#87. On Rediscovering Your Strengths, with Kavita Ahuja

Ask yourself if not now, when do you want to leave your job? Start your own business, take control of your health, reignite the passion in your marriage. Write that book, or at least that first chapter, transitions like this can be daunting. But through listening to my story and interviews with incredible women every week, I hope to inspire you to take action. I rediscovered myself after the age of 50, and I know you can too. It's my time now to help you do just that. I'm so excited you're here.

Let's dive in. Hi my friend, and welcome to another episode of the Midlife Reinvention Podcast. How are you doing? I know many people may ask you this question all the time, but I want you to really tune into yourself and ask yourself, how are you really doing? Life throws a lot of things at us, and ultimately it is about how we are doing internally that will get us through some of these outer obstacles.

If we were able to maintain an internal type of peace and knowing that everything always works out for the best, then we were able to tackle what life throws at us. Would you agree?

Of course. The question is how do we get to this? It is by knowing who we really are and what we really want, and that is the basis of everything I do every day. I try to uncover this more and more for myself and for those who I serve. As I sit and reflect on this year so far and how I am doing, I feel very happy. I am so grateful for so much. The last six months or so in my family's life has been quite tumultuous with ups and downs in my parents' health.

Through it, I try to keep a positive attitude that everything is going to work out just fine and really believe that. I'm happy to report that everything is just fine now. Everything is as it should be. There are new normals of course, but if we learn to accept them without judgment, life becomes easier. And there's so much more that flows into our lives when we worry about what we lack in our lives, what we lack flows more into our lives.

When we think about all the abundance we have in our lives with gratitude, more of that abundance will flow to us.

We were so blessed to have a new little baby girl come into our lives. Recently with my niece having a baby girl on Easter Sunday. Actually, they named her Asha, which is an Indian name that comes from a Sanskrit word for hope or desire, but is also a Swahili name derived from Asha, meaning life. How beautiful is that? What do we desire or hope in our lives? Do we really believe that we can have it or be it?

This episode is dedicated to you, sweet Asha, as you embark on your new beautiful life full of hope.

I've been contemplating a lot lately on what we truly desire in our lives, and ultimately it is happiness. When we are at a crossroads in our life, like many of you may be, we don't really know how to achieve this happiness. I have seen so many of my clients grapple with this issue. What they think will make them happy is somewhere in the future and by focusing on what they lack right now, there is a disconnect or discord.

What if we could bring that feeling of happiness for that future thing into the present right now? How would we feel more and more as I let go of the worries and consequences of my actions and the manifestations of things in my life, I'm finding that more and more is coming to me. More abundance comes when you don't worry about abundance coming. More love comes when you don't worry about love coming. You get the picture, but I digress.

My focus on this episode is to help you celebrate your strengths. It really blows my mind how as women especially, we don't recognize our own strengths, let alone celebrate them. I can see the amazing qualities in every client I work with, but all they see mostly are their flaws. Our work is to help you understand that you are enough and perfect in every flaw and in every beautiful thing about you.

Through this and other trainings that we'll follow, I will take you through some of the elements of my coaching program called It's My Time now. It's your time now to really recognize your strengths or superpowers and celebrate them. Enjoy the training and if it resonates with you. And if you'd like to go more in depth into the tools and personal coaching I provide, reach out to me for complimentary consultation. Just email me at Kavita power purpose play ca, and let's have a conversation.

This is the beginning of a journey of rediscovery, and we begin by identifying what are my strengths or superpowers? Enjoy.

Welcome everyone to the second of many videos that I will be sharing elements of my coaching program called It's My Time. Now, why do I call this program? It's my time now because I want you to say with confidence and truly believe it that it is your time. Now, if you were to fill in the sentence or fill in the blank in the sentence, it's my time now to do what? What would you say? And do you really believe that you can do, be or have it?

My program follows a step-by-step process, proven process actually called the Pyramid. Every invention, which I have developed over years of research and training, and it works, it works for me, it worked for me, and it has worked for countless other women. This training will give you inspiration, guidance, and tools to really help you figure out your next steps if you are in a transition right now, perhaps in your career or other aspects of your life before you can take action with confidence.

It's so important to really rediscover who you are and what you really want. In order to do that, you must reflect on very direct questions that will require your honest answers. In order to make concrete and positive shifts, we have to assess our current situation. Honestly, when I started on this journey of rediscovery, I had many emotions including fear, uncertainty, confusion, but at the same time excitement and anticipation.

When we embark on anything new, it's normal to have these emotions, and it's also important to acknowledge them.

The basis of the pyramid of reinvention is rediscovering yourself, and the first step in rediscovering yourself is to rediscover your strengths. I love this quote from John D. Rockefeller who said, the road to happiness lies in two simple principles. Find what it is that interests you and that you can do well, and when you find it, put your whole soul into it. Every bit of energy and ambition and natural ability that you have.

So the next very important step is to determine your inventory. By that, I mean, what are your superpowers? According to the dictionary, superpower means a power or ability, such as the ability to become invincible or fly, which is possessed by superheroes as superhuman power. We often imagine only superheroes, such as Wonder Women possessing these powers, but what if we really believe that each of us has our own superpowers?

