviated...

Hello Friends and Strengths Advocates,

Have you ever thought…

I wonder if my personal story matters to anyone? Could it help others?

You have one, and someone out there is waiting to hear it! At times, we feel it pales in comparison to others' profound stories, but no matter what you have come through, it can help someone else out there.

“But it’s not one of those really horrific rip-your-heart-out transformational stories that only happen to other people!”

REMEMBER-Someone is always going through what you just went through, or what you’re going through.

What's you story?

Where did you come from and how did you get to where you are?

The 3 S’s” of YOUR Story:

You have your…

1.Unique story-Your Super-You Power

This is your unique life story. You should have both short and mid-length version of it to tell, depending on your time and setting.

Create a 2-minute and a 10-minute version.

Be ready to share it. Mine intro is…I should...

Do you have "insane courage"? Bold enough to crazily go after what your really want in life?

I am a doctor of personal strengths and teach people how to know where they fit and flow in their unique gifts and strengths; however, so many people do not have direction in their lives.

Frustration, indecision, and regret plague them. 

I recently talked with several individuals that seemed to be waiting, wandering, or wondering in life.

Waiting…for something to happen.

Wandering…around in their lives, not living intentionally and on-purpose.

Wondering…if they will ever discover their true calling and start doing their dreams!

Have you ever felt like that? Does that resound a bit with you now?

Sometimes, we simply need crazy courage to make a decision-that one decision that creates a ripple effect of exponential outcomes in multiple dimensions in our life.

You need the courage of Benjamin Mee!

Matt Damon starred as Ben Mee in the movie, “We Bought a...

One seemingly, by-chance, catalytic event may change your destiny RIGHT NOW!

Sometimes, the connection seems so ordinary and mundane that it’s hard to believe…but BAM! A catalyst has just thrust you in a new job, a new career or a personal transformation that is nothing less than miraculous!

READ THIS:

A young man taught himself carpentry skills to make ends meet while pursuing an acting career. He was frustrated that things were not going his way he thought, but he landed a gig in small-time film. It was a start and he was just a background actor to boot!

He had to keep doing his carpentry side job because acting career wasn’t supporting him like he had hoped. Years later, the same director “accidentally” bumped into the now 35-year old while do woodwork at a studio. He remembered how the young man had been in a small role in his previous movie and asked him to audition for his new show he expected to do well. He did…and the rest...