Know Thyself: Part 2

Our professional development theme at school this year has been "Teaching with our Strengths". Again, at first thought all of this was really silly and too warm-fuzzy for my taste. I confess that I did make my share of snide little remarks to Miss Humphrey during our in-services in August. At these sessions, our principal had all staff members take a strengths inventory. Of 35 various strengths, my top 5 did not come as a surprise: ideas(!), activation (the jump to get started on new challenges), positivity, connecting with people and connecting people, and...are you ready for this? ...WOO! (winning others over). That one makes me laugh :D

We then had to read a book about how to maximize our strengths. The premise of the book is that it is more effective to focus on one's strengths and learn to manage the weaknesses. Managing weaknesses? Really? I over-focus on my weaknesses, attempting to conquer them completely, or at least hide them from everyone else.

So, I wondered, what would I do with all of this information about myself? Thinking back to the Myers-Briggs test I took (part 1), I remembered that individuals with my personality type (ENFP) have great people skills and lots of ideas (strength), but get bored with details (weakness). That means I have no problem starting projects, but get bogged down in the nitty-gritty of the follow-through. I need to work on seeing projects or challenges to completion, not just dreaming them up. Such as, *cough* grad school. And while I have a "can-do" attitude about everything (strength), that does not mean I actually can do everything or that I should even make the attempt(weakness). Apparently, I haven't quite "managed" that yet.

I believe my follow-through weakness also pertains to my restlessness from doing the same thing for a substantial amount of time. For example, I do not like to stay in the same place too long, doing the same thing. That drives me crazy and I begin to feel "trapped". I like to feel free and spontaneous at all times! This is the longest I have lived in the same place during my adult life and...it's driving me insane. Instead of focusing on my antsyness and obsessively seeking out opportunities to leave, I have to pray that God will give me the contentment to remain here in H-town until I've tied up loose ends. *Cough* grad school. Of course, I'm also praying that He will provide a new opportunity somewhere else pronto! :)

And, finally, another thing I noticed about my ENFP personality is, although I am open-minded and flexible (strength), sometimes that morphs into random and haphazard (weakness). I am working on becoming more scheduled, deliberate, and organized instead. It is difficult to reign in my spontaneity but the result is delightfully controlled chaos. I am "coping" through the use of planners, schedules, priority lists, leaving myself a ridiculous amount of time to arrive at appointments, and chocolate. Because I am less frequently tardy and disorganized, I am less stressed out and frantic. I can take things as they come and even remain fairly relaxed when something goes wrong. I have noticed that this translates to increased patience on the roadways, in the classroom, on the phone, and with my co-workers.