My husband and I, joined another couple for a brief respite at the beach.  During our stay, I marveled at the hearty and beautiful blossoms growing along the vines clinging on to the hot sand dunes. I pondered the identity of two large white birds arguing with each other in mid-flight looping in and out of flocks of Seagulls and Pelicans like an old married couple.  On one of my walks along the surf, I noticed a little six year old boy singing a nonsensical song as he leisurely made his way into the waves.  I was reminded that I usually sing or hum under my breath when I go swimming or boogy-boarding or windsurfing.  I’d never really thought about the fact that I do this until I heard this boy singing and I knew that he probably felt the same kind of giddy happiness that I feel when I’m going to be free and happy swimming and playing in the water.  Today I met with a new client, who I’ll call “Mr. F.” who caused me to think about that little boy in the ocean because Mr. F. exuded the aura of “singing under his breath” when he talked about what he loved to do which was working with music, creating films or just getting to be creative and utilize his creativity through his work.  Mr. F. has an impressive background in creating original music scores and special musical effects for various films as well as experience with media relations, public writing and even a successful 2 year stint as a member of a band who was a regular in a well-known Austin music club. 

Mr. F. is meeting with me to get help (coaching) with focusing his many skills, experiences and talents into a career that will allow him more stability as he readies his family for a new addition.  One thing Mr. F. already has made is that he knows that it is important for him to find a job/career that he feels happy about and that the money will follow.  I believe he’s right and that he has the skills and experience from his career and education paths along the way that he will be able to pull together to help him to craft the career that makes his heart sing.  This may sound very basic to you. Many people have written about, “Do What You Love and the Money Will Follow”.  I believe this is true. That if you are consistent with something that you do well and you do it often and you enjoy doing it that these strengths will naturally help you to become successful.  There’s a book I was lent to read called, “Now, Discover Your Strengths” by Marcus Buckingham and Donald O. Clifton, Ph.D. both bigwigs with the Gallup Organization. It’s a good book because they simply and elegantly lay out why discovering your strengths and focusing on those strengths will help you to be successful. As opposed to how most of the time, at least us folks from the U.S.A., tend to veer towards focusing on what is broken or weak and try to fix that instead of looking at what is working and what is right. 

If you could list five of your top strengths, what would they be? Are you stumped? There are several good assessments out there that can help you to identify them.  Depending on your support system structure with family, friends, and co-workers, you could also try asking them what they see as some of your top strengths. Try it. You might be pleasantly surprised. I believe that when we follow the path that causes the song to burst from our heart out of our throats (sometimes more quietly than others!), that is when you know that you are on the right path.  If you aren’t on that path right now, pay attention to those times when you do feel “in your bliss”. When it is easy to just be you.  I haven’t quite figured out how I can make money sitting on my sofa in meditation surrounded by my cats and dogs, but I suspect there is something to that which will be helpful with my coaching along the way! 

 Let me hear from you and what makes you sing.