Okay, I know I said I wasn’t going to skip any prompts, but I was asked about things I’m grateful for and positive things about my life. It’s not that I don’t feel blessed, but I don’t know, I like to reserve those for more special days, and I like to keep those things to myself. I’ve been attempting to write that in a journal with a sparkly gel pen because that’s so fun, but I think I only got 2 days in so I should definitely do that more.
Anyway. I feel like my posts are often somewhat negative or just not…very uplifting towards myself. Sometimes it’s easier to be tough on myself because (1) that is my natural state, honestly and (2) it tends to read more humbly, whereas bragging about yourself all the time is just…not very humble, even if you mean well. People tend to assume the worst on the internet. However, I guess this will be a good way for me to find some balance :)
And I’m taking a rather different approach with this. In the past, I might just list my strengths that are some soft skills. But that gets kind of old and boring after awhile. I might try to list some hard skills, or some fun things that aren’t always workplace applicable.
- Laughing at myself! Okay, I know I said I wouldn’t be so self-deprecating, but…this is definitely one of the things I’m best at! I guess I could also say that I’m good at not taking life too seriously and having fun. Which is odd because I am also quite uptight in some other areas of life. But I’m kinda goofy and dorky and I just like to have fun with things.
- Being charming — look, my mom told me that I’m charming! I just happen to agree. My goal is to always try and make people smile or laugh. Sometimes I wonder if it could be out of a self-serving need to get people to like me (gee, I’m sounding real good here), but I know that smiling and laughing a lot myself can put people at ease. It also lets them know that they can crack jokes with me and tells them the kind of relationship that we can have!
- Enjoying the process of learning new things — shooting, Olympic lifting, biomechanics for different sports, running, minimalist footwear, a minimalist lifestyle. I like catching the little things that will allow me to improve even to the smallest degree! The struggle with this is that I go it alone quite often, and without other people to discuss and learn from, it’s very easy to get tunnel vision, keep myself from improving to a higher degree, and just limit myself.
- Sitting and relaxing in a deep squat. It seems small but it’s something I’ve worked on and I’m proud of. Granted, you could also say that my anatomy and/or my heritage predispose me to an easier deep squat, but I’m still happy about it!
- I’m good at taking feedback and doing what I’m told in order to improve. By that I mean doing what I’m told with coaches, mentors, advisors, etc., where someone is telling you what to do with the intention of helping you learn and grow. The cool thing is that this applies in the workplace and in life. I definitely struggle with the life side when it comes to advice from friends and family, there were pieces of advice I didn’t really listen to that could have made my life quite a bit easier. I suppose getting advice from friends and family feels a bit too “close to home”, whereas a coach or mentor might be more objective with their thoughts and actions. But I was told in high school that if I just listened to the feedback my coach gave me, I could become really good at water polo. That has stuck with me.
- I’m actually quite good with things that require delicate fingers, which is funny given that I’ve got decently thick fingers. But I’m really quick when it comes to making those friendship bracelets, and I’m very precise when it comes to origami, though I’m mostly just really bad at following those directions. I also know I can be pretty good at cross-stitching, but…I’m a little bit scarred for life from needles, after a fun incident 2 and a half years ago with a callus shaver at work. Just thought that was a fun fact! My skill, not my injury, I mean.
- I have a freakishly good memory for really weird things. I’ll learn names relatively quickly, but the truth is that I don’t really learn them well until the second time I’m told their name…which is fine sometimes in large groups, but not great with small ones when it’s really important. I’m mostly spending that first introduction memorizing their faces but seem to forget the other half. But anyway, people have commented how weird they think my memory is. Which is annoying. I just easily remember things, even the smallest things that “normal” people don’t really remember. Maybe that’s why I’m kind a of a dorky dork.
This was one of the hardest things I’ve had to write. I guess I don’t really think about this stuff a lot, which is both a good and bad thing! It’s good because I’m not always and only thinking about how great I am…but it’s bad because it means I’m probably not thinking enough about the good things I do bring to the table. Also, it’s really hard not to be self-deprecating because it can be fun. But I’ve realized that I would like to step away from that type of humor all the time, so it’s still hilarious in small doses but I’d rather at least sometimes remember that life is good. It’s definitely an interesting challenge…so try it out if you want to struggle a lot with something!