If we truly believe that each one of us has our own strengths, our unique abilities, and our individual talents, we can become superheroes. So how do we find our superpowers? The first step is to realize that you are enough. Only you possess the combination of talents and skills, which make you unique. There is no one in this world with your history, experiences, and environment for which to draw from, you are unique. Remember that and you can tap into your superpowers.

It's so important to really understand what you're good at, because especially now, if you are in midlife, for example, you have accumulated such a great wealth of experience and knowledge. Ironically, we often do not give ourselves enough credit for the breadth and depth of our existing skills. You have so much to offer the world. Take some time now to uncover your true gifts by asking yourselves the following questions and journaling the answers.

So I'd like you to bring out a piece of paper right now and answer some of the following questions that I'll take you through. The first question is, What are three things or tasks that you are really good at? Think about it. Honestly. What are the top three things that you are really good at? Don't think too much about it. What comes to mind as you think of the top three things that come very easily to you, for example, that you were really skilled at?

For me, for example, if I closed my eyes and thought about it, honestly, I would say my top three skills are that I'm really good at writing, listening, and coming up with creative solutions to problems. So what are the three things that you are really good at? Take some moments right now to write the answers to this question in your journal.

Next let's answer this question. What are three specific skills or talents that you've developed that make you successful at what you do? What I mean by that is how have you used the skills that you identified in the first question to make you successful? For example, through my strength of writing, I have developed the talent to express my thoughts, and through that, motivate people. Through my words and hence connect with people as well.

My listening skills have allowed me to be successful in coaching, for example, as I listen to my clients and what they really need and want, my creative problem solving skills and abilities have allowed me to successfully help my clients create concrete action plans for their future. So how have you used your top skills or talents successfully?

For example, you may have listed in the previous answer that you are really good at understanding numbers and accounting may be your profession, for example. But what has made you very successful is analyzing the meaning behind the numbers. So again, what talents have you developed that make you successful at what you do? Write the answers in the journal now to this question.

Next, I'd like you to list the 10 most sensational things about you. That's right. What makes you unique, special, and sensational. It doesn't have to be big things. It can be little things. For example, I think I'm good at, I'm a good cook. I love entertaining and I'm really good at putting things together to look beautiful, whether that is in my home or putting myself together, for example, when I'm getting ready.

I love bold and bright colors, and I love coordinating that and, and making things just look lovely. The things that you write down, don't think about them too much, just ideate. They can be things like experiences you've had. Maybe you've ran marathons or you've did some skydiving, or maybe their roles you've played, such as being a parent, a really good parent, best friend, or a sibling, or some expertise. Maybe you know more than one language or you're fluent in another language.

Don't think too much about these. For, as I said, just list the 10 things that come to your mind, the 10 greatest things about you. Do that now in your journal. How does this feel to take even a moment to think about your how great you really are? It is a little uncomfortable, isn't it?

Next. If you were to ask three people who you know very well, what do you think are my superpowers or zone of genius? What topic do you come to me for for advice and what do I do that you find of value? What do you think they would say? Try it. Ask three people who know you well. These questions, and you'll be amazed by their answers. Do their answers have a common theme? Do they align with your own assessment of your strengths?

When we take the time to think about our strengths, what we are really good at, and what has made us successful, and then combine that with asking others the same question, it becomes very clear what our superpowers are. Then the question becomes, am I using my talents to the best of my ability right now? And how can I use my talents or superpowers in different ways that I'm using them right now to make me more energized?

You may or may not realize that you are not using all your talents to the fullest in your life right now, and if you're not, what is stopping you from doing so? As I was going through these exercises myself many years ago, I will tell you I had major imposter syndrome reflecting on some of these questions. I had never really taken the time to inventory what I was good at. I know what made me successful in my life.

As we transition in our lives, if we don't know what we are great at or what makes us unique or special, how can we apply that into what we wanna do moving forward? For example, when I did these exercises many years ago, and when I asked people around me what they thought my superpowers were, there were surprising common themes around writing, listening, being empathetic and inspiring others. The interesting thing was then that I realized I was only using some of my talents in my career.

At that time. I realized I needed to utilize my talents in listening and inspiring others and guiding others more. So guess what I'm doing now? In these last few years, I've pushed myself repeatedly outside of my comfort zone, and I'm using talents I never knew I had, like podcasting, for example, or doing videos like this. When I started doing these things, I was very scared at first.

It becomes so rewarding when, and energizing when you actually use as many talents as you can in what you are doing. As women especially, we often don't acknowledge or our strengths, let alone celebrate them. Now, I can tell you emphatically that understanding your strengths forms the basis of what you can offer the world moving forward. Have fun with these exercises and reflection questions. Make note of the answers in your journal and contemplate what the answers mean for you.

Be kind to yourself and think about what makes you you and what makes you great.

I would love it if you reached out to me with any insights you've gained from this exercise as we follow the pyramid of reinvention together. Let me know if you enjoy this type of work and if, if you have any questions or feedback, if you want personal one-on-one guidance, reach out to me and let's book a call to chat. I'd love to know what your top strengths are and how you have applied them and how they align what others say about you.

More importantly, are you using these strengths in your life right now and what insights did you gain? Thank you for listening, and we will go through further steps of the pyramid of re-invention in future videos because I want you to say and believe with confidence. It's my time now. Thank you so much. Until next time, stay well and stay safe.