You can spend so much effort to be visible; to "exist". You place effort in balancing who you are with what you want and need. However, you hear that voice in your ear telling you that you have the potential to be more; do more, just not sure how. Sometimes the goals can line up with your motivations and sometimes it can cause the biggest wrench in your plans. In these moments you may start to question everything: relationships, colleagues, family and yourself. That's when its time to realize, you may not be the one in the driver seat. Rest assured you can control how you react and respond. It starts with knowing your strengths and how to use them to stop being a passenger in our own life. You have the ability to take the wheel and drive.

 
“Don't be mad at where you're parked if you let someone else drive.”

I reflect on moments, friendships, colleagues and family that I felt knew where I wanted to go and gave them the keys to drive; only to find myself led to a dark alley or a detour that took forever to get me to back where I wanted to be. I learned to embrace my strengths and use them to keep a full tank of gas and on the road that I wanted to be on. Though there were bumps and closures, I knew there was a way to achieve confidence and attain my goals. It opened my to understand the saying "Rome wasn't built in a day, but worked on everyday."

 
The Approach
5 Why's to your True Strengths

I'll never forget the moment this approach changed my view and outlook to challenges. No, I cannot say I was able to avoid pitfalls, but I had control on how to stay in the driver seat.
 
Early in my leadership career, an executive took me aside and asked me "Who is Vernessa," (no pressure for a new director to answer, right?). In the moment ,I couldn't shake the feeling she was trying to dishearten me, but I can now see she was forcing me to "toughen up" and be confident with who I was. She didn't stop there. For every answer I gave, she made me back up my statements by asking "Why?" It was torture to find my reasons, but after 30 years later, I'll never forget them. In hindsight, I cannot thank her enough for challenging me. It was what I found myself recalling in the most challenging times of my life and career.
When I went on to completing my Master's, my Leadership course held a class identifying attributes you feel you possess, and then asked us why we felt that was important. I was blown away by some of my own answers, things I would never had said out loud. When I added what I learned of what IT departments refer to as "the 5 whys" -I came to my final realization. I realized that you can honestly define your strengths by highlighting your attributes and then challenging yourself for that all mighty "Why". Allowing you to see the true reason of your strength and how you can apply strategies to keep you operating in your best in both life and your career.
I have enjoyed watching clients discover their confidence and potential by guiding them through this process and helping them see their true capability. It's always helpful to have a navigator, even when you think you know the way. Roads change, and I am here to help you through it.
If any of this sounds confusing, let me show you the steps, and we can get to your destination together.
 
Complete the exercise using this link and begin your journey to staying in the driver seat. I'll set up a no cost consultation to help you uncover your strength and some strategies to get you started. I would love to help you reach your full potential in life and career. Drive on!