Awareness of Your Natural Patterns
Appreciate, name and apply your innate talents
Welcome to the concept of Strengths based performance, where you will learn how to enhance your mental and emotional fitness. However, before building on your fitness, you must first be able to identify your natural thinking and feeling patterns. We provide you with a language to be able to do that. This first step is known as “Name Your Strengths”, where you will gain awareness of your innate patterns and begin to understand how you use them.
Remember, there are over 33 million different combinations of natural patterns, so you will think, feel and behave differently to everyone else. And that is a great thing.
You will also learn about the potential benefits of focusing on your strengths, rather than conforming to socially driven expectations to concentrate on weaknesses.
Instead of becoming ‘well rounded’ to fit into a mould like everyone else, you will endeavour to become an individual star recognised for your unique strengths.
Analysing the results of a CliftonStrengths Finder assessment is a critical step in fully leveraging its insights. Here’s why it’s important to analyse the results:
The assessment provides a ranked list of your top five talents out of 34 themes (depending on which results you ordered), offering a unique insight into what you naturally do best. Analysis helps you understand the nuances of how these strengths manifest in your personal and professional life.
By identifying and analysing your strengths, you can focus on areas where you naturally excel, leading to increased confidence, productivity, and effectiveness. You can develop strategies to use your strengths intentionally to achieve goals and overcome challenges.
Each strength has potential downsides or “shadow sides” when overused, underused, misunderstood and misapplied. Analysis helps you recognise where your strengths unintentionally hinder progress and impact relationships, allowing for proactive management.
A coach helps maintain your focus by setting priorities, tracking progress, and holding you accountable for your commitments.
Example: A coach might ask, “What will you commit to focusing on this week, and how will we measure your progress?”
The insights gained from analysis provide a roadmap for growth, helping you align your career, relationships, and intentions with your natural abilities. It supports intentional development of less dominant strengths if they are critical for achieving specific aspirations.
Analysis deepens self-awareness by helping you understand how your thoughts and emotions influence your behaviours, decisions, and interactions with others. This awareness fosters emotional intelligence, aiding in effective communication and leadership.
Understanding the results enables you to develop an actionable plan to apply your strengths in daily life. It also helps you set realistic, strength-based intentions that align with your abilities and passions.
Knowing how your thoughts and emotions can be leveraged in challenging situations equips you with the skills and knowledge to adapt effectively. It helps you approach problems with a strengths-based mindset, turning potential obstacles into opportunities.
Analysing results helps you understand how your strengths align with your purpose and values. This alignment fosters greater fulfilment and motivation in both personal and professional pursuits.
Outhouse to Penthouse
The outhouse and penthouse theory within strengths provides a way to understand how thoughts, emotions and actions can manifest positively (penthouse) or negatively (outhouse) depending on how they are used.
Imagine...
… when you are in an unproductive state (the outhouse), figuratively, it maybe dark, cold and a not so happy place. Conversely, from the penthouse, you are in ‘flow’: up high, great views and on top of the world.
Example:
An example of someone with the Maximiser theme is someone who sees potential and strives for excellence. Driven by a desire to enhance what is already good and make it even better, their intentions are rooted in a passion for improvement and achievement. This same behaviour can come across negatively to others. If a Maximiser focuses too much on what could be improved without first appreciating others, they may seem overly critical, pushy, and even dismissive. This can alienate others who don’t feel acknowledged for their contributions and who might see this drive as excessive and domineering. To stay in the “penthouse” you must balance your pursuit of excellence with genuine acknowledgment of what is already valuable. By appreciating and celebrating existing achievements, you build trust and encourage collaboration. From this foundation, invite others to join in improving what is already good, fostering a sense of shared purpose rather than imposing your own drive for improvement.
How the Theory Enhances Development
Benefits of Understanding Both Outhouse and Penthouse:
Self-Reflection and Growth: Encourages individuals to reflect on their behaviours and how they’re perceived, fostering personal and professional growth.
Targeted Coaching: Provides a framework for identifying development opportunities, moving strengths from the outhouse to the penthouse.
Holistic Perspective: Recognising both sides of strengths prevents over-idealisation and supports a balanced understanding of oneself.
Team Awareness: Helps teams appreciate diverse strengths while mitigating conflicts that arise from basement behaviours.
Challenges of the Theory
Overgeneralisation: People may overly focus on the penthouse and outhouse labels without appreciating the nuances of each situation.
Defensiveness: Highlighting outhouse behaviours may make some individuals feel criticised or judged, hindering development.
Fixation on Weaknesses: Some may focus too much on “fixing” outhouse behaviours instead of playing to their strengths from the penthouse.
Outhouse Perspective (Strengths at their Worst)
Drawbacks:
Overuse or Misuse of Strengths:
A strength in the outhouse can become a liability.
