I love origin stories.
Superhero tales are my go-to, but series like Becoming or biographies sometimes scratch the itch too. (My ♥️ of Heist films might be connected as well… “Let’s get a team together”. We’ll unpack that another time.)
I recently started working with a coach to help me identify my “superpowers”. I was looking to get clear on what I’m good at so I could apply it toward a fulfilling career. What I didn’t understand is that I kinda started my own origin story.
One theme in origin stories is the discovery of an ability or the acquisition of the superpower. (e.g. Ms. Marvel finding the bracelet that unlocked her powers or Spiderman getting bit by the radioactive spider.)
Another theme is the development of those powers.
To be completely honest with you (and myself), I was naive when I engaged with a coach to help me uncover my superpowers. I thought we’d identify these natural abilities then I’d find a role that needed those abilities and voilà… Happy Adam. <wipes hands, job well done>
What I didn’t expect is that I’d need to develop those powers once we identified them.
I entirely forgot the montage part of the movie where the hero is learning how to use, control, and strengthen their powers. (And that’s usually my favorite part of origin story movies! Silly Adam.)
One of the things my coach asked me to do was the CliftonStrengths Assessment. It was weirdly unsurprising and eye opening at the same time. I agreed with the strengths in a “yeah, that makes sense” kinda way while at the same time the titles and descriptions provided an amazing amount of clarity for me. (I think I’ll do posts on the top 5 or 10 strengths they called out and my reactions on them.)
Clifton indicates my top strength is [Spoiler alert] Communication. They say, “People exceptionally talented in the Communication theme generally find it easy to put their thoughts into words.”
Now… I talk a LOT. Plus, teaching and presenting is enjoyable for me when I’m comfortable with the subject matter. At the same time I spend a lot of time trying to figure out what words to use to convey to others what is in my brain.
I don’t have enough fingers to count the amount of times I’ve asked my friend Becca for help capturing an idea I have “because… you know… words.” And that’s only one (very tolerant) friend.
“This is my top strength?”, I thought.
That is when the idea of discovery, then development dawned on me.
I’d have to develop the strengths to wield them. By writing and publishing this newsletter 50x this year I’m forcing myself to develop and hone that superpower.
It’s kind of a continuation of “what’re we doing here?”. This is the why under the why.
Onward and upward,
a.
P.S. I do realize that the development of my communication strength is a grounding part of my goal with this newsletter so why not make that the answer to “what’re we doing here?”.
I arrived at the 50x goal as a clear (and 🤞 achievable) end point that served the bigger picture while also letting me post a list of my favorite Heist movies as an entry and still have that count. 🤓 The doing of the thing is the results. If I made it about improved writing skillz, and all the complexity that goes into creating and measuring that, I would have never started this thing.