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Career Courage Challenge, Day 1: State What Makes You Great

day 1 of Career Courage Challenge

Welcome to our 30-Day Career Courage Challenge! Each day, I’ll be sharing a short challenge you can take to help build your courage and your career. Plus, I’ll be taking the challenges along with you, and sharing my learnings along the way, too.

(For more insight about why we’re doing this Challenge, click here.)

Here’s our first challenge.  Share your comments, results, or additional ideas in the Comments below,  or tell us what you think on Facebook or LinkedIn

(Know someone who should take the challenge, too? Send them to CareerCourageChallenge.com to sign up and get each day’s challenges in their inbox!)


Career Courage Challenge, Day 1:

State What Makes You Great

YOUR CHALLENGE TODAY: Take a minute and name the talents, characteristics, and key traits that really make you great in your work and life. Bravely ignore those voices that say “keep your head down” or “be humble,” and proudly acknowledge something amazing in you.

Extra courage points if you tell someone else, too. It takes a lot of guts to put those special traits out there, but the world needs to know them, so don’t hold back!

WATCH MORE IN MY VIDEO HERE:

(Okay, courage confession. This video is far from perfect. I shot it seven times and each time the upload got wonky.  After seven tries, I decided to have the courage to share it with you anyway.)


Why a Career Courage Challenge?

Here at RedCapeRevolution.com, we’ve focused on three main things that we all need to have to soar in our careers (things we’ve learned through our research and conversations with you):

  • Gaining Clarity: really seeing and understanding what’s unique and special about you; what your superpowers are and how you can bring them to work;
  • Building Confidence: feeling strong and sure about who you are, and what you’re doing now and in the future, and;
  • Taking Control: choosing to take action on the things you want and need in your work and life.

But in last year’s reader survey, I asked,  “If you could take a superpill that would help you overcome your biggest challenge, what would that pill do?” here’s what you said:[blockquote]The pill would give me the words and courage to express to our executives how damaging these yo-yo initiatives are.

It would give me courage to ask for opportunities when I meet people.

Sometimes small setbacks throw me into doubt. The pill would make me believe in me first.[/blockquote]

So it sounds like there’s a new C emerging: courage. And I’m right there with you, because I’m seeking courage, too.

To play bigger. Serve you better. Impact more people like you. To make hard choices about who I want to be, where I want to be, how I want to spend more of my time and where I need to spend less.

That’s why I wanted to experiment with this free, 30-Day Career Courage Challenge. I’m going to push myself beyond my comfort zone, and I hope you’ll play along with me, too. I hope you’ll share your experiences in the Comments below, on Facebook or LinkedIn, or by email.

I can’t wait to grow my courage muscles with you.

11 responses to “Career Courage Challenge, Day 1: State What Makes You Great”

  1. Okay, I promised I’d take this challenge with you, so here’s mine. What makes me great is my ability to create and communicate–to have fun with words in ways that I hope make people feel inspired and included. I’m proud that I can write and speak from my heart, and while there’s always lots to strengthen in this area, it’s a gift I’m honored to use each day.

    WHAT’S YOURS?

    • What makes me great is my ability to build relationships. I was taught a long time ago by my father that every good or bad thing that happens is somehow relational. I’m also a great writer and communicator who likes finding new and innovative was to tackle old problems. I’m a great motivator and love uplifting the people around me.

  2. I am good at analyzing complicated information and writing about it in a way that is informative and engaging for readers. And d I am a good team player who can fill in gaps and help out colleagues

    • Thanks Claude! Glad to have you on our team here for this challenge!

  3. I’ve actually been pondering this for a few weeks as I redesign a major assignment in one of my classes.

    I am good at solving puzzles, and exploring off-the-wall options/solutions. Creative work-arounds. Maybe that comes from my textile background — I’ve been sewing and knitting for a VERY long time, and I started making garments because it was very difficult to buy off the rack. I can usually figure out what I need to do/alter to make things work.

    I bring that to work, as well, and I’m actively trying to figure out how I can foster that in my students, as well. It’s hard to figure out how to teach something that seems to be an integral part of one’s personality, but I’m trying!!!

    • Love the connection between knitting together the work-arounds and solutions you need in your work with your actual needlework in your life! Much success to you as you teach this vital problem-solving talent! Thanks for contributing, Julie!

      Always,
      Darcy

  4. I am a fierce competitor with myself (not others), a person who enjoys connecting and relating to others, as well as an ongoing life-long learner. These afford me the opportunity to work with synergy in a team setting – if the team is one that wants to improve. While I can appreciate the need that folks have in wanting things to remain the same, I enjoy being a catalyst to instigate change. I also understand that as one initiates transformation deliberately, decisively, and with insight to maximize impact on the goal, I must keep a close eye on minimizing the negative effect on the people involved (this is my kryptonite).