I rarely tell my origin story about how I got so passionate about alignment, but I did a podcast recently where I talked a bit about the reasons why I do this (and told a story about sitting at a conference listening to someone say they had “data” about how outlining will make everyone faster……
One of the biggest gifts of Strengths is the reminder that we’re not all the same, and we don’t all have the same needs. So when I say something, as a #2 Connectedness, I’m conscious that a #34 Connectedness person isn’t going to receive that in the same way. It’s part of how Strengths create…
When I coach top earning authors, especially for the first time, almost every single one of them, when they’re first describing their pain point, says something like this: “I know I should be grateful for this, and these are such tiny problems compared to what everyone else is facing…” But. Here’s my soapbox about gratitude.…
Every turkey day, we put candy corn near our plate and say one thing we’re thankful for, for each candy corn we eat. (Or for each one we’re given, if we don’t like the candy.) And this year, instead of listing off five things we’re thankful for, we went one by one in a round.…
I know there’s an old adage that says otherwise, but hear me out on this one. (Also, QTP old adages *at all times* please. Question the Premise.) One of the qualities we are talking the most about this week in the author business phases summit is patience. And every time I bring up the word,…
We’ve been talking a lot about relationships lately and I had an insight this morning, answering comments, that I wanted to share. Everyone exists inside relationships a little differently, and when you have some of the Relationship-Building Strengths, you often require either “interest” or “trust” as a barrier to entry. This means my access to…
Don’t quit your day job… When most people hear this sentence, they hear “you’ll never get this” or “don’t bother” or “no one can be a working writer.” But I want us to think differently about this for a second. Let’s just talk to the Intellection authors only (the ones who like to think, and…
I’ve been rewatching the Lord of the Rings and that cringey scene in the third movie where Denethor is freaking out and screaming at his people to flee and fear… something struck me. The wizard interrupted Denethor’s rant and told all the people not to listen to him. And because of the power structure there,…
We’ve been talking a lot about looking toward the future lately (in the BFA), and one of the things we’re trying to encourage people is to QTP their negative versions of the future. Let me explain. When you have the Futuristic Strength, and it’s acting as the Strength *should* act, you are basically time traveling…
Because of what I do for a living, a lot of people come to me to “maximize” themselves (no surprise, given the potential of Strengths as a maximization tool), and sometimes, the work is quick and easy. And that’s often when there’s the most interest in it. But if I am honest, the most beneficial…