• The Rockport Institute Career Aptitude Test
• Emergenetics
• The Duff Career Choice Consultation

The good news:

You (and each of us) possess an array of talents and abilities that are as uniquely yours as your fingerprints. Unlike your learned skills and interests, which can change over time, your genetically programmed, God-given talents are hardwired and with you for life.

Consider for a moment how important it is for you to recognize these natural talents. An analogy from the world of sports might help shed some light on the subject: Michael Jordan was probably the best basketball player of his era — perhaps the best player of all time. His God-given talents included speed, agility, fierce competitiveness, jumping ability, and extraordinary hand/eye coordination that allowed him to put the ball in the hoop with predictable regularity.

But what if Jordan hadn’t recognized those very specialized innate talents in himself? What if he’d come out of high school bent on a career in Major League baseball? He had some ability in that area — and, more than likely, someone would have offered him the incentive of a lucrative signing bonus. But because he had identified and paid attention to his unique abilities, the result was success and fulfillment. Baseball would have been the wrong career choice, as we saw when he tried unsuccessfully to become a professional baseball player toward the end of his athletic career. Had he drifted in that direction early on, he would have faced a great deal of frustration and disappointment.

If you desire a successful, highly fulfilling career — a practical, achievable career that makes the very best use of your individual skills and aptitudes — then the obvious starting point is to discover what those abilities and talents are. The Rockport Institute Career Aptitude Test the Emergenetics questionnaire and methodologies, and the Duff Career Choice Consultation are powerful tools to help you align your talents and personality traits with a job you will love — a job that’s more a dance than a drag.

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The “Bad” news

Fear, doubt, and resistance are the primary reasons people have a difficult time turning their dreams into reality by taking a concrete, positive step toward realizing their talents and making use of them in a truly satisfying career. Whenever you have contemplated moving toward a new and exciting career, has a little voice whispered one or more of these negative rationalizations in your ear?

• I’m not a risk-taker — flexing my willpower has never been my thing.

• I make a decent living in my current job. And besides, who said working was supposed to be fun?

• I’ve never had enough raw talent to do anything interesting.

• I don’t have enough money.

• Decision-making is too scary. I wish I could make up my mind, but I can’t.

• I’m the wrong color or gender.

• I’ve never had much energy, and succeeding in any career takes lots of energy.

• I’ve never been lucky.

• I’m too busy to start a new project.

• Just face reality: your life and your job are boring, and there’s nothing you can do about it. Quit whining and get used to it.

• It takes too much effort to make a change. I get tired even thinking about it.

• I’m the sensitive artist type. I could never succeed in the “dog-eat-dog” world of business.

• If only I had more time, I’d start right now.

• I’m a “blunt instrument” — way too practical to ever do anything creative.

• It takes courage to make the leap into something new, and I’ve never been very brave.

• My family depends on me to be the provider. I don’t want to put them through the stress of a change.

• My skills are “old school” — I could never get up to speed in this high-tech world.

For hundreds of years the Swiss were known as the best watchmakers in the world. The jeweled precision of their mainspring-driven mechanisms was the envy of the industry. Then, about thirty years ago, a Swiss design engineer working for one of the leading watch companies invented the prototype of what would eventually be called the digital watch. When he presented it to his bosses, they laughed him out of the room, proclaiming that a battery-powered timepiece with a liquid-crystal display would never be accepted by the public. The inventor took his idea to Japan and America, and the rest is history. Had the Swiss watch companies been able to challenge the existing paradigm — the belief that their mechanical watches would always be the standard for the industry — the Swiss might still be a major player in the world of timepieces.

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The good news in the face of the “Bad” news:

We all have entrenched belief systems, and it’s very important to recognize them when they get in the way of positive change. Rick Duff has the proverbial silver lining in all of this: the tools and the dedication to help you recognize these counterproductive thought patterns, and the commitment to support you in designing your ideal career. All you have to do is ask. How hard would it be, really, to take that first step?

If you find you’re still a bit hesitant (is that little voice in your head trying desperately to convince you that your current career couldn’t be more perfect?), you might want to go on to the following Ideal Career Checklist. Any statements you leave unchecked reveal where your career could be improved. If more than a few remain unchecked, you’re visiting the right website — and it’s time to make some positive changes in your life.

• You recognize that what you’re currently doing comes easily to you, allowing for the natural expression of your talents and personality.

• You enjoy what you do and like to share that enthusiasm with friends and family.

• Your present job fits you so well that it feels as if you’re getting paid to play.

• You are accepted for who you are.

• You are appreciated at work because you’re good at what you do.

• Your work environment fosters your creative expression and brings into play the best of your natural abilities.

• Most days you look forward to getting up and going to work.

• Your job fulfills your personal values and goals regarding income, security, achievement, and growth.

• You spend your day doing something you truly care about and that brings meaning into your life.

• Your job doesn’t stop you from realizing other important goals you have.

• At the end of each workday you feel good about what you have accomplished, and you aren’t stressed out.

• The people you work with like you and you like them.

• You and your coworkers complement each other and everyone has a good time getting the job done.

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