the flower, step 1

One of the most important outcomes of What Color is Your Parachute? is the completion of The Flower exercise.  It encourages you to make a long list of everything you can think of about yourself.

From there, it takes you through a 7 step process to identify the most important factors in determining your life's purpose.

The first step is an inventory of knowledge, what topics have you learned about through the natural course of your life including high school, college, jobs and your time off...the result of this exercise is meant to be a guiding principle to which you can live your life.  Hoping for a taste of enlightenment.

Here we go -  "What knowledge, that you already have in your head, do you most want to use in your life?"

THE SUBJECTS CHART

Column 1, What I learned in High School & College?

• Speech and Debate
• Swimming
• Acting/improv
• Typing
• MS Office
• Writing Business Plans
• Basic Accounting
• Teamwork
• Adapting to new places
• Jugging
• Creative Writing

Column 2, What I learned on the job?

• Selling
• Office administration
• Personal assistant
• Cold calling/telemarketing
• Customer Service
• Presenting
• Training
• Project Management
• Event Planning
• Problem Solving
• Budgeting
• Negotiation

Column 3, What I learned from conferences, workshops, seminars?

• The power of losing control
• Education technology
• Holden sales methodology
• Cooking
• Speech & Debate

Column 4, What I learned at home?

• Friendship
• Love
• Health/Wellness
• Cleaning
• Cooking
• Entertaining
• Philosophy
• Mystery Novels
• Dog walking/training
• Sewing

Column 5, What I have learned in my leisure time?

• Cooking
• Exercising
• Writing
• Reading
• Socializing

 In case you were wondering, I am still looking for the exercise that will tell my the color of my parachute but this one was in the way.

Anyway, the next step is to pick your favorite 3 subjects listed above - this step is a bit more involved but I am giving you the abbreviated version that yields the same result.

So here are my top 3:
3. Cooking
2. Problem Solving
1. Health/Wellness

Drum roll please...my flower's first petal (Special Knowledges) is now complete.  The book tells you to write these in the first petal of the flower, which  I will be doing as soon as I publish this post.  Time to go cook dinner.

Stay tuned for Step 2....People Environments