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The instructions for
thinking outside the box
are printed on the outside.
Want to get out of your box?
work with FutureVisions

You will have to trick yourself to take a fresh look at your skills. You will need a tape recorder so that you can record one or two stories about yourself.

Think of an event in your life when you were younger, one that you feel positive about in retrospect. Think about what happened right before and right afterward. Think about what you felt, what you did, and what happened. This can be a small event that would only be meaningful to you, or it can be a bigger event that anyone would recognize as positive.

Now tell the whole story into the tape recorder. Be sure to include details of what led up to it, what you did, what you felt, what happened next, how other people responded, and how they felt.

Now record a different story, again one from when you were younger. This time, make it a story about an event which you found frustrating or disappointing. Be sure to include the same details as in the first story.

Now leave your stories for at least two weeks. Don't listen to them or even think about them if you can help it. When the two weeks are up, listen to the stories again. If it it helps, pretend they are about someone else's past. In a notebook, as you listen, write down every positive skill you hear in the stories. Many people write down 15 to 20 different skills in even a simple story. Even in the negative story, be sure to find and write positive skills. You may find the the same positive skills in both stories.

If you get stuck trying to find positive skills in your stories, give them to someone else you respect and trust to listen to and find skills in them. What skills appear in both stories? Are there themes? Do your skills fall into natural groups? How would you name these groups?

The Hopi Indians believe that every person is born with a gift, and the purpose of our lives is to realize that gift in some tangible way. Unwrapping your gifts - exploring and celebrating the talents you have been given - is not just about work, or fun, or duty. It's about discovering why you are here. This chapter offers creative ways of shaking out that toolbox, taking a second look at some neglected instruments and discovering new ways of using qualities you've forgotten or neglected.

Few of us see what a well-equipped skills toolbox we've been given. We use skills Without recognizing or crediting them, and we fail to bring out our latent talents, blinking, into the light.

Here's another way to look for your skills. It's worth writing out your initial impressions. Divide a piece of paper into four boxes: Things, People, Information, Ideas:

	People who work mainly with things (and animals) - this includes engineers, machine operators, nature-reserve wardens, carpenters, car designers and gardeners.
	People who work mainly with people - this includes teachers, social workers, counsellors, telesales staff, salespersons, personnel officers;
	People who work mainly with information - this includes scientific researchers, librarians, auditors, archivists, editors, systems analysts;
	People who work mainly with ideas - this includes e-business pioneers, marketing professionals, novelists, lobbyists, campaigners, fashion designers.

Now write down the skills you think are most evident in yourself. As you get stuck, ask yourself: What sort o f skills do I use most often? In what style or context do I enjoy using them? What do I do that most impresses people? Which skills am I being paid to use at the moment? What skills do I have that no one is paying me to use right now?

You have a rich set of talents. We all do. If you're spiritually minded, you may have discovered that God, life or the universe has sent you a particular set of gifts.

It's useful to think of our skills as gifts, because it reminds us that what we do with -those skills really matters. You live once, so make the most of what you've been given.