THE SOLITARY PANDA

The Ways We Are: Christina

Christina is an entrepreneur and blogs at thesavvygrad.com. When she answered my call to response I was honored to have her and felt her website content fit very well with the theme of this series. If you’re interested in any helpful tips or tricks and like what you read here, read her at The Savvy Grad!

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As a child I was business minded, always seeking out the next opportunity to make some money and start something on my own. Instead of having a lemonade stand like the other kids on the block I was mixing it up with root beer float stands. You could find me on weekends at the park down the street selling peanuts and soda to the fans of the baseball games, and if you lived in my neighborhood you probably had a subscription to the Corona Weekly, our weekly newspaper of events and stories. Today I am a serial entrepreneur with two businesses under my belt, and more to come in the future. From my experience I agree that it is not who you want to be when you grow up but more about being who you are.

Many of you may struggle to accept this theory as relates back to the philosophical question of fate vs determinism. On one hand it is comforting to know that we will be who we are ment to be no matter what we do, but on the other hand it is scary to know that we are out of control when it comes to deciding who we are. But before you let your fear take over and you start to panic, let me suggest that both fate and self determinism exist simultaneously. Fate takes you where you are supposed to be, the fork in the road persay, and then you must take it from there and determine which path you are going to take. Now that you are beginning to get on board with this theory it is time to learn how to harness its power and use it to your advantage.

Step 1: Discovering who you are

This is the hardest and most challenging part of the entire process as it asks you to answer the question some people spend their whole lives trying to answer. This step cannot be accomplished in one action but it can be started with a simple personality test. Strengtshfinder 2.0 is a unique personality test that yields your top 5 inherent strengths. It is based on the theory that you are born with a specific set of strengths that do not evolve that much as you grow older. It helps you discover your inherent strengths and teaches you how to leverage those strengths to be the most successful you.

Step 2: Identify your passions

By answering a few simple questions you will have a better idea of what you are truly passionate about.

• What puts a smile on your face?
• What do you find easy?
• What sparks your creativity?
• What would you do for free?
• What do you like to talk about?
• What makes you unafraid of failure?
• What would you regret not having tried?

Step 3: Put it to work

Now comes the part you need to spend some time thinking and reflecting on. How can you combine your strengths with your true passions to make your dream career? Here are a few more questions to help spark the ideas in your mind.

• How does your passion impact the lives of others?
• Is there a need that could be filled by your passion?
• How could your passion help to simplify a process?
• What organization’s or companies share your passion?

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This post is part of a series on personal development, career and identity. It’s not about who you want to be when you grow up, but being who you ARE. The key is to find out your true calling and passions and then figuring out how to live it. We all have stories to share, and I want to hear yours. If you’d like to guest blog for the Panda, please submit to floreta@solitarypanda.com.