They Just Sort of Sneak Up On You

Sometimes you're getting ready for work in the morning and you think "Helloooooooooo sexy! Wooo wooooooo!" and kind of wink at your reflection.

Other times, you look in the mirror, and it's more like "Damn, woman, do something about those eyebrows!"

StrengthsFinder 2.0 - Results

My strengths (with the StrengthsFinder 2.0 mini-descriptions):

Ideation: People who are especially talented in the Ideation theme are fascinated by ideas. They are able to find connections between seemingly disparate phenomena.

Strategic: People who are especially talented in the Strategic theme create alternative ways to proceed. Faced with any given scenario, they can quickly spot the relevant patterns and issues.

Woo: People who are especially talented in the Woo theme love the challenge of meeting new people and winning them over. They derive satisfaction from breaking the ice and making a connection with another person.

Futuristic: People who are especially talented in the Futuristic theme are inspired by the future and what could be. They inspire others with their visions of the future.

Positivity: People who are especially talented in the Positivity theme have an enthusiasm that is contagious. They are upbeat and can get others excited about what they are going to do.

I'd actually say it is pretty accurate for the most part, although the first two seem almost identical to me. And I think that I exhibit the Woo theme only inconsistently. Sometimes I have it, sometimes I just don't. Other than that, it seems like a rather good description of where I excel.

Hopefully at work, though, they won't say, "What terrible strengths for an engineer to have. You're fired!!!"




Yeah... they probably won't say that though, because I'm pretty sure I've already wooed everyone at the office. Heh. Heh. Heh.

The Beauty That Is a Human Being

So familiar we hardly think twice about the miracle.

Blows my mind how anyone can do that.

Another Round, People

Time for another round of "things that make my day in small and magnificent ways"

• Wearing my little sister's tinted lip gloss and looking Super Hott
• The Sound of Silence
  
• Having the conductor check my ticket on the Commuter Rail
• Ponytailed woman who hands out BostonNOW papers
  
• Diamonds strewn across the grass in the morning
• A moth
• Ancient people
• Itty bitty baby people
• The dry whirring of cicadas on a summer's day
• Thinking of him and realizing it doesn't hurt anymore
• Lawn sprinklers
• Popsicles
• The Muppet Movie
• Mustard yellow shorts with a rope belt
• Peruvian man on the subway who asks if I am "accepting applications for marriage"
• Being trusted to hold down the fort on this project while the main guy is out of town for a few days next week
  
• Old friends
• "Grandma bra"

Smile Points

Throughout the day, I collect smiles, just as Mario collects gold coins and Sonic collects rings. And, like those two guys, gathering enough smiles from other people actually increases my health, if you can believe it.

Isn't life just like an old school video game?

StrengthsFinder 2.0

For the big annual planning meeting (where we work on personal and company development), we're each going to receive a copy of this book and take the corresponding personality quiz.

It seems like a pretty cool idea in general: instead of focusing on the things you are bad at that would be really difficult to change, it focuses on your strengths and how to work with them to achieve your life's goals. Well that is my interpretation of it (obviously I haven't read the book yet).

The thing is, I'm really nervous. I really like my strengths, and I think I generally use them gracefully, but I don't think they are good (or typical) engineering strengths. Many of my coworkers probably already suspect this. But I don't want them to know for sure. I don't want them to know that I'm not an Acheiver or Deliberative, that I lack Discipline and Responsibility... I am afraid what they will think when they discover that I am a spaz and a dreamer.