“Don’t chase your dreams, chase your talents…”
This quote came from Reese Witherspoon on a podcast Rethinking with Adam Grant.
We often say on workshops make sure to harness your strengths and not focus on your weaknesses. Witherspoon’s quote implies that if we do focus on our talents they may well lead to dreams but drilling down and identifying them is the most important first step. Dreams can be unknown and a distraction however they can magically appear without you having even identified them.
Witherspoon is a firm believer that we are all unique. What does it mean to be “uniquely you” if you were to forensically explore yourself what would you discover about your talents. This is not the same as comparison which can lead to a dip in self confidence by exposing inadequacies. Lift the lid on you!!
Acting is as much about listening as acting. In life how often are we showing up mentally and physically properly showing up. Being authentic and real is about listening for the cues and adapting and responding appropriately.
We grow in confidence from working on challenging goals however confidence is not a measure of success. Assumptions can be made that confidence is a marker for competence. Assess your own levels of confidence in conjunction with competence. Growth is always about exploring the next opportunity and with it will come confidence.
Witherspoon’s company “Hello Sunshine” is about honouring female authorship.
The culture of the organisation is that no ego is bigger than the mission. The history of getting it right builds confidence. Feedback to each other is always honest and thoughtful. The company and the individuals are ready to pivot with change eg. moving to streaming and TV shows rather than bigger budget films.
We can learn as individuals from that cultural ethos, how quickly we adapt to change and alter our behaviour. Acknowledging our achievements to build on and not letting our ego get in the way of team success. Witherspoon summarises this perfectly “How we show up for each other…?”
Please do get in touch for one to one coaching or a workshop on identifying talents bev@nuggetsoflearning.co.uk
