How to Make Everyday a Gift...

Posted on October 06, 2016 by Mark Myette, One of Thousands of Career Coaches on Noomii.

There is nothing more liberating and, what fun it is to “find your zone”…“your place”…!

Have not found it yet? Not in YOUR place yet?

​Here are 8 ways to get closer to that “happy place”…

1. Accept who you are…

As I said in a tweet recently,“Since everyone else is taken, just be YOU.” What? Don’t accept who you are? Lean into who YOU are. Are you perfect? No? No human is? You have to be comfortable in your own skin.

​Don’t know how to figure that out? Seek outside resources to help you uncover your gifts. If you’ve read my other blog posts you know, I have my preference as to what I would recommend.
​
​2. Embrace yourself…

Be like Stuart Smalley…

For those old enough to remember…Al Franken of Saturday Night Live, played a character, Stuart Smalley, a self-affirming man who reminded himself frequently that he was a gift…he would look in the mirror and say “I’m good enough. I’m smart enough. And doggone it, people like me.”

As funny as was, there IS truth and benefits in embracing who you are. If you don’t accept who you are first, why should you expect others to accept you?!?

​3. Work with what you got…

There is a tremendous example to illustrate – Helen Keller – an American author, political activist, and lecturer. She was the first deaf-blind person to earn a bachelor of arts degree. The story of how Keller’s teacher, Anne Sullivan, broke through the isolation imposed by a near complete lack of language, allowing the girl to blossom as she learned to communicate, has become widely known through the dramatic depictions of the play and film “The Miracle Worker”.

​4. Share it…

There are historic / world-changing examples of how people shared ALL they had for a greater purpose: Jesus; Gandhi; Mother Teresa; and Dr. Martin Luther King. Yet, there are millions of everyday / not famous people everywhere / all over the world who, like a candle on the hill, let it shine for the world to see and NOT put it under a bushel basket. Do you have anything under the bushel basket?
​
5. Accept others gifts…

Your acceptance of who YOU are SHOULD allow you to accept OTHERS and the gifts THEY have to offer. Afterall, since you are you, you most likely have gaps that might need to be filled by someone else’s gifts…the beauty of being human. No accident, that also explains why diverse TEAMS usually perform better than teams with only one core predisposition / gift / talent.

BONUS nugget! If YOU were perfect and could do EVERYTHING yourself, there would be no reason for a team!

​6. Work with what the team has…

The Apollo 13 space mission was to explore the Fra Mauro formation, or Fra Mauro highlands, of the moon. However, approaching 56 hours into the mission, and approximately 205,000 miles (330,000 km) from Earth, Apollo 13 experienced an “event” that caused the objective of the mission to dramatically change. An explosion. Instead of landing and exploring the moon, the objective changed to SAFELY returning the astronauts back to earth ALIVE. In light of tremendous set-back, it was perhaps NASA’s brightest moment. Well worth watcing the movie Apollo 13 to experience in dramatic fashion how NASA did just that! WORK WITH WHAT YOU GOT!

​7. Appreciate / give thanks…

Understanding that appreciation and thanks and how people accept it varies – afterall, we’re all different right? Once you understand how your team members like to be acknowledged, take time to appreciate and give thanks every day in the way that connects with each person. Be careful though! It’s addictive and potentially a gift that keeps on giving.

BONUS nugget! Every time someone says “thank you” to you, it’s an IOU to “pay-it-forward” for someone else. That’s the power of appreciation.
​
8. Repeat…

The virtuous cycle continues…repeat it every day!

What are your gifts?

My best in your quest!

​Mark
​I believe each of us is a gift. I create trusted relationships where individuals, teams and leaders NAME, CLAIM and AIM their gifts to achieve optimum ​performance.