Brain overload!

WOAH! My love for learning has been filled for today! Today our speaker, Mike Dodge came to share and train us in Strengths Based Leadership. Boom. We had taken the strengths finders tests a few weeks ago and today we shared our results and got more training on them. Mike runs an organization that helps train people in their strengths and teaches these seminars. I think the part that really stuck out with me especially after so many years of working in education. Especially in North America we aim so much for creating and educating "well rounded" people. This is SO important in the states, so much so that we will even change the grading platform so that in certain tests we are giving kids a passing grade for leaving an answer blank! I agree there are certain basics that kids need to know. Math, reading, writing. There is a certain level of aptitude that a functioning adult must have. But at what point do we say, "Ok this kid is really struggling in Math. He's (or she in my case) is never going to be strong in math. Why don't we, instead of paying for or hiring math tutors hire an highly trained English tutor?" When someone shows very obvious strengths in a certain subject, why don't we focus on that instead of trying to get everyone on the same level and equally strong in all areas. Most adults, never end up his way. I'm awful at math to this day and in my adult life have avoided it as much as I can but I thrive still in English type activities. Teaching, speaking, writing. This was super eye opening to me, as was a study Mike told us about, about infant brains. When we are born there are a number or open pathways. Small brain vessels that exchange information. The study shows that whatever brain pathways are used most often, emotional exchanges, anatlytical approaches, etc, etc those brain pathways are actually strengthened and opened wider, and the lesser used pathways are closed. So the idea is, that the most used ways of processing are set from life. I'm not totally sure if I buy it completely because you will always have extreme cases (like kids who've been totally neglected or abused as children and end up being completely giving, healthy emotional, etc.) But it was fascinating to think about in the ways that my sisters and I are different based on how my parents were or what my Mom was doing when we were first born. I'm an incredibly emotional person and process emotionally. As an infant my Mom was super young and I was her first baby. I imagine most of my needs were immediately met with cooing, coddling and cuddling. I was used to being tended to immediately and emotionally. Whereas my sister Jess is very analytical, she's capable of emotion and very loving and caring but not near as much immediate reacting to something in emotion. When she was born she was number two in birth order, I was a needy toddler and my Mom was working multiple jobs. Jess learned very young to weigh her options and make good choices. I know the test is not without weaknesses but it made more sense to me when I compared it to my own life experiences. (And super fun to compare to my two nieces. What I witnessed in Izze's first few months and what I've heard of Faith's first few weeks!)

Something else SUPER interesting to me is when we were talking about Myers-Briggs tests and the typical answers you will get for that. Introvert/Extrovert, Thinker/Feeler and that your brain and person tends to function in your strengths within that but at about the age of 40 you start to function within the shadow characteristics because your brain never stops learning. That at the age, what if often taken as a mid life crisis is actually your brain assuming it has reached perfection in one area and so it will switch to the other traits to attempt to perfect and grow in those. How awesome is that?! Mike was saying most of his life he's been a super extroverted thinker but once he hit about forty he become comfortable finding energy on his own and started crying and goofy movies. (A funny life example to actually studies). Funny to think how myself, my friends and my siblings may change as we get older.

So my strengths are (and I'm sure this will completely shocking to those of you who know me.... ;)
Three-way tie for first:
1.Empathy
1.Relator
1.Significance

2.Connectedness
3.Communication
4.Context
5.Belief
6. Input

(And while Mike said to stay away from focusing on those that scored low because we're trying to stay away from everyone being the same "well rounded" person for the sake of the argument and to make a few readers grin when they see) My lowest three:
1.Achiever
2.Self Assurance
3. Adaptability

No surprises when it came to strength finder test but super interesting in the context of where I've been in the last five years and what I'm doing here as a leader. And when it comes down to it, I suppose the thing that really fires me up about the Strengths Finders is learning to really function in the flow in our God giving identity. I don't believe God intended for us to be copies of each other as the same "well rounded people". God made all of us different, just like he made the animals totally different, just as he made all people for all time totally different. He made us totally different, with totally different strengths and weaknesses so that we would need each other. So we would need him. So we would never be able to do anything in our own power. He did all of this and he looked at us and He said, "It is good." Like I'm really fired about that today. Really figuring out how God made me and why and how he intends to use that to bring himself glory really makes me excited. Our God is just so intricate and cares about the smallest things. Nothing from little brain vessels in infants to, creating jobs and teams for adults; none of that is on accident and none of that it out of His control. Blown away.

The thoughts for today.

Also super thankful for the Merrino wool shirt Mette left for me when she flew back to Denmark last week. It's coming in so handy today in the cold! As well as the red wool hat I stole from Dan in the dice game on Christmas last year. It's a chilly one!