Personality Tests: And Life Goals:

Personality Tests: And Life Goals:

Hi readers, welcome to December! The year is almost at an end and it is no doubt a time where most of us look back and see what we accomplished, (or have not accomplished yet) and begin to think about goals for the new year. This week I had an extra push that helped me think about those goals even more. So let me set the stage a little to give you an idea of my mind frame leading up to this week. Over the past few months I’ve been asking myself more and more what will make me happy? What will make me feel more fulfilled?  On my last blog I spoke about joining a committee at work that focused on employee careers and networking. I spoke about having to step outside of my comfort zone to become a leader of this committee and help them organize and produce events around internal mobility within the company. I was even asked to speak at the event, (a task way outside my comfort zone.) You can read the rest in the previous blog. The point is that this year has presented me with some challenges and I feel like I have not let my fears get in the way and instead, forced myself to face those challenges head on. The result is that I have gained confidence and learned that I am stronger than I thought. I also feel like I finally have more clarity around those things that might make me happy. This week helped solidify those feelings.

Last week my manager sent myself and my colleague an email about the last chance to take a management course and said we should both sign up. Now, we currently do not have staff under us, so both of us thought, “Why should we?” But then we wondered if perhaps she knew something that we didn’t, (maybe we will be getting staff.) So we both decided we had better do the class. It was one of those things that you do not really look forward to; it was a 2 day course 9-5 both days. It disrupted the regular routine of my life and forced me to have to drive into the building 3 times instead of once. But once I was doing it, I had some fun and I did learn a lot about managing techniques. The best part for me however, was taking a personality test and learning some more about myself. I have taken the Myers Briggs test a million times, this one was different. It was something called DISC. Each letter stands for a type of personality, and everyone has a little of each letter. But mine was overwhelmingly, S, which stands for Steadiness. And it said as the description, “this person likes clear directions and steps to follow, they can get creative but only if they understand the goal and the limitations and rules surrounding the task. They are often observers at first, they look to see what others might do or think and then they jump in as a leader when they are ready. They like to feel valued and rewarded for hard work and they absolutely work hard and are reliable.” I feel like all of that is true for me, especially at work. And we did a little creative task where you write a bumper sticker that describes your personality type and then you do one for your opposite personality people, which in my case are the D’s, which stands for Driver. That task was meant to show us how others might view us and it was really interesting to see the different interpretations.

So after this class I started thinking about how my natural tendencies are to play it safe. I do not like to jump into something without a plan, a clear direction, as well as plenty of support. I like having people to cheer me on. But I am trying to break that a bit and take some chances. I feel like I understand now the idea of, “you never know unless you try.”

I began to be real with myself and admit that what will make me happiest is to be able to meld my corporate career with the thing that I am passionate about, writing and helping others find their voices and write. I have hired an awesome business coach who is helping me to create my side business of being a writing coach. I will be offering workshops, (completely virtually, via emails and Facebook) to coach people through whatever writing they are struggling with. I will help with a range of topics like, writing effective emails, overcoming fears, writing blogs, writing novels, etc. There will be different price points and packages that I offer, including some free items. Because I do not want anyone to feel that money is an obstacle. I have also been speaking to some people in my office about how I can tailor my workshops to my corporate environment and bring them to my company. I think it is all doable and my immediate response I am getting from people is, “That’s fantastic! There is such a need for that and you will be great at it!” Which is super great for me, it shows me that I am on the right track and will have success with this new endeavor. By the end of December I should have all of the details ironed out and will be offering my first workshop by January. Just in time to help you start fulfilling your writing goals for next year!!!! (Applause)

Keep checking back, I will be posting the details as they come out. I am going to start a special Facebook group that I hope you will join, where I will post live videos, helpful hints and tools, discount tickets for upcoming workshops etc. I’m so excited to start this new adventure. I will be glad to help all of my fellow writers and want to be writers improve their craft! Because like I always say friends, writing=happiness ;).