Day 2:       Make a List of Your Talents, Accomplishments, Skills and Experiences.

I can twirl a baton.  Now, I probably haven’t picked up a baton in 25 years or so, but I bet if you put one in my hands, I could still whip off a few tricks.  Was I ever very good at it?  No.  Was it fun?  Yeah.  Is it useful now?  Doubtful.  It is just one of those little talents that most people don’t know about me (guess I have blown that wide open) but it is a skill that I have up my sleeve. 

What are your hidden talents?  

  What skills did you once have that you have just about forgotten or no longer use?  Can you crochet or draw?  Can you shoot a gun with accuracy?  Tame a lion?  Or a three year old? (Now that’s a talent!!) 

  Here are some memory joggers to help you make your list.  See if you can come up with at least 25 things.

Knitting, crocheting, sewing?

Run, skip rope, toss a javelin?  Bowl, play volleyball, swim?

Do gymnastics, dance (oh those tap lessons), play an instrument?

Write poetry (deep or doggerel), stories, read everything?

Do calligraphy, paint, make macramé, stained glass?

Wire a lamp, lay tile, wallpaper, fix the toilet?

Can you do puzzles:  jigsaws, crosswords, sudoku?

Can you teach, bargain hunt, shoot a bow and arrow, refinish furniture, play pool, make people laugh?

  What have you experienced or accomplished? 

  Have you traveled?  Gone camping or hiking somewhere neat?  Have you seen Star Wars 37 times or ridden a roller coaster 8 times in a row?  Did you get a degree?  Take a specialized course?  Have you learned how to sail, met anyone famous?  Been famous yourself?  Have you been in charge of a committee or fundraising event?  Ever been published or performed in a play?  Returned a lost child to his mother?  Surprised a friend or co-worker who was having a rough patch?

Need more help?  Take a look at pictures of you as a kid.  Read your yearbook blurb.  Ask your family what you used to do as a kid for fun. 

Think back to the jobs you have worked over the years.

Don’t censor yourself.  It doesn’t matter if you did the thing well or not.
       
What is the purpose of this list?  To remind yourself that you are an accomplished person.  That you can learn things.  That you are interesting and interested. 

  So often we dismiss ourselves as ordinary or nothing special.  Now, truth be told, some people are boring.  Sorry.  (You are not going to hear that from all those touchy-feely gurus, are you?)  But the odds are that you are probably not one of those people.  Why?  Because you are here on this website, looking for a way to better yourself.  Boring people don’t try to better themselves.  They just sit like lumps.  Aren’t you glad you are not a lump?   Me, too.