Color Outside the Lines
by Lisa Marie Platske

Because we’re each wired for our own unique greatness, our interests and hobbies are different.  When I was 6 years old, I enjoyed drawing and could entertain myself for hours with a box of Crayolas and a coloring book.  My teachers and family alike rewarded me for staying between the lines.  I wasn’t encouraged to be creative; in fact, I was encouraged to be exact.

Fast forward to fifteen years later, and my hobby had become making lists.  At that time in my life, it was important for me to be perceived as someone who could “do it all”, so I became a skilled list-maker and did it so well that it could’ve had its own job description.  I wrote lists about what I wanted to do, needed to do, and already did.  I wrote down what I was going to do during the week, and on the weekend.  I itemized where I wanted to eat and travel, who I wanted to see, and who I needed to call, write, and visit.  My lists included who, what, where, when, why, and how….and I began to suck the spontaneity out of my life.  Even though I was rewarded by my co-workers and managers for being precise and organized, I came to the conclusion that something was missing.

Hippocrates, the Father of Medicine, said, "That which is used develops, and that which is not used wastes away."  Whenever I hear this statement, I think about that part that was lost in the midst of the list-making.  I focused on a skill that I have and developed it, but my talents fell to the wayside. 

The Latin root of the word “talent” means “balance or sum of money”.  Hence, our talents are what make us individually valuable.  Those innate abilities and personal gifts that I have – the ability to walk into a room and change the dynamics with my energy, to be present with a person and engage them at their level of need or want, to inspire them to design their destiny – were not used.  Consequently, I found myself making lists but never really creating anything.  And since I wasn’t connected to that part of myself, the part that wanted to go outside of the lines, my measure of success was determined by what others expected from me.

Have you experienced this before?  Are you experiencing it now?  If you take inventory of how you spend your time, how much of this precious commodity do you use to focus on staying inside of the lines, and how much do you spend doing what only you can do the way you do it?

Happiness is a journey, not a destination.  Each day in your life is an opportunity to create something meaningful.  Remember to color outside the lines!

Lisa Marie Platske is the President and CEO of Upside Thinking, Inc., an international leadership development company that wows audiences with inspirational seminars and workshops and provides coaching/consulting to change the way leaders approach their personal and professional lives.
To more about Lisa Marie Platske and her list of articles