Q&A with Marcus Buckingham
PAGE 4
Q: What is causing this ongoing dissatisfaction and unhappiness in life?
MB: One cause is an excess of choice. Life's tricky for women because they have to make more choices than men. And yes, choice is good, but boy, you better be an expert choice-maker. If you give us four pairs of jeans, we easily select our favorite, but given 47 pairs of jeans, we toss and turn about which one we should pick and then second-guess our choice, thinking perhaps that one of the other 46 was the right one. If your internal compass doesn't allow you to cut the 47 pair of jeans down to seven, making it easier to choose, you are challenged by the fact that you have gained more and more choice, and taken the responsibility of your decisions, but haven't relinquished any other responsibilities. For many women, the stress has become almost extreme. Most women don't get much help in knowing what choices will strengthen them or how to have a strong internal compass so they don't wonder about or regret the choices made.
Q: Your Strong Life Test is a unique profile-builder that helps women identify their Lead Role, the role they were born to play in life. How does it work, and what is its benefit to women?
MB: Life is really loud and demanding. I designed the Strong Life Test to help women quiet the noise and sort through the clamor of competing voices, expectations and demands in any situation that they face, whether as a spouse, relative, mother or employee. The Strong Life Test helps women recognize, given their lead role, what kind of strong moments they should look for. The test is like a compass; it helps you to know where to start to look, in any domain of your life, and to know what kind of moments are going to strengthen you the most, invigorate you the most, bring joy or excitement or fun, because that is who you are. It doesn't give you all answers; it doesn't indicate that you should start a certain type of business, but it tells you where to start.
The message is: You can draw strength from life. Life can fill you up if you know how to connect to it, and each of us connects differently. The Strong Life Test shows you how to connect.
MB: One cause is an excess of choice. Life's tricky for women because they have to make more choices than men. And yes, choice is good, but boy, you better be an expert choice-maker. If you give us four pairs of jeans, we easily select our favorite, but given 47 pairs of jeans, we toss and turn about which one we should pick and then second-guess our choice, thinking perhaps that one of the other 46 was the right one. If your internal compass doesn't allow you to cut the 47 pair of jeans down to seven, making it easier to choose, you are challenged by the fact that you have gained more and more choice, and taken the responsibility of your decisions, but haven't relinquished any other responsibilities. For many women, the stress has become almost extreme. Most women don't get much help in knowing what choices will strengthen them or how to have a strong internal compass so they don't wonder about or regret the choices made.
Q: Your Strong Life Test is a unique profile-builder that helps women identify their Lead Role, the role they were born to play in life. How does it work, and what is its benefit to women?
MB: Life is really loud and demanding. I designed the Strong Life Test to help women quiet the noise and sort through the clamor of competing voices, expectations and demands in any situation that they face, whether as a spouse, relative, mother or employee. The Strong Life Test helps women recognize, given their lead role, what kind of strong moments they should look for. The test is like a compass; it helps you to know where to start to look, in any domain of your life, and to know what kind of moments are going to strengthen you the most, invigorate you the most, bring joy or excitement or fun, because that is who you are. It doesn't give you all answers; it doesn't indicate that you should start a certain type of business, but it tells you where to start.
The message is: You can draw strength from life. Life can fill you up if you know how to connect to it, and each of us connects differently. The Strong Life Test shows you how to connect.
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