Find Your Strengths

We are in for some re-arrangement of commercial services during this economic winter. For all kinds of reasons, corporate employment is proving to be a less reliable way to make a living. People that can exchange value in other ways than just "a job" are going to have a much easier time getting through the economic winter.

Anyone can learn to exchange value with others in so many ways, but it takes time and practice to get good at it. My advice would be: no matter how good you are it, start practicing and getting better at it now.

The first step in that process is to discover your strengths. It doesn't matter if your strengths are things that companies will pay for or not; what matters now is discovering what you do well that other people value. You may find some subtle things here. Keep looking and evaluating things you find.

Here are the questions to ask about something you find that you think you might do well:

- How long have you been doing it?
- How does it affect/help other people?
- Why do other people need or appreciate this?
- Have others asked you in the past or are asking you currently to do this?
- Do you own all the tools needed to perform this service / goods offer?
- Are there other benefits you receive inherent in doing this?
- Do you like doing it?
- How good are you at it, compared with others in your "trading neighborhood"?
- Does it connect to other parts of your life, weaving into your hobbies, jobs, and activities?
- Does it hold a deeper meaning for you?
- Who (or what type of person, or what type of profession) would hold this service in the highest value (i.e., would really appreciate this service?)

A note: it's okay if this service hasn't really been noticed or appreciated by people directly in the past because we can change that in the future.

Start with things you currently do for money. Then run through things you like doing but maybe haven't done for money. Then find the things that people have asked of you in the past and really appreciated. Then look at things you've always wanted to do but always had something in the way.

If you are getting stuck, you can always take a look at things you respect or have appreciated that others do or have done. Look at it from their perspective. For example, pick a painter or artist whose work impresses you. Run through the questions as if you were the artist. What are the answers like? To learn some wisdom, do this perspective exercise as someone you know who is successful and happy at what they are doing for work, and for someone who is unhappy at what they are doing for work and compare the answers. Its fine that you are just imagining their answers because you are doing this exercise to learn about your own beliefs and values, not necessarily theirs.

Finding your strengths is an ongoing process. Initially, it may take a few weeks or months until you feel you have found the right ones for yourself. Keep at it and be curious and open at what you find. In a few years, you may well discover another.

Find what you are good at and enjoy, and this will become a basis for value exchange with others. Not only will people appreciate and respect you and what you do for them, but it is a nice way to live and love. It is a good way to be a warm winter fire.