For example, Achiever in the outhouse might lead to workaholism and burnout.
Strained Relationships: Outhouse behaviours may be perceived as annoying or counterproductive, causing friction with team mates, coaches and family members.
For instance, Command in the outhouse might come across as controlling or intimidating.
Reduced Self-Awareness: Without recognising when a strength is in the outhouse, individuals may unintentionally sabotage their success.
Unbalanced Approach: Over-relying on a strength in its outhouse form can overshadow other valuable traits or derail team dynamics.
Penthouse Perspective (Strengths at their Best)
Benefits:
Maximising Potential: Recognising and operating from the penthouse of a strength helps individuals and teams perform at their highest potential.
For example, the strength of Empathy from the penthouse allows for deep understanding and connection with others.
Fostering Confidence: Awareness of a strengths positive impact builds self-assurance and encourages leveraging them effectively.
Improved Relationships: Penthouse behaviours often inspire trust, collaboration, and admiration, as they reflect the best version of a strength in action.
Alignment with Values: When strengths are in the penthouse, they align with personal and organisational values, creating synergy and alignment.
To Do List...
- Reflective Questions
- Complete Clifton StrengthsFinder
- Download Insight Guide
- Activity: Awareness
- Activity: Share Your Strengths
- Activity: 7 Day Challenge
With a Coach
- Activity: Outhouse to Penthouse
You may have noticed that the To-Do List includes additional activities for those completing this program with a coach. Your workbook, which contains these extra activities, should have already been provided to you. If you haven’t received it, please contact your coach as soon as possible.
If you are completing the program on your own, write out your To-Do List and record your activity answers in a diary, journal, or another safe place. Be sure to check them off as you complete them.
Additionally, if you feel you would benefit from the support of a coach, you still have the option to connect with one. Simply book a quick discovery call to learn more.
Activities
How do I get things done?
How do I encourage and influence others?
How do I develop relationships?
How do I process information, organise thoughts and make plans?
Now that you have completed these four short questions, you should have received an email with an access code to the Clifton StrengthsFinder online survey. If not, contact your coach to arrange. If you are completing this program without a coach, you may also purchase a code by visiting the Gallup website. Click Here.
This survey will uncover your natural patterns of thought, emotion and behaviour.
Once you have completed the survey, you will receive your results, feel free to read any or all information. Perhaps even share them with a friend. You will have access to these results whenever you log into the Gallup website. Before leaving the site, please download your insight guide and save it in a safe place.
If you want to print your insight guide, we also recommend highlighting the key words and phrases that really resonate with you.
If you would prefer a free strengths assessment you may use the VIA strengths. These are personality strengths, rather than performance strengths like the StrengthsFinder, which are slightly different. However, you will still learn a lot. Simply Click Here .
Look at your top five Signature themes. How do they drive your performance? This may be applied to something big you want to achieve or an everyday situation. Answer the following questions using your workbook, or download the word or PDF version (click on the link), or simply write your answers in a journal or diary. Remember, you will grow your knowledge and understanding by handwriting your answers. Answer as little or as much detail as you feel worthy.
1) How would your friends describe you?
2)How do your themes impact your ability to make things happen?
3) How do you use your themes to influence (or inspire) others?
4) How do you use your themes to build and nurture relationships?
5) How do you use your themes to think about, plan or analyse a situation?
Once you have completed your penthouse to outhouse tables it is time to identify times you have acted in both states. Approach someone who knows you well. It could be a close friend, a family member, a team mate or even a work colleague. Briefly explain this strengths process and show them your tables. Ask them questions like, can you think of a time I was behaving in the outhouse and penthouse. Ask them what state they believed you were in at the time. Ask them how your behaviours made them feel. Remember, sharing what you’ve learnt and possibly teaching someone else will help embed your new findings.
Activity: 7 Day Challenge with Your Top 5 Strengths
This week, the focus is on Naming Your Strengths and becoming familiar with how they show up in your day-to-day life. You can choose to align one of your top five strengths with each challenge, use all five, or combine them in different ways. Upon reflection, you may even notice how each of your strengths naturally showed up throughout the day. Remember, you can revisit the 7 Day Challenge anytime to incorporate the daily intentions and reflective questions. As you progress, you’ll begin to notice how interconnected each of the seven challenges are.
You’ve already taken the first step by engaging with this content – watching, listening, reading, and completing the activities. If you’re working with a coach, your first strengths coaching session has also helped lay the foundation.
Today is about gaining new knowledge, a new language, the ability to Name Your Strengths. The goal is to bring what you don’t know you don’t know into the realm of knowing what you don’t know. Then, take what you know you don’t know and move it into the realm of knowing – developing your conscious competence in the process.
Today’s Intention: Awareness Through Strengths
Today, I will focus on one of my top 5 strengths, using mindfulness to notice how it shows up in my thoughts, actions, and interactions. I will become aware of when I use this strength naturally (unconscious competence), when I apply it with intention (conscious competence), and where I can develop it further (conscious incompetence).
