How Do You See You?

Turn Off All of The Outside Noise

I love watching politics and the Presidential elections are
fascinating to me. Over time I realized that the more negative data I
was reading and seeing on TV, the more negative I was becoming. Take
some time to just turn off the negative noise in your world. Quit
watching TV, don’t turn on the radio when you are in the car. Take a
sabbatical from Facebook and Twitter and turn your attention inward.
By turning off all noise from the outside in, you can open up
your life from the inside out. You can now begin to listen to the
quiet, inner voice that is your conscience.

Focus on Improving Your Strengths Not Your Weaknesses

So many times we become obsessed with what we aren’t, more than
what we are. In his groundbreaking management book,”First Break all
of the Rules”, Marcus Buckingham discovered after polling 80,000
managers, that the vest managers don’t try to improve their people’s
weaknesses, but instead they focus all of their time improving their
strengths. Instead of being well rounded in everything and masters of
nothing, they went for mastery. Perhaps this belief that we have to
be good at everything is really just an illusion.

Gather New Data About Yourself

Nothing can change your view of yourself better than new data.
Are you an introvert or an extrovert? Are you more empathic or
logical? Are you a Democrat or a Republican, and do you really even
know why? Most people I know have really spent very little time
getting to know themselves. Take some time to really dive into the
deeper meaning of who you are and what makes you tick.

Go online and take some personality tests like the Myers Briggs Test
http://www.personalitypathways.com/type_inventory.html, or the

Color Code test http://www.colorcode.com/free_personality_test/.

Go take the Strengths finder test from The Gallup Organization.
http://www.colorcode.com/free_personality_test/. This one costs $20
but will help you to identify your top strengths. The goal of
these tests is to increase your own self awareness. They should not be
your only source of insight, but they could be one source. Another
source of light or insight could come from your friends and family and
what they love most about you. At your next dinner, go around the
table and take three minutes per family member telling them everything
you all love and admire about them. Take notes for each person and
see what emerges as a theme. Truly listen to what they are saying and
accept their comments as truth. Don’t just dismiss their compliments
away.

Celebrate Your Greatness Daily

The fastest way to change your perspective is to start noticing
daily what you love most about you and your life. At the end of every
day, take a second to write down two or three things that made you
happy that day. Notice where you felt strongest in your day …because
you felt most aligned to who you are. Recognize what gave you the most
joy and cause to celebrate. Express your gratitude for the blessings
in your life that you have been given. By noticing the good things
that bring you the most joy, your perspective will quickly change to
one of gratitude and appreciation. Remember that your perspective
is simply a function of what you focus on. So the more good you see,
the more good you’ll be!