SHOWCASE FRIDAY: MISS MARYASHLEY

What are your Top 5?
Achiever, Developer, Empathy, Harmony, Discipline

How do you see them playing in your life?
I see all of my top 5 strengths playing in my daily life, but two of my strengths stick out most. I am amazed at how "spot on" my results were after learning more about each strength during our company Christmas party.  

My number one strength is Achiever. This plays out in my life in many ways. I am a hard worker and love being busy and productive. I tend to work on projects until they are complete. Sometimes I work to pure exhaustion, just to get to a place where I feel most comfortable. I feel most productive at work when I can follow and create systems and processes. When I come home, I am at peace when my surrounding environment is neat, clean and orderly.

Empathy, my third strength, brings me the greatest joy. I love being there for the ones I love the most. I am a very intuitive person. I love that I am the person everyone can come to anytime.  

 What's your favorite theme? 
My favorite strength is Empathy. I often wonder why I wasn’t a therapist or a counselor. I get the greatest joy out of being able to hear the good, bad and ugly from all of my closest friends and family. It makes my heart full when others seek my guidance. I do not judge but love whole-heartedly and only want the very best for them.   

What's the one theme that "get's in your way"?
Discipline is my fifth strength that gets in my way the most; however it is positive in my life in many ways as well.  Discipline is a negative for me when I am not in an environment or situation when I don’t have the structure and routine I am used to. I am most comfortable with the “order they create” and when I don’t have that order or structure I tend to make myself crazy by trying to gain control. After learning more about Discipline as my “strength" I have been working on trying to let things happen and not take control.  

How has knowing your Top 5 empowered you to live a more authentic life?
Knowing my top 5 strengths has opened my eyes to why I am drawn to the situations I am. It also makes it easier to say yes and no to certain jobs and events. I can now look at these as my true strengths and not as weaknesses. Now that I have studied my strengths and have heard Sarah speak several times, I am empowered by my strengths and can use them to my advantage.

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