Jeff Brunson

“Understanding yourself, your values, allows you to be more mature about how you approach things.”  Coaching Client

Those of you who know me, or have read several of my writings, know that I consider myself a student of, and a teacher for, the concept of operating from our strengths. I was driving back to my office from a large group event and doing that dangerous thing I often do while driving – thinking. A phrase came to my mind and I was forced to process it through to further understand what it meant and why it came to mind: Perfecting Desire.

It came to mind around something I’ve been striving to practice regularly in my daily life – an attitude of thankfulness. And then I heard these questions: Do I believe I should be thankful or do I have the desire to be thankful? Could it be that practice ought to be only for perfecting desire?

I use my focus on thankfulness purely as an example. You choose what your focus is as you entertain the questions. Are you acting on what you believe you should do? Or are you acting on a real desire? In my example, am I practicing thankfulness or am I perfecting the desire to be thankful?

What’s the difference? I think it comes down to the difference between should and ought. What I think I should do is most often based on what others think versus what I really believe. What I really believe is most often associated with what I really think ought to be. And that’s what I really desire – what ought to be.

And what does all this have to do with our strengths? Our core values are a great representation of who we are and how we show ourselves to the world. How our values are defined points to our strengths. So your values point to your strengths while also representing your deepest desires. These desires are good. They are there inside you for a reason.