| At about the same time I started to think | | | | come up with new and useful things I could do |
| about building my own website, I considered | | | | with all I have. What I came up with was |
| my personal strengths and resources. It | | | | consisted of things I did before and could do |
| occurred to me that it might be a good idea | | | | better or on a larger scale; things I haven't |
| to make a list of all the things I have in my | | | | done before but believed I could do; and some |
| life, as well as the things I have learned | | | | other ideas that just came up. |
| and skills I can use. This could help me come | | | | |
| up with new directions for my personal | | | | In order to distinguish these action ideas |
| development. After I've started writing these | | | | from the resources I already listed, I |
| things down, I decided to call it "Power | | | | underline the action items. I am sharing some |
| Maps" as they outline my sources of power, | | | | of these with you: |
| and could also show me ways to turn my | | | | |
| strengths into more powerful actions. In this | | | | - Family & Friends |
| brief article I will try to demonstrate how I | | | | |
| do this, hoping you can do the same. I use my | | | | - My wife |
| own Power Map as an example, so you also get | | | | |
| a chance to know me better... | | | | - Help your wife pursue her dream |
| | | | |
| I began by writing down the major categories | | | | My children |
| of things I do and am related to. Here is | | | | |
| what I came up with: | | | | - Write children's books |
| | | | |
| - Family & Friends | | | | My mother, sisters & brother |
| | | | |
| - Places I know | | | | My friends |
| | | | |
| - My Studies & Work | | | | Places I know |
| | | | |
| - Languages | | | | - Israel |
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| - My Hobbies & Pastimes | | | | - Knowing what it's all about |
| | | | |
| Try to make your own list now. It doesn't | | | | Europe |
| have to be similar to the one I made or even | | | | |
| have the same logic or structure. Just try to | | | | South America |
| think of the major things that make up the | | | | |
| person that you are. | | | | - Argentina |
| | | | |
| Next, I added more details to each major | | | | - Chile |
| category - ending up with many of the things | | | | |
| I consider to be my sources of power and | | | | - Peru |
| knowledge. This is what it looked like by | | | | |
| now: | | | | - Bolivia |
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| - Family & Friends | | | | - Brazil |
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| - My wife | | | | South East Asia |
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| - My children | | | | - India |
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| - My mother, sisters & brother | | | | - Nepal |
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| - My friends | | | | - Thailand |
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| Places I know | | | | My Studies & Work |
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| - Israel | | | | - Human Resources |
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| - Europe | | | | - Management skills training |
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| - South America | | | | - Tools for planning |
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| - Argentina | | | | - Small Business Handbook |
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| - Chile | | | | Thinking, Innovation & Creativity |
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| - Peru | | | | - Improved Memory Techniques |
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| - Bolivia | | | | - Building a Personal Thinking Center |
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| - Brazil | | | | Philosophy |
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| South East Asia | | | | Computers |
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| - India | | | | - Web programming |
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| - Nepal | | | | - Database planning |
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| - Thailand | | | | - Online & computer games |
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| My Studies & Work | | | | - Principles of development |
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| - Human Resources | | | | - Review best games on the web |
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| - Management skills training | | | | Myself as an employee |
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| - Thinking, Innovation & Creativity | | | | Languages |
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| - Philosophy | | | | - Hebrew |
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| - Computers | | | | - English |
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| - Web programming | | | | - Translation tips |
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| - Database planning | | | | Spanish |
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| - Online & computer games | | | | - Learning tips |
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| Myself as an employee | | | | My Hobbies and Pastimes |
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| Languages | | | | - Capoeira |
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| - Hebrew | | | | - Diving |
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| - English | | | | - Board games |
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| - Spanish | | | | - Playing tips |
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| My Hobbies and Pastimes | | | | - Designing & Inventing |
| | | | |
| - Capoeira | | | | Now I had something I could work with. There |
| | | | were other things on the list - this is just |
| - Diving | | | | to show you the general idea. I am sure that |
| | | | if you try to complete your own Power Map now |
| - Board games | | | | - you'd have many action ideas. |
| | | | |
| Seeing all that I have in my favor, I already | | | | Bringing it all together |
| started to feel stronger! | | | | |
| | | | With such a detailed Power Map, you can start |
| If you want to get the same feeling - take a | | | | looking for practical ways to harness all |
| few minutes to list many of your own sources | | | | that power to interesting development |
| of power. | | | | possibilities. The strongest ideas would be |
| | | | those that combine as many strengths and |
| Turning power into action | | | | action items as possible. Consider this |
| | | | website I have built, for instance - it |
| Now it was time to start thinking how I could | | | | combines my power at: English, Internet, |
| turn all those resources into something I | | | | Creativity, Management training, and more. |
| could make or contribute. In other words - | | | | |