Bringing Out My Best: COLOURS + Breed = Strengths.

Each COLOUR has its correlated STRENGTHS. Knowing you COLOURS combinations will point you out to your strengths. 

Observing how you sell and knowing your BREED will also tell you what your strengths are. Thus, applying the combination i.e., your current dull STRENGTHS, you’ll have an explosive combination that will propel you towards your dreams.

Personality & STRENGTH 

In his book ‘Personality Isn’t Permanent’, Dr. Benjamin Hardy (PhD) went into great length to demonstrate that your personality can be shaped into someone that gets you to your goals.

Thus, it is important first to know what you want, set your goals, know what the strengths are you already have (from COLOURS & Breed) and identify what are the strengths and skills you need to develop.

Typical COLOURS & Strengths

Some COLOURS & Strengths correlations are as follows:

RED (striving):

-       Achiever.

-       Belief.

-       Focus.

-       Discipline.

-       Self assurance.

YELLOW (impacting)

-       Positivity.

-       Commanding.

-       Wooing.

-       Competing.

-       Developer.

GREEN (relating)

-       Relator.

-       Empathy.

-       Includer.

-       Harmony.

-       Communication.

BLUE (thinking):

-       Deliberative.

-       Analytical.

-       Intellection.

-       Contextualising.

-       Consistent.

Typical Breeds & Strengths

Typical breeds & their strengths: 

Pit Bull:

-       Ferocity & aggressiveness.

-       Tenacity.

-       Determined.

-       Fearless.

-       Will not take a “NO”.

Golden Retriever:

-       Always willing to serve.

-       Friendly and amiable.

-       Eternally optimistic.

-       Attentive.

-       Always looking out for opportunities.

Poodle:

-       Socialiser.

-       Stylish & classy.

-       Well-connected at high places.

-       Speaks clearly & distinguished manner.

-       Very articulative.

Chihuahua:

-       Amazing brainpower & knowledge.

-       Technical wizards & know facts.

-       Mercilessly pursuing knowledge.

-       Loves to do research.

-       Passionate and know everything there is to know about stuf!

Basset hound:

-       Often alert for opportunities.

-       Always obliging to serve.

-       Constant, consistent & dependable.

-       Strong & loyal – long term relationship.

-       Tenacious, undeterred.

Blair Singer explains this in his book “Sales Dogs: You Don't Have to be an Attack Dog to Explode Your Income”. He compared the style and behaviour of the many salespeople he encountered including himself to the breeds he wrote in the book.

Discovering Your Strengths 

To discover your full set of strengths, you can observe:

1.     What are the things you love doing?

2.     What are the things which seem complex to others, but you do with ease?

You can read further to discover your strengths in Tom Rath’s “Strengthfinder 2.0” or Marcus Buckingham’s “Now, Discover Your Strength.

What Are Your Basic Strengths?

Everyone has a primary COLOUR and a combination of other secondary & tertiary COLOURS. Thomas Erikson explains this well in “Surrounded By Idiots”. Read this book and detail out what are your current traits.

Next, again relate this to the breeds’ strengths, voile! you’ll have your current base strengths. Again, for more details you can get Marcus Buckingham’s or Tom Rath’s book, and read.

What Strengths Do You Want To Adapt?

Next is to project yourself to 5, 10, 15 years from now. See what you’d like to do; what kind of person you’d have to be to do what you want to do.

Why Do You Want To Adapt & Develop Those Strengths?

Quite simply, if after you have done a self-audit on your strengths and realise for example you want to be a daredevil skydiver (doing BASE jumping and whatnot!) and today, you know that you are a BLUE-GREEN-Basset Hound, you are not that well equipped to handle that kind of adventure, are you?

Or you know very well that you are a GREEN-BLUE-Chihuahua, who will not make a decision or move even a finger, until you have ALL the facts in your hand, no matter how long it takes to get there, you simply can’t lead and run a dynamic technology company in Silicon Valley! Or can you?

But you can, we all can! By developing the strengths and skills that are necessary to function in that kind of work and environment. This development and adaptation however do not happen overnight. You have to plan and give yourself time to develop.

Personality Isn’t Permanent

Dr. Benjamin Hardy wrote that once you set your goal and you know what kind of person, what kind of traits are necessary to achieve that goal, commit 100% to that.

It’s like driving a car. When you are a learner, you have no clue how to drive the car, though you might have observed your parents drive the family car every day. You tried to remember the steps of what your father did: sit, adjust the seat’s position, put on the seatbelt, key in the ignition, gear on neutral, parking brake still on, turn the key, press the clutch, shift into first gear, press the brake pedal, release the parking brake, slowly apply fuel on the accelerator….

But when your father took you for your first private driving lesson, you followed the exact step but hey(!) you couldn’t even turn the ignition key! Then your father told you that the steering was locked! WHAT???!!! Then you managed to start the engine, but as soon as you depressed the clutch the engine sputtered and died! Arrrgghhh!!!

If you are lucky, your father would be patient with you and tell you that you have to release the clutch gently and almost slowly…

Adapting new traits and developing them to be your strengths is just like that. Give it time, with lots of practice. As you practice, keep observing and make course corrections. Just like driving too, it will become second nature to you, and you will have your BEST!