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In 2009, I was considering graduate school but was not sure I wanted to continue down the legal services path—in other words, I didn’t think the world needed one more lawyer, and I was sure that I did need another student loan. My plan was to explore areas where I could use my legal skills and experience, and to parlay those into something more amenable to having a family.

It was around this time I picked up a book by Tom Rath titled StrengthsFinder 2.0. This was a very different book from the other career books I had perused. It focused on innate talent development and not industry categories and titles. It was really an assessment tool to help me discover who I was at my core—those instinctual and inborn talents that drive me to do the things I do and enjoy the things I enjoy.

But alas, in 2009, it did not change my life. In fact, I read it, loved it, talked about the core idea of working towards and within one’s core strengths—then— I kept doing things like I had always done them. I looked at different industry categories and titles, trying to find job descriptions that sounded comparable to what I thought I wanted, examined job functions, and tried to anticipate if I would like the daily tasks. This was not the way to find my best self but it was the only way I knew.

From 2009, when I was searching initially, through 2016, life took me down a strange and sordid career path and after landing back in my home state. I was still in legal services, swimming in a job culture I hated for a company that did not value its people; I had hit career “rock bottom” and knew I needed a change.

In 2016, I rediscovered the book and my strengths while on my journey to becoming a teacher. Not only did I discover them, but I’ve put them into action. I’ve executed on plans I never thought I would have the strength or courage to explore, much less map out and try. Some experiences were positive, some neutral, some negative, but all were eye opening. What I found was that all the academic, professional, and life experience I had meant something. The twists and turns on the life path were all preparation for placing me right where I am today—on an “encore career” path that enhances my strengths.

Imagine my delight when I also discovered another StrengthsFinder Book entitled “Teach With Your Strengths: How Great Teachers Inspire Their Students”.  Combined with the original “StrengthsFinder 2.0” I’ve validated what I’ve always known: I am an experience-informed person. I reflect on the past to make decisions about the future. I think about problems carefully, solve problems thoughtfully, and am an anticipator of events. I see people as individuals and am interested in them as such.

“Don’t let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do.” – John Wooden

Letting go of the ‘expectation’ that I must be someone’s definition of ‘well-rounded’, that I must spend copious amounts of time struggling through challenging areas, while neglecting successful ones has been freeing. It has allowed me to reach my fullest potential—to culminate all of my experience, utilize all of my strengths and find my calling in the classroom.