Start this exercise by taking three really deep breaths.
Now get a pen and paper. Perhaps a cup of tea. Sit back, and complete these sentences…
- The qualities that I admire in myself are…
- I am really good at…
- People come to me for support when they need…
- If people I know were asked to share what they valued about me, they would say…
- My most impactful talent is…
- The one thing that sets me apart from the majority is…
How did that feel? What would happen if you were even bolder and braver in your answers? Feel free to go back and add more.
Now, we’re going to ask a few friends, colleagues, peers, family members. People whose opinions you care about. Here’s the question for you to copy and paste into a text, email, or ask on the phone or even (OMG) IRL.
“I’m doing an exercise with a coach to consider what direction I want my life to take next. She’s asked me to ask five people that I respect what they see as my strengths. You are one of my people. Feels a bit weird asking these questions but she’s insisted that I do so here they are! You don’t need to think about it too hard, just whatever pops into your head.
- What are my most useful strengths?
- If you had to go to me over others for support with something, what would it be for?
- If you were asked to share what you valued about me, what would you say?
- How do you think I can have the greatest impact in this world?
“I really appreciate your time on this! Happy to return the favour! Here’s the link to the exercise if you fancy doing it yourself…”
You can move on to the next exercise whilst you wait for the scores to come in from others. When they’re in, come back here and we’ll pick it back up.
Right, so you have what you said and what they said. Now we’re going to distil all of these assets into your superpowers. To do that, we need to know what gives you energy.
If you’re an absolute whizz at organisation according to everyone but you find it bloody exhausting, that’s not a superpower. That’s something you’ve learnt to be good at because it is of value, not because it brings you joy.
Now we’re going to turn these strengths into something more tangible that you can assess. For the next exercise you’ll take a strength and put it into an example scenario and we’ll work out which of your strengths are leaving you feeling positive, energised and confident and which are draining energy.
Visualise yourself doing one of your strengths. Imagine where you are, who is there, how you feel and what you can see. Now imagine you’re done doing the thing (in your head) there’s no obvious reason for you to think you’ve done a bad job, but no one’s singing your praises either.
Are you more likely to feel:
| ENERGY | Buzzing | Energised | A bit deflated | Exhausted |
| CONFIDENCE | Super confident | Quietly confident | Niggling self doubt | Insecure |
| HEADSPACE | Totally zen | Reflective | Overthinking | Highly anxious |
| GRATITUDE | Grateful | Pleased | Relieved | Never again! |
| Score | +5 | +3 | -3 | -5 |
| ENERGY | CONFIDENCE | HEADSPACE | GRATITUDE | Total | |
| Strength One: Presenting to leadership | -3 | -3 | -3 | -3 | -12 |
| Strength Two: Coaching | +3 | +3 | +3 | +5 | +14 |
| Strength Three: Facilitation | +5 | +3 | +3 | -3 | +8 |
| Strength Four: Planning | -3 | +5 | +3 | +3 | +8 |
| Strength Five: Writing | +5 | +5 | +5 | +5 | +20 |
Take the three that scored highest and we’ll call these your superpowers!