Psychology and Success: The Magic of Your Talent Advantage
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As one of the creators of Perceptual Style Theory and the assessment approach originally offered through Your Talent Advantage, I'm often asked an intriguing question: How can an assessment that identifies a limited number of Perceptual Styles help people discover what makes each of them truly unique?
It's a fair question, and one I've spent considerable time thinking about. After all, if people share the same Perceptual Style, doesn't that mean they must be fundamentally alike?
Not at all. Your Perceptual Style doesn't describe everything that makes you unique. Instead, it helps identify the natural strengths and possibilities through which your individuality can develop.
And when you begin to recognize, develop, and intentionally use those strengths, something remarkable can happen. I like to call it magic!
Your Perceptual Style Is the Starting Point, Not the Destination
Describing the assessment process to a friend recently, I used the analogy of finding your seat at a baseball game. You decide to go to the game. Once you arrive, the nice lady at the information booth directs you to your section, and an usher then shows you to your row—but from there, you have to find your own individual seat and, most importantly, make it comfortable to sit in.
Deciding to discover Your Talent Advantage is like going to the ballpark. The first part of the assessment is similar to the lady in the information booth, who reveals your “type,” while the second part (which focuses on which talents and abilities you’ve developed in your life, and which ones you haven’t) is like the usher who takes you to your specific seat within that specific section.
But finding your seat and making it comfortable for you? That's something only you can do. Your Perceptual Style may help identify where your natural strengths are most likely to flourish, but your experiences, choices, interests, and developed talents shape how those strengths become uniquely yours.
Discovering the Talents That Make You Unique
Of course, here's where the ballpark analogy breaks down. The Your Talent Advantage program was designed to support this process through coaching that helped participants understand their assessment results in the context of their individual experiences, circumstances, and goals.
This process helps you to not only discover the skills and abilities that are yours, but also teaches you how to make them uniquely yours by seeing how and where they fit into the context of your life.
Knowing your Perceptual Style and how you naturally express that in the world is a powerful experience. Applying that knowledge to your work, your personal life, and your social life can be transformative, and just that alone is a pretty magical experience – but the real magic comes when you allow what you’ve learned with Your Talent Advantage to grow, develop, and mature.
Why Developing Natural Strengths Matters
Why? Because, if you're like most people, you've spent much of your life trying to improve your performance in areas where you don't naturally excel. From parental advice to academic assessments and employee performance reviews, much of the feedback we receive focuses on what we don't do well and how we can improve. Over time, constantly concentrating on perceived shortcomings can leave us feeling inadequate, frustrated, and exhausted—especially when we overlook the natural strengths that could help us succeed.
When you stop devoting so much energy to improving skills that don't come naturally and begin investing more of that energy in developing your natural strengths, you open yourself to possibilities that may have been overlooked.
The Real Magic of Your Talent Advantage
When you use your natural skills consciously and intentionally, something remarkable happens. Your talents don't simply become stronger; they can develop in directions you never expected.
As you seek out activities, relationships, and environments that support your natural strengths, you begin discovering new ways to express them. Your experiences add depth, your choices create possibilities, and your talents become increasingly distinctive.
You don't simply discover your Perceptual Style. You discover how your natural strengths, personal experiences, and developing abilities combine to make you uniquely you.
And yes—it really is magic!
What natural strengths have helped you achieve something you once thought was beyond your abilities? I'd enjoy hearing your experiences in the comment section below.
If you'd like to begin exploring your own natural strengths, discover how our Perceptual Style Assessment can help you better understand the ways you naturally perceive and respond to the world.
© Vega Behavioral Consulting, Ltd., All Rights Reserved
About Dr. Gary M. Jordan, Ph.D.
Gary M. Jordan, Ph.D., has over 35 years of experience in clinical psychology, behavioral assessment, individual development, and coaching. He earned his doctorate in Clinical Psychology from the California School of Professional Psychology in Berkeley. He is co-creator of Perceptual Style Theory and a partner at Vega Behavioral Consulting, Ltd., where he helps individuals and organizations recognize natural strengths, improve communication, and develop their potential.
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