StrengthsQuest #4 - Input

bring on strength #4...

Input

Theme Description

You are inquisitive. You collect things. You might collect information—words, facts, books, and quotations—or you might collect tangible objects such as butterflies, baseball cards, porcelain dolls, or sepia photographs. Whatever you collect, you collect it because it interests you. And yours is the kind of mind that finds so many things interesting. The world is exciting precisely because of its infinite variety and complexity. If you read a great deal, it is not necessarily to refine your theories but, rather, to add more information to your archives. If you like to travel, it is because each new location offers novel artifacts and facts. These can be acquired and then stored away. Why are they worth storing? At the time of storing it is often hard to say exactly when or why you might need them, but who knows when they might become useful? With all those possible uses in mind, you really don’t feel comfortable throwing anything away. So you keep acquiring and compiling and filing stuff away. It’s interesting. It keeps your mind fresh. And perhaps one day some of it will prove valuable.

Action Items

You always want to know more. You crave information.

You like to collect certain things, such as ideas, books, memorabilia, quotations, and facts.

You have an active curiosity. You find many things very interesting. A few minutes of "surfing the Net" may turn into hours once your curiosity takes off, and you might have difficulties filing and housing all of the new information you acquire.

You are naturally curious but may need to intentionally schedule time to feed your mind. Take time to read books and articles that stimulate you, or to travel to new places. Your Input talents need regular "feeding."

Devise a system for storing and easily locating the information you gather. This system can be as simple as a file for all the articles you have clipped or as sophisticated as a computer database.

Identify situations in which you can share the information you have collected with other people. Being able to share your "stuff" with others will make for a better learning experience for everyone.

A sense of when to stop seeking information is just as valuable a talent as your thirst for information.

Save all notes, books, magazines, etc. to create a personal library.

To continue making progress and stay on track while doing required work, put sticky notes on areas you wish to go back and look at.

Prioritize the most critical information. Otherwise, you might become distracted by other information that fascinates you but is not as relevant.

Share your information with friends. Determine who would be interested in each bit of information, rather than giving all information to everyone.

Be aware that the more you know, the more likely it is that others will seek you out for information and see you as highly credible.

Study about fascinating places to travel. Gather information, and go!

Environments that give you the freedom to pursue threads of information and that focus on informed decision-making are likely to bring out your best.

You probably will enjoy a career in which you are always on the cutting edge of knowledge and you can gather and share valuable pieces of relevant information.

Choose jobs that require you to be an expert collector and consumer of research. This type of environment will energize you.