People are more likely to succeed if they follow their natural drives and ‘do what comes naturally’. Everybody is creative. Everybody has something special to give to the world. Everybody has a unique ‘spirit’. This is a combination of their personality, strengths and the way they express these qualities. So it can be useful to enable somebody to express this spirit when, for example, helping them to clarify their goals. They can then be true to themselves, rather than trying to be somebody else. This will also increase their chances of success.

Sounds fine, but how do you translate these principles into practice? One approach is to focus on a person’s SOS – Strengths, Opportunities and Specific goals. Let’s explore how you can do this in your own life and work.

1) You can focus on your strengths.

“Looking back at my early career, I felt enthusiastic and enjoyed going to work each day,” said Sally, a marketing professional. “Nowadays I have a grand job title, but something is missing. I want to feel creative and do my best to help the business. Sometimes I wonder if this is possible because, as you climb the ladder, life seems to become less juicy. I want to get back to feeling real and making a positive difference in my work. How can I make this happen?”

Sally began by listing all her personal and professional strengths. For example, her resources included having the ability:

* To lead motivated project teams and deliver superb marketing campaigns.

* To provide strategic insight – she had a track record of predicting what would happen in the market in the next few years.

* To give inspiring keynote speeches.

* To write good articles and draw eye-catching cartoons,

* To overcome obstacles. (She had overcome a difficult illness during her early years.)

Try tackling the exercise on this theme. Looking at your own life and work, describe your abilities. Start by considering the normal ‘strengths questions’. For example:

‘What are the specific activities in which you consistently deliver ‘As’, rather than ‘Bs’ or ‘Cs’? When are you in your element – at ease and yet excel? What do you see the destination quickly: when do you go ‘A, B ______ then leap to ______ Z’? What are the situations in which you feel calm, clear and deliver concrete results? Where do you quickly see patterns? Looking back at your life, what have been the most satisfying and stimulating ‘projects’? What made these satisfying? What do you have a track record of delivering? Looking elsewhere, what are your other – perhaps quirky – talents?”

Dare to explore many aspects of your life and strengths. Try completing the following exercise.

2) You can focus on your opportunities.

“This proved an interesting exercise, because I did not realise the extent of my opportunities,” said Sally. “For example, I could try to re-invent my job and show the benefits to the business; write articles about the future of marketing; produce my own web site; illustrate it with my cartoons and drawings; act as a mentor for Generation Y people setting out in marketing; set-up my own ‘marketing mentoring’ column on the site; apply the lessons I had learned from overcoming previous setbacks; publish my own e-book on the web site; and consider many other possibilities.”

How to explore your opportunities? One approach is to focus on imagination, inspiration and imitation.

* Imagination

Looking at your strengths, brainstorm all the imaginative things you can do. Dare to dream and avoid censorship. There will be lots of time for that when coming to implementation.

* Inspiration

What are all the inspiring things you could do to use your strengths? What are your passions? How could you translate these into action? Again, be free ranging and find lots of ideas.

* Imitation

Looking at the past and present, who are the positive models you admire? Who, for you, have been inspiring pioneers? How could you follow their paths in your own way?

Bearing in mind your strengths, brainstorm all your possible opportunities. Try completing the following exercise.

3) You can focus on your specific goals.

Bearing in mind her strengths and opportunities, Sally clarified her picture of success.

“Looking three years into the future, I described the things I wanted to have achieved by then. These included: 1) To have enjoyed doing 3 years fulfilling marketing work. Maybe with my present company, maybe with a competitor or maybe by setting-up my own firm. 2) To have published three e-books – complete with drawings – on my web site. 3) To have started a mentoring practice for younger people making their way through marketing. I wanted to help them retain their creativity, rather than simply become cogs in the marketing machine.”

There are many ways to set goals. But the most effective methods link your inner talents and outer targets. Experiencing a sense of recognition, you say: “That feels right. I believe that, providing I work hard, I can reach the goals.” You see the benefits and want to achieve the targets. Try tackling the exercise on this theme. Start by picking a date in the future. Building on your strengths and opportunities, clarify the specific goals you want to achieve by that date. Be selective to be effective – choose a maximum of 3 goals. Clarify the pluses and minuses involved in working towards the targets. Make sure you are prepared to do the work and want to achieve the picture of success. Try completing the following exercise.

Everybody is an artist, everybody is creative: but the key is to start from the inner and move to the outer. One approach is to start from the person’s essence – their spirit – and clarify their strengths and opportunities. They can translate these into their own targets and work towards achieving their picture of success.

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