Build a Business You Love -- Uncover Your Passions and Skills

Mon, 01 Feb 2010 16:01:00 EST

The first step in starting a business you love isto uncover what your core passions and skills are. Here are someexercises you can do to help you do that.

How Are You Perceived By Others?

Manytimes it is much easier to see the strengths of others than it is tosee the strengths that lie within. So, in this exercise I want you tocreate a list of three people who know you well and whose opinion yourespect.

Then you're going to send them a letter or email asking themto take a few minutes to help you find your calling. This exercise wasmodified from one I found in Inc. Your Dreams by Rebecca Maddox. Hereis a sample of that letter or email:

To: My Good Friend
Subject: Small Favor of 5 Minutes
Hi My Good Friend,
I'm doing a self-assessment, taking a look at some new options in my life. I would really appreciate your candid feedback.
Please take FIVE MINUTES, no more, to answer the following questions:
1.If I had the opportunity to step out of my current career or role andtry something completely new, what would you see me doing and why?
2. If you were describing me to your mother, what is the first word you would use?
3.What are the two things you wish I would change about myself? (Behonest, now!) Please, only one sentences for each of the two changes.
4. What do you see as my driving force? In other words, what do you think makes me tick?
Thank you for your time and effort. You don't know how much this means to me.

Morethan likely, you will be surprised by what you get back. When I didthis exercise, I discovered parts of myself that I had never evennoticed before.

Now read through the answers you get. Do you see any trends? Did you get any "aha!"s?

Embrace Your Inner Child

Doyou remember what you dreamed about when you were just a kid? What didyou want to be when you grew up? When I was five, I wanted to be ananthropologist. I went through many sciences - archeologist,planetologist, paleontologist, astronomer, everything-ologist - beforeI finally settled on science writer when I was in college. Write downyour list here:

Now,remember the games you used to play when you were a kid. What did youdo when it was just you and you had to entertain yourself? When I wasabout 7 years old, I had a bad bicycle accident and scraped the side ofmy face really bad. The doctor said I needed to stay indoors and restfor a few days. So what did I do? I created a board game based on OneFish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish by Dr. Seuss. In my teens, I usedto play teacher and give my sister homework - which she never did, Imight add. What did you do with your time? Write down your list here:

Nowtake a look at these two lists. Do you see any patterns? If not, havesomeone whose opinion you trust take a look at them and see if theynotice any patterns. From these two lists, you will see a recurringpattern of activities that draw you and skills that you exercisenaturally. These will most likely be related to your core passions andinterests.

Why are you doing all this, you may ask? Because abusiness you love HAS to be built around your core passions andstrengths. Also, a business that is built around your core interestsand skills has a much better chance of attaining longevity and beingsuccessful.

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Build a Business You Love -- Uncover Your Passions and Skills