I, just like many of you most likely have as well, have seen and taken quite a few money, career and aptitude tests over the course of my life. These tests have a tendency of being very convoluted, and I have very rarely ever received any help from them. After several years, I eventually concluded that they made things much more difficult than they had to be, and that all they did was cause me confusion about what I was supposed to do with my life.
In contrast, I have actually found that keeping things simple tends to be a much better career and self-discovery tactic. Messy, difficult things, such as aptitude tests, are usually the wrong way to go. Instead, I prefer the methods of self reflection, discussion, and debate. As we go through each of the 10 ways to earn money while simultaneously giving back to the world, I would like you to keep a few very important questions in mind that I have developed for you:
Things to Take Into Consideration:
1) What are your personal strengths? What kinds of thing have you found that you are particularly good at?
2) What do you have experience with? This does not have to be job related, and it does not even need to be extensive experience.
3) What specific subjects, industries, and topics are you most passionate about in life?
4) Finally, what would you ideally love to do? Where is the place in life that you dream that you will wind up at?
What are your personal strengths? What kinds of thing have you found that you are particularly good at?
This question is not as straightforward as it may initially seem. In fact, it can actually prove to be quite tricky to answer. Consider this scenario: you are thinking about becoming a relationship coach. If I ask you what your personal strengths are, there is no way that being a relationship coach is one of them, as this is most likely a field that you are new to.
And, as you may have already figured out, if you are new to the field of relationship coaching, there is no way for you to know if you are good at it or not yet.
Thus, instead of asking this question in order to discover if you are specifically talented at relationship coaching, I am looking to discover if your strengths align with those of a relationship therapist or coach.
In order to answer this question properly and as accurately as possible, you should begin by reflecting on what you would be doing as a relationship coach, and then determine if you are talented at those tasks. Keep it simple at first, and then you can start to focus on specifics later on in the future.
For example, if I were speaking to someone who is interested in becoming a relationship coach, I would make sure to ask him or her the following questions:
• Do you consider yourself to be good at listening?
• Would you describe yourself as being deeply empathetic and compassionate towards other individuals?
• Do you have top-notch communication skills, even with individuals who are substantially different than yourself, and who come from different upbringings, cultures, and backgrounds?
• How have your personal relationships gone? Have they been successful, and would you say that you have achieved a degree of mastery within them?
• Do you have experience with helping individuals set goals, and have these individuals been able to achieve their goals partially due to your help? Have you shown a history of being able to bring about significant changes in people’s behavior? If your answer to this is a no, have you had many experiences where your efforts have not successfully worked?
