What Makes Me Great?

As a recruiter, I am consistently trying to match job seekers to their ideal career path. Part of this process includes coaching potential employees on the methods of "up-selling" themselves to potential employers. One question that is constantly repeated in interviews is: "Why should an organization hire you?"

Never giving much thought about the question, I recently started to search for what my answer would be in broader terms. Let me put it to you this way: Have your ever stopped and asked yourself, "What Makes Me Great?"

TOUGH QUESTION.

Everyone has a different response. When searching for the answer, it is important to remember two key elements: 1) Your motivators 2) Your core values.

MOTIVATORS

What gets you out of bed in the morning? If your answer to this question is: the alarm clock, the kids, work, or my parents yelling at me, sorry...these responses are NOT truly why you choose to live life everyday.

We are all motivated by different things. If you are unclear on what truly moves you to achieve more in life, think about these questions:

1) What/Who is important in my life?

2) Why is what/who important to me?

3) How do I feel when what/who is safe and secure?


CORE VALUES

What makes YOU different? Everyone has a different value system that is prioritized based on environmental, relational, spiritual, emotional, and behavioral factors. The bigger question is: Have you ever listed your values and assigned them a ranking based on importance in your life? If not, I dare you to try. Trust me, its a lot harder than you think.

I encourage you to think and pray about the answer to this question,"What Makes You Great?" More than anything, you will probably find things about yourself you did not know.

Reposition and Refocus-Changing Your Goals

Insanity is the term used to define the action of repeatedly doing something and expecting to get different results. Well, I think I have officially became insane. Many of you know that my ultimate running goal is to be faster than my dad. After working hard, my quest to beat my old man has left me eating his dust.

So, what do I do now? Give up? Toss my goal? Not exactly.

When looking for clarity or an answer to a problem, I turn to my bible, my family, my friends, or Oprah. Oprah is quoted for saying, "Do the one thing you think you cannot do. Fail at it. Try again. Do better the second time. The only people who never tumble are those who never mount the high wire. This is your moment. Own it."

THANK YOU OPRAH! I have the answer I have been searching for in my crossroads of self doubt and desire to win. I am goiong to beat my dad on distance rather than speed.

All of us have struggled with the ability to accomplish a goal. We all experience the trials and tests that are laid out on the path of claiming our victories. When we get frustrated, it is easy to scrap our goals, push them aside, and enter into a place of feeling broken and disappointed.

However, I challenge that before we completely discount our goals, we simply refocus and reposition our strategy. I want to beat my dad. Period. End of Story. Realizing that my chances of being faster than him are not going to happen soon, I have decided to reposition my training on distance. Ultimately, all of us can reach our destinations if we regroup and find different, creative avenues to success.

I registered for my first full marathon in Chicago on 10/10/2010. Follow me on Twitter @SeeKrisRun as I start training and start to claim victories over my dad.

Marathon Training Playlist-Pre Makeover

Currently, these are the most played songs on My Playlist pre-makeover. Good songs to listen to while running, however, I am ready for a change.

1) Hard- Rihanna
2) Mercy- Duffy
3) Imma Be- Black Eyed Peas
4) Get Back- Ludacris
5) When We Were Young- Killers
6) Empire State of Mind- Jay-Z
7) Let It Rock- Kevin Rudolf and Lil Wayne
8) Dont Stop the Music- Rihanna
9) Just Fine- Mary J Blige
10) Get Me Bodied Beyonce
11) Wanna Be Startin Something- Michael Jackson
12) PYT-Michael Jackson
13) Pass the Dutch-Missy Elliot
14) Welcome to the Jungle-Guns N Roses
15) We Run This-Missy Elliot
16) Bootylicious-Destiny's Child
17) Closer- Ne-Yo
18) Hey Jealously-Gin Blossums
19 ) Bridge and Tunnel-Honorary Title
20) Hang Me Up to Dry-Cold War Kids

Blessed Beyond Belief

The holiday season always fills my heart with joy and praise, however, this year has left me feeling overly grateful for the many things in my life.

A quote that has been embedded in my thoughts has been, "Praise the bridge that carried you over." How can we move forward with our own personal quests for greatness if we do not give Thanks? One of my favorite leaders wakes up almost every morning and updates her facebook status to say, "If you want to be raised, you first have to give praise".

We live in a self fulfilling world that proclaims the right to passage for greatness is to start with YOU. Why do we have to start with ourselves? Why does the world consistently push this "self centered" philosophy that YOU/one self is the only medium to personal growth?

