Talents Include...

There is a fantastic book, called StrengthFinders 2.0, that is supposed to help you find your natural "strengths" or talents so you can exploit them to become the best person you are capable of becoming...

The book describes itself:

DO YOU HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO DO WHAT YOU DO BEST EVERY DAY?

Chances are, you don't. All too often, our natural talents go untapped. From the cradle to the cubicle, we devote more time to fixing our shortcomings than to developing our strengths.

To help people uncover their talents, Gallup introduced the first version of its online assessment, StrengthsFinder, in the 2001 management book Now, Discover Your Strengths. The book spent more than five years on the bestseller lists and ignited a global conversation, while StrengthsFinder helped millions to discover their top five talents.

In its latest national bestseller, StrengthsFinder 2.0, Gallup unveils the new and improved version of its popular assessment, language of 34 themes, and much more (see below for details). While you can read this book in one sitting, you'll use it as a reference for decades.

Loaded with hundreds of strategies for applying your strengths, this new book and accompanying website will change the way you look at yourself -- and the world around you -- forever.

AVAILABLE EXCLUSIVELY IN THE NEW & UPGRADED EDITION OF STRENGTHSFINDER 2.0 (using the unique access code included with each book)

* A new and upgraded edition of the StrengthsFinder assessment

* A more customized version of your top five theme report

* 50 Ideas for Action (10 strategies for building on each of your top five themes)

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I was fascinated (and not entirely surprised) to find my strengths included:

1) Empathy
2) Developer
3) Input
4) Connectedness
5) Belief

To better understand what each of my talents are I am including a brief description of what each talent includes.

EMPATHY:
Chances are good that you usually know when you have or have not won the approval of a person or a group. You harbor a deep-seated yearning to belong. You are delighted when many individuals gladly welcome you into their lives. It’s very likely that you cause others to pay attention to their innermost thoughts and feelings. People are confident of your ability to exercise good judgment and common sense. Many people trust you to keep to yourself whatever they choose to share. Your capacity to imagine their situations and be sensitive to their needs allows individuals to unburden themselves. You listen. You customarily acknowledge their unique circumstances. Driven by your talents, you convince most people that you value them as human beings. You intentionally reinforce what they know, have
experienced, or can do. Many individuals probably want to become your friend. Why? You likely affirm their worth the moment they start doubting themselves. Instinctively, you feel honored when someone entrusts his/her innermost thoughts and feelings to you. Nonetheless, the person needs to initiate the conversation. Otherwise, it is unlikely to happen. You are reluctant to bring up sensitive topics and delicate questions. You tend to worry about leaving the impression that you are prying or being nosy — that is, unduly interested in the private affairs of the person. Because of your strengths, you allow people to experience and express their feelings. Often you comprehend their unique challenges, worries, fears, hopes, or joys before they say a word. Why? You can listen to anyone, regardless of whether they are experiencing pain, happiness, disappointment, or joy. This is one way you affirm that person’s humanity.

DEVELOPER:
Chances are good that you routinely engage in group activities and projects. Often these benefit youth and small children. By nature, you realize the wealth you accumulate means little to you when you are not surrounded by a delightful and diverse mix of people. You relish differences and would be ill at ease — that is, feel anxious — if forced to remain only in the company of people who are very much like yourself. Because of your strengths, you naturally tune in to the moods of group members. You can read the emotions individuals are experiencing. This increases your chances of responding to the person appropriately and at the right time. Driven by your talents, you regularly look for opportunities to give people
special attention. You celebrate their accomplishments. You tell them why you appreciate their knowledge, skills, and talents. You acknowledge their opinions and solicit their suggestions. Instinctively, you enjoy acknowledging people’s finest traits and applauding their most outstanding accomplishments. You make new friends by noticing things they do very well. You maintain current relationships by expressing an interest in whatever intrigues each person. You are highly motivated to say and do things that cause others to befriend you.

INPUT:
Because of your strengths, you sometimes show a particularly strong concern for what
matters in your life, work, or studies. As a result, you might be determined to master words associated with certain types of activities or assignments. Perhaps these terms and their definitions are as theoretical as they are difficult to understand. You might realize that your collection of technical, subject-specific, or academic words is a work in progress — that is, ongoing. Driven by your talents, you probably acquired a fascination for reading as a child. During your formative years, becoming totally engrossed in a book is likely to have been your means of “staying out of the way” to avoid upsetting some adults or youngsters who were your age. Besides keeping the peace and being absorbed into the group, you commonly
collected information about fictional characters, human nature, geography, historic events, other cultures, or science. It’s very likely that you gravitate to serious conversations where people exchange ideas, concepts, or theories. You avoid small talk, rumors, and gossip. Considering all the information you have gathered, you decide what is and is not worth remembering. You have a way of cataloging knowledge so you can quickly recall it later. By nature, you yearn to know a lot. It makes little sense to you to skim through a book and read only the highlights. You delve more deeply into intriguing subjects than most people do. You love to gather all kinds of information. This explains why you take time to grasp ideas that appear in print. Chances are good that you collect as much information as possible about past
events and people. Often these stories and facts raise your spirits, renew your faith in humankind, or fill you with hope. When you find another thinker who loves conversing about the recent or distant past, you are delighted. Few things please you more than delving deep into the lives of people whose deeds were especially heroic, generous, daring, kind, or original.

CONNECTEDNESS:
Driven by your talents, you sense you are not all alone in the world. You probably feel linked with every person and living thing. This openness explains why you invite a vast array of people to participate in conversations, activities, social events, or groups. Chances are good that you sense that you are inextricably linked to your teammates. You understand your success depends on each one of them just as their individual success hinges on you. Instinctively, you may enjoy the company of people who have faced and conquered some of life’s difficulties. Perhaps they have gained wisdom you lack. Occasionally you benefit from their philosophical insights. By nature, you often are instrumental in helping your teammates discover how they are linked to one another. You regularly remind them that their successes and failures are a direct result of their ability to work together. Because of your strengths, you rely on your awareness of others’ feelings, thoughts, and needs to guide you into and through partnerships. You consider various ways to initiate, nurture, and sustain the linkages between individuals and groups. You bring people together. You help them discover reasons to cooperate and support one another.

BELIEF:
Because of your strengths, you employ your passion for reading to collect lots of good ideas for resolving issues, fixing mistakes, or overcoming obstacles. The act of reading allows you to generate options for dealing with all sorts of predicaments — that is, difficult, perplexing, or trying situations. By nature, you tend to be zealous — that is, fervent and enthusiastic — about solving problems that affect the quality of your life. You have been known to devote all your time and energy to a worthy cause. Your core values explain why you participate in various social, political, educational, religious, judicial, or environmental activities. Instinctively, you are determined to leave the world a better place than you found it. This explains why you welcome many kinds of people into your life. You realize that when individuals fail to make their unique contributions, humankind suffers an irreversible loss. It’s very likely that you may be attracted to individuals whose honesty and integrity are above reproach. Perhaps you seek to penalize people who betray trust by taking things without permission. Chances are good that you usually put aside what you want to do and even inconvenience yourself to serve others. People probably say you devote yourself to the welfare and interests of many individuals. You routinely put their needs ahead of your own.

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Now that I have this information, I am somewhat unsure to do with it... If you have ever taken this test or have any insight into the meaning of all of it, I would greatly appreciate your feedback.