First Burst How To Use Your Brain

What Are Your Super Powers?

My number 1 Super Power is Bravery/Valor.

I never really saw myself as “brave”. That was a term reserved for paratroopers, firefighters, and that dude scampering around the globe tightrope walking when I was a kid.1

I was just scampering around my kid-world doing what made logical sense to me. Walk atop the monkey bars? Sure. Looks totally doable. They’re spaced far enough apart. I can always crawl/walk across first, and if I feel like I’m going to fall, I’ll just jump so I grab the side-bar & swing safely. I’d slipped off the monkey bars before, it’s only few feet higher. Might sting a little when I land on my feet but, I’ll be ok.

The “bravery” was always calculated, so I never saw it as such. I wasn’t whimsically running into burning buildings to save a pair of shoes, that would just be nuts.

I had no idea my calculations were based on a bravery scale that had other people thinking I was the one who was nuts.

Even when I took the test2, it seemed wrong. It seemed so wrong I dove in and took the longer test3. Hmmm, same result. This wasn’t some whimsical ad-spammy website, this was a scientist.

This was Martin Seligman, the Instigator Writ Large4 of the Positive Psychology movement. Not the whimsical ad-spammy articles all over the internet distorting his work, this was The Dude, on His Site. Years of research carefully tested & re-tested & created into a “pass muster” psychological self-evaluation.

He had to pass muster5. When he began his work he was going against every solidly held belief in the Psychology profession.

He watched as we took people from -10 to 0 and sent them on their merry way. He questioned this End Point. Why are we leaving them at zero? Is there a way to move them to 5? 10? Why not 100?

I love what he is up to in the world but I shall rein in the dancing squirrels and veer back to You.

What Are Your Super Powers?

Your innate gifts and talents that are often far more obvious to those around you than you can see. The “water to your fish”, the “wind to your bird”, the “gravity to your salad fork”.

Signature Strengths are Super Powers.

Appreciation Languages are Super Powers.

Innate Purposes are Super Powers.

That thing you spend time on that no one is paying to do but everything in you is compelled to work on it / play in that sandbox.

Things I am unaware of that exist in our 7-billion-strong collective mind are Super Powers.

What The Heck am I Supposed to Do With My Super Powers?

Super Powers take you from 0 to 10, 100, 1000, 1 million. AUTOMATICALLY

Start noticing when you are sneaking them in to your day.

Did I use any of my Super Power’s today? ASK THAT QUESTION AND THEN FORGET ABOUT IT

Huh? Forget about it?

Yeh. This is the plan of least-effort. It is based on How Your Brain Works. You don’t have to trust me. In fact, I dare you to prove me wrong. Ask that question at the end of the day for 2 weeks. If nothing changes in your life whatsoever, you have successfully proven me wrong.

Appreciation Languages

Verbal Praise, Physical Touch, Giving Gifts, Quality Time, Acts of Service.
You innately gravitate towards one or more of these to let people know you appreciate them.

The concept “Love Languages” was formalized by Gary Chapman in 1995 in the context of improving your marriage. The general gist was that if you were taking out the garbage as an Act Of Love toward your spouse, and your spouse was always complementing you as an Act Of Love, you might both be feeling unloved. Understanding that “garbage” was an “I love you”. Understanding that tossing in a complement while you take out the garbage communicates both languages. He was saving marriages by filling the communication gap.

This concept saves more than just marriages and is broader than love. When your boss says “good job!” but didn’t give you a raise. When your boss gave you a raise but didn’t say “good job!, I appreciate all that you do around here!”. When your friend keeps buying you dinner and it makes you feel uncomfortable, when you tell your friend they look amazing today and they deflect the complement.

These languages of appreciation and span all human interaction. Understanding what you need. Understanding what Other needs. Going out of your way to given in their language. Going out of your way to receive in their language.

Your language is a Super Power. You use it to lift others up, to empower them.

You use it to ask for what you need in return, as an act of self-empowerment.

Innate Purposes

Builders, Connectors, Enjoyers, Expressers, Knowers, Growers.
One of these innately drives you. And at the end of your life there will be one that stands out above all others even if you mixed & matched as a multi-dimensional human.

This concept was formalized by Alison Armstrong in “Journey to the Center Of You” where she presents the “5 Modes of Living and Loving”.Link to purchase this program from her website.

  • Builders leave a legacy.
  • Enjoyers lived life to the fullest.
  • Connectors shared their lives with others, family & friends above all else.
  • Knowers learned all that they could learn.
  • Growers became all that they could become.
  • Expressers let the world know who they were.

(She formally teaches it as “Knower/Grower” because growing inseparably involves knowing/learning. And amassing knowledge nearly always leads to growth.)
(She uses the term “Sharers” rather than Connectors.)

Why is this a Super Power?

It is guiding your actions, thoughts, decisions, beliefs.

A Connector trying to do their taxes. They keep putting it off.
Their Builder spouse working late doesn’t understand why.
“Sit with me! Do this with me! It’s not worth the time and effort if there’s no one to share in the journey.”

How does an Enjoyer ever get anything done?
They wield their Super Power and make it fun.
They build in rewards, smell the flowers, set up ambiance, color, sound, whatever they need to fill their Enjoyment needs.

How does a Builder ever enjoy life?
They build stuff “just cuz”.
Cars, software, bookshelves, model airplanes, art installations, music anthologies, elaborate gardens – whatever their joy is, they will find a way to build for it.

Super Powers Improve Your Life Exponentially

What other Super Powers are sitting right there in your toybox waiting for you to notice them?

Give them room to breathe. Understand how they desire to serve you.

And take 5 seconds of pre-bedtime for the next two weeks to ask:

Did I use any of my Super Power’s today?

 
 
1 I found out recently his name is Philippe Petit. His Startalk interview portrays the mind of an incredible human.
SoundCloud podcast
Startalk Radio’s Article

2 Short Signature Strength’s Test, hover Questionaires, click Brief Strengths Test
These are scholar’s and educators. In his published works, “Authentic Happiness” and “Flourish” he set aside the formal geekery and coined the term Signature Strengths.

3 Signature Strength’s Test, hover Questionaires, click VIA Survey of Character Strengths
These are scholar’s and educators. In his published works, “Authentic Happiness” and “Flourish” he set aside the formal geekery and coined the term Signature Strengths.

4 writ large
: on a larger scale or in a more prominent manner
Webster

5 Muster people, not mustard! although it is certainly delicious and should be passed around the picnic table for all who enjoy it’s tangy complement to their meal
pass muster – passing hard core inspection by critical minds
muster a : an act of assembling; specifically : formal military inspection
b : critical examination
Webster

1000
It’s not that I don’t think you know what these words mean! It’s that I just can’t resist yet another reason to create footnote to expound on my meanings for, hopefully, the sake of clarity and nuanced understanding, or just a reason to goof around in the back of the class while the “teacher” is trying to explain something to the normal humans.

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