Reflective Questions:
- How did I intentionally use my chosen strength today, and what impact did it have?
- When did I notice this strength showing up naturally, without conscious effort?
- In what situations did I overlook this strength, and how might I use it more effectively next time?
Today is about using focus to direct your strengths with intention. Identify when a strength helps you maintain focus and overcome distractions.
Today’s Intention: Focus Through Strengths
Today, I will notice when one of my top 5 strengths helps me focus on my goals. I will pay attention to moments when this strength keeps me motivated, focused, and productive.
Reflective Questions:
- When did I notice my chosen strength helping me stay focused today?
- How did this strength help me overcome distractions or challenges?
- How did using this strength impact my productivity, mindset, or results?
Language has the power to shape your thoughts, influence your actions, and impact those around you. Today’s challenge is to identify how a strength influences your self-talk and communication with others.
Today’s Intention: Language Your Strengths
Today, I will notice how one of my top 5 strengths shapes the way I speak to myself and others. I will be mindful of using empowering, confident, and clear language that reflects this strength.
Reflective Questions:
- How did I notice my chosen strength influencing my self-talk today?
- When did this strength help me communicate more clearly or confidently with others?
- How did my language, guided by this strength, impact my thoughts, actions, or relationships?
Understanding your why gives meaning to your actions and fuels long-term motivation. Today’s challenge is to identify when a strength connects your daily actions to your long-term goals. By using your strength to stay connected to your bigger goals, you’ll approach each task with greater intention and clarity.
Today’s Intention: Purpose Through Strengths
Today, I will notice how one of my top 5 strengths helps me stay connected to my sense of purpose. I will recognise moments when this strength reminds me of my long-term goals and motivates my daily actions.
Reflective Questions:
- When did I notice my chosen strength aligning my actions with my purpose?
- When did my sense of purpose help me overcome a challenge or stay motivated?
- How does recognising this strength impact my sense of direction and confidence?
Habits are the building blocks of success. Today’s challenge is to identify when a strength supports your daily routines and habits.. By applying your strengths consistently, you can create habits that support your growth and long-term success.
Today’s Intention: Build Habits Through Strengths
Today, I will notice how one of my top 5 strengths helps me maintain positive habits and routines. I will observe when this strength supports consistency, discipline, and follow-through.
Reflective Questions:
- When did I notice my chosen strength helping me maintain a positive habit today?
- How did this strength help me stay consistent and overcome resistance?
- What habit did I strengthen today, and how did my strength contribute to my success?
Growth comes from learning something new, practicing it with intention, and sharing your knowledge with others. Today’s challenge is to identify when a strength helps you learn, practice, and share new knowledge. – expanding your skills while reinforcing your growth by teaching or supporting others.
Today’s Intention: Learn, Practice, and Share Through Strengths
Today, I will notice how one of my top 5 strengths supports my learning process. I will observe how this strength helps me absorb new information, practice skills, and share what I’ve learned with others.
Reflective Questions:
- When did I notice my chosen strength helping me learn or apply something new today?
- How did this strength help me practice and improve a skill?
- When did I share my knowledge or experience, and how did my strength influence that interaction?
Sharing your strengths and insights with others creates a ripple effect of growth and empowerment. Today’s challenge is to identify when a strength helps you support, guide, or teach someone else.. By guiding others, you not only help them grow, you also reinforce your own mastery.
Today’s Intention: Empower Others Through Strengths
Today, I will notice how one of my top 5 strengths helps me support, coach, or teach others. I will observe how this strength allows me to guide, encourage, and empower those around me.
Reflective Questions:
- When did I use my chosen strength to support or guide someone else today?
- How did this strength help me communicate, encourage, or teach more effectively?
- What impact did my strength have on the other person’s growth, confidence, or perspective?
Taking just a few minutes each day to reflect on these questions can have a powerful impact on your wellbeing and personal growth. This daily check is designed to help you:
Stay Focused on What Matters Most
By pausing to reflect, you’ll become more aware of how you’re spending your time, energy, and attention – allowing you to make intentional choices that align with your goals and values.Celebrate Small Wins
Noticing moments of progress, connection, or positivity helps boost your confidence and reinforces healthy habits that contribute to your happiness.Build a Stronger Mindset
Mindful reflection can help you identify areas of growth, reduce stress, and develop a greater sense of control over your week.Foster Connection and Balance
Recognising meaningful interactions and balancing work with life outside of it improves your relationships and overall satisfaction.Contribute to a Positive Environment
Your feedback can inspire changes that benefit your workplace or community, helping create a space where everyone can thrive.
Commit to just a few minutes each day – it’s an investment in yourself and a simple step toward a happier, more fulfilled life.