Even though I do believe we need various levels of self accountability in most areas of our lives, I am far from believing that my life would be the same without the many people who took a personal investment in ME. I truly believe that we are designed to have nurturing relationships with others that feed into our development. Without these people, we would not be able to learn from our mistakes and become better individuals.

Before you move into the new year, take the time to give Thanks. Praise the ones that have carried you, Praise the ones that have helped you grow, and Praise the only ONE that gives you Faith to continue.

Experiencing Change-I am just in Transition

How do you experience Change? Do you get flustered and stressed out over the anticipation of what is to come? Or do you embrace the process and focus on the positive possibilities?

On Saturday night, I attended a holiday banquet for the SevenFolds Society (http://sevenfoldsociety.com/) and the group hosted guest speaker, Leslie Taylor Hare (http://leslietaylorhare.com/). Currently broadcasting her own local TV and radio shows, Leslie is a motivational speaker who encourages individuals to celebrate life. One key word that Leslie kept repeating during her speech was: Transition. This can be a great word depending on how you approach Change.

It has taken me the better part of a year to take the negative connotations Change can have and move them toward the positive outcomes Transitions can bring. To me, the word Transition has a sense of hope linked into the actions taken place during this process. Think about the changes happening in your life. Are you in between jobs? Have you lost valuable relationships? Are you overwhelmed with stress regarding health or financial issues? List ALL of them on a piece of paper. Take a hard look at them and THEN CHANGE YOUR OUTLOOK.

Repeat to yourself: I am in Transition.

1) You are not in between Jobs. You are in Transition to something bigger and better for your career.

2) You are not friendless and lonely. You are in Transition to find more meaningful relationships that will add value to your life.

3) You are not financially devastated. You are in Transition to learn more about how to make better decisions on how to spend/invest your money.

4) You are not unhealthy. You are in Transition to achieving your ideal image of health.

You are in TRANSITION.

I would like to thank the SevenFolds Society for the holiday party invitation. I had a great time.

Overcoming Obstacles

If you are like me, you intentionally start everyday with a positive self affirmation that you can achieve great things if you keep a positive attitude and keep your eye on the goal. However, we all know that this is a lot easier said than done.

Vince Lombardi stated, "Obstacles are what you see when you take your eyes off the goal."

How do we overcome these roadblocks? How do we stay focused?

Recently, I have been struggling with the above mentioned questions and had to reach out to some fellow runners to be redirected. Below is the advice I received:

1) Have Purpose: Remind yourself what will come when you complete the task at hand and the original intention of setting a goal.

2) Have Strategy: Lay out a well designed plan to help hold yourself accountable in every step down the road to success.

3) Have Milestones: Celebrate small victories as move from one step of the plan to another.

4) Have a Support System: It is a lot easier to stay on track when you have a cheering section.

5) Have Fun: Achieving success should be fun because you are making yourself better everyday.

Thanks to the runners that have helped me. Thanks to my family and friends that cheer me along my way. You guys are the best.

Do You Have a Cheering Section?

Do you have a network of people that help shape your goals and ultimately carry you to the finish line? Can you name five individuals who have actually taken the time to invest in your future and continually challenge you to be better?

I can not begin to tell you how much of a difference a cheering section makes when you want to achieve a goal or conquer a difficult task.

In his book, "The Last Lecture: Achieving Your Childhood Dreams", the late Randy Pausch describes a peewee football coach who tested and criticized him throughout an entire practice. After practice and feeling somewhat worthless, the assistant coach verbalized to Randy that it was a GOOD thing that the coach corrected him over and over again. Randy states in his book, "When you are constantly screwing up and no one is there to correct you, that means they have given up on you and that is not a good place to be."

How true is the above statement? Can you look back at moments in your life where the right person approached you, helped you, and then provided you with the tools and information to be successful?

Why is it so important to have a cheering section?

1) Reality Checks. By nature, humans have a defined sense of being self righteous in moments where we want to prove that what we are doing/saying is absolute truth. I know I do. However, this attitude tends to lead us down a road where we can not get over certain brick walls. To overcome, you need some one that can provide you with honest information to help you climb over the wall to the other side of reality.

2) Motivation. I ran my first 15k with my dad yesterday. After mile six, my mind started to play mental games with me and I began to question my endurance. My saving grace was my Dad. Along side me, he coached and pushed me all the way to the finish line and furnished me with the motivation to accomplish the race. We all need our motivators.

3) Feedback. Where would we be if the outcomes of life decisions where never filtered back to us in some kind of way? We need feedback to help redirect us.

I appreciate my cheering section.

This week, challenge yourself to invest in some one's future.