“People are happiest and most satisfied in life when they are engaged in actions and activities that draw upon their natural capacities, skills, and abilities.”
It’s true, and this is the sixth principle of our Perceptual Style Theory, or PST, to help us make sense of the everyday differences people experience between themselves and others.
To review, here are the first 6 principles of PST:
1. People perceive the world differently.
2. Differences in perception result in psychological diversity, and psychological diversity is the most profound diversity there is.
3. Perceptual differences can be grouped into 6 unique Perceptual Styles.
4. Everyone believes that their way of experiencing the world is the right way (and until they learn differently – the only way!).
5. A person’s Perceptual Style is innate and determines what natural capacities, skills, and abilities they have.
6. People are happiest and most satisfied in life when they are engaged in actions and activities that draw upon their natural capacities, skills, and abilities.
Building your daily actions around your natural skills – literally claiming Your Talent Advantage – is what the sixth principle is all about. Knowing what you do naturally well makes a difference in all aspects of your life – family, friendships, hobbies, work, everything. Let’s use an example of your job to illustrate this point.
A recent survey revealed that 61% of people polled said they hated (not disliked) their job. This represents a staggering amount of dissatisfaction. What is the cause of so much unhappiness for so many as they do something that occupies a large amount of their daily lives?
Think back on how you chose what you do for a living. If you are like most people, you received very little career guidance based on your natural skills and landed in your career field by happenstance. The chance of ending up doing something that draws upon your natural skills if you followed this all too common “career path” are very small. The truth is very few of us have gotten any solid feedback in our lives about what we do well, and “Will this job allow me to use my natural gifts and skills?” is not a common question people ask themselves when job hunting. The sad fact is that far too many of us have little or no idea what our natural gifts and skills even are.
When people take the time to discover what they do naturally well, consciously develop those skills, and actively seek employment that uses those skills, how they feel about themselves, their job, and life in general is remarkably different from the norm. Career guidance designed to help you discover your natural strengths and talents and then seek an area of employment where they will be used and appreciated is very rare. It takes a little effort to discover your natural strengths are, but once you are clear on what you naturally do well, you can create a list of the top ten skills that you need to use regularly in a job in order for you to find it satisfying, stimulating, and meaningful. These ten skills become a checklist against which you can evaluate any job or career and determine if it is a fit for you.
Don’t become part of the statistic of people who hate what they do. Life is too short to spend it toiling at something that is no fun. We are all going to end up in the same place eventually, so make the journey there interesting and rewarding.
About the Author:
Gary Jordan, Ph.D., has over 27 years of experience in clinical psychology, behavioral assessment, individual development, and coaching. He earned his doctorate in Clinical Psychology from the California School of Professional Psychology – Berkeley. He is co-creator of Perceptual Style Theory, a revolutionary psychological assessment system that teaches people how to unleash their deepest potentials for success. He’s a partner at Vega Behavioral Consulting, Ltd., a consulting firm that specializes in helping people discover their true skills and talents. www.aciforcoaches.com
