Week 1 Tools and Light

A Ship’s Chandlery is shop that has the tools to equip a boat for safe travel.

A Chandler is a Candle maker

Hi, I’m Ginny Chandler. With that last name, Chandler, I figure I was destined to offer tools to safely sail off into the world and to light candle to show the way. Tools and light that’s what we need.

Join me to build on the tools we’ve developed from our past experience and add a few new ones and shed some light on our path. You are the expert of your own experience. Let’s put that expertise to good use.

Week 1:

Start with strength

That is, start with the tools you already have, your strengths. When we experience stress or have a problem, start with what you can do, rather than what you can’t do. Start with what you do well.

We are all well aware of our failures, the stress that we’ve experienced and what we need to improve.

We can make a problem list in a New York minute. We know stress.

But what about what we do well? As we move forward, rather than start by solving a problem with what’s not working, let’s start with our strengths.

Since first grade, actually since we arrived on the planet, our neural patterns have been ingrained from statements like: “That’s not right, that’s the wrong way.” “This is how to hold the bat, this is how to spell the word, this is how to solve the problem.” We learn from our mistakes. Well, that’s one way to learn.

Another way is, “Let’s find out what you do well already and build on that. Let’s learn what your strengths are and start there.” That has a different feeling, right? Whether 7 or 70 we can build new neural patterns. We can change our brains. Here’s all we need:

I. Be aware of your strengths

II. Cultivate trusted connections

III. Access needed resources

I. Aware of strengths

To figure out your strengths you could take a strength assessment or you can start with a mind map. The strength assessment I have found most useful is from Clifton strengths. You can buy a code, take 15 minutes to answer the timed questions and you’ll get your top five strengths plus an action plan. The action plan offers concrete suggestions on how to put your strengths into your everyday life. For over 1000 of my students, the strength assessment has worked well, https://store.gallup.com/p/en-us/10108/top-5-cliftonstrengths

OR you can start out by making your own mind map.

We’ve all learned in school to start writing we should use an outline. That’s a good idea but

very few of us think in a linear manner. We don’t think I,2,3, or a,b,c. As a writing mentor of

mine commented, “Our mind is a mess.” We only have to sit still and try to meditate, and we

can get a picture of how much is going on up there. So rather than struggle to create an

outline let’s start with a circle.

1. Draw a sun, a circle with, let’s say, five rays. Now write in the center of the circle, ‘what I am good at.’

2. Take a few deep breaths while focusing on the statement ‘what I am good at.’ When ideas start to pop up, like I’m a good friend, a good runner, a good listener, write each idea down at the end of a ray. And there you have it, five things you are good at.

3. Now take one of those good things and notice how you use it in your life over the next day or so. Or choose one of the things you are good at and purposely put it to use. See how that feels.

4. Take a moment to notice how you feel when you put into practice something you are good at.

Using our strengths in our everyday life is how we’re going to change our way of thinking.

That’s how we’ll set down new ‘feel good’ neural patterns. We’ve already got the stress

patterns down. That side of our brain is a well-oiled machine. Let’s try something new. Start

with strengths. “By concentrating on what I am good at helped me realize that I don’t have to be prefect but rather focus on things I do well.” Let’s start there.

‘Til next week,

Chandler