What’s your Super Power?
And why is it important to know?
No, this isn’t another online quiz where you pick your favorite fruit, landscape, and Friends Character and out spits what superhero you would be. Here, I want you to take a few moments and figure out what you are really good at, then see how you can get even better at it, and share that gift with the world (maybe even for money $$$).
Many of us heard growing up that if you aren’t good at something, you can just work really hard and you’ll get better. This may be true for some, but what if that thing you’re not good at is out of your control? For example, I have a girlfriend who is partially colorblind. She often can’t see the different shades and hues of colors. Could she become an interior designer? Yes! Will she have challenges? Absolutely! The color palette is very important but as much as she tries, she won’t be able to see color differences any better. What if instead of trying to get better at the things we aren’t good at we delegated those things and we invested our time and energy into getting even better at the things we already excel at?
I’m not a good K-12 teacher, I’m an okay secretary, but I’m a GREAT teacher to college freshmen in the Seminar class I teach. I tried teaching in an elementary school and didn’t enjoy it. I am in complete awe of the countless humans that have found K-12 careers that they love and thrive doing. I realize that teaching a subject wasn’t as fulfilling to me; I’d rather be teaching tips, tricks, shortcuts, strategies, perspectives, critical thinking skills, emotional intelligence, and ways to navigate college. I enjoy serving as a guide, mentor, advisor, partner, advocate, success coach, and friend. College freshmen seem to be my people! 🙂
Should I beat myself up about how:
- I let my inbox get full before I clean it out,
- my notes and ideas are in so many different places (notebook, iPhone Notes app, journal, vision board, emailed to myself, post-it notes),
- I often lose time trying to hunt down where I stored my thoughts, or
- I often forget to pay a bill that comes in the mail?
Instead, I recognize my issues and focus my time and energy on my college freshmen by 1) answering their questions and emails, and 2) establishing a community in our class where they feel safe and loved enough to be vulnerable asking questions and participating.
My superpower is that I:
- listen to understand and because of that, I make people feel seen, heard, and understood. I LOVE PEOPLE!!
- make people feel supported, challenged, cared for, and that someone has their back.
- I have a great rapport, method of teaching, helping and caring personality results in students giving me respect and trust knowing that I’m invested in and committed to their journey.
- This carries over into all areas of my life and I’m happy being the person people go to when they need love, support, hope, encouragement, honesty, open-mindedness, a problem solver, a shoulder to cry on, a safe place to be vulnerable, someone to proofread their website/email/blog post, and someone to point out the silver lining or remind them how strong and amazing they are!
What about you? Why should you spend some time learning what your superpower is? Maybe it’ll show you how you can get more joy out of your day, or help humanity in a fun, new way, or maybe you’ve always wanted a new career but weren’t sure where to start. Here’s the Starting Line. Give it some thought. Write a whole list of what you’re good at and then narrow it down from there. Comment below and let’s see what you’re great at!
Spend more time doing what makes you happy.
Wanna talk more? So do I! Subscribe to my blog. Contact me and let’s work through this together! I’d love to help you discover your superpower today (or tomorrow if it’s getting pretty late wherever you are). 😉
Much love,
LouAnna
