Have you ever considered that the very essence of who you are could be your greatest gift to the world? As we navigate through life, the concept of brilliance is often clouded by societal expectations and the constraints of job titles. In today's heartfelt episode, we uncover the mosaic of skills, talents, passions, and purpose that constitute our personal brilliance. A touching tale from Idaho State University serves as a beacon, illuminating the power of recognizing and nurturing our innate abilities, and how these moments of self-awareness can transform our lives.
We're all familiar with the proverbial path to success—pick a profession, climb the ladder, and if you're lucky, find fulfillment. But what if there's more to our story, something woven into the very fiber of our being that's waiting to be discovered? This episode challenges the traditional narrative and instead celebrates the uniqueness that each of us brings to the table. We draw insights from Proverbs 22:6 and reflect on guiding not just children but ourselves towards our true strengths. From the formidable drive of Serena Williams to the heartfelt purpose of school custodian and chess coach David Bishop, we celebrate individuals who've stepped beyond their job descriptions to embrace their intrinsic brilliance.
As we wrap up today's discussion, we invite you on an introspective journey through the simple yet profound act of journaling. This practice can be a key to unlocking the brilliance within, shining a light on the extraordinary qualities you've carried all along. By revisiting and reflecting on our life's narrative, we can unmask our purpose and potential, far from the external noise that often drowns out our inner callings. We're not searching for purpose out there, but rather, acknowledging the brilliance that already resides within us. Tune in, and let's begin the beautiful process of uncovering the person you were always meant to be.
Have you ever considered that the very essence of who you are could be your greatest gift to the world? As we navigate through life, the concept of brilliance is often clouded by societal expectations and the constraints of job titles. In today's heartfelt episode, we uncover the mosaic of skills, talents, passions, and purpose that constitute our personal brilliance. A touching tale from Idaho State University serves as a beacon, illuminating the power of recognizing and nurturing our innate abilities, and how these moments of self-awareness can transform our lives.
We're all familiar with the proverbial path to success—pick a profession, climb the ladder, and if you're lucky, find fulfillment. But what if there's more to our story, something woven into the very fiber of our being that's waiting to be discovered? This episode challenges the traditional narrative and instead celebrates the uniqueness that each of us brings to the table. We draw insights from Proverbs 22:6 and reflect on guiding not just children but ourselves towards our true strengths. From the formidable drive of Serena Williams to the heartfelt purpose of school custodian and chess coach David Bishop, we celebrate individuals who've stepped beyond their job descriptions to embrace their intrinsic brilliance.
As we wrap up today's discussion, we invite you on an introspective journey through the simple yet profound act of journaling. This practice can be a key to unlocking the brilliance within, shining a light on the extraordinary qualities you've carried all along. By revisiting and reflecting on our life's narrative, we can unmask our purpose and potential, far from the external noise that often drowns out our inner callings. We're not searching for purpose out there, but rather, acknowledging the brilliance that already resides within us. Tune in, and let's begin the beautiful process of uncovering the person you were always meant to be.
Chapter 10, discover your Brilliance. In August 2022, I had the opportunity to visit Idaho State University for the first time. I decided to arrive on campus early so I could find a parking spot and the room where I would give my presentation. As I wandered through the building looking for the right room, I almost walked right into this woman who exclaimed Dr PBJ, is that you? I said yes, with great relief and asked did they send you to find me? She said nope, but I can show you where you're going.
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As this professor walked me to my room, I shared my gratitude that I had run into her. She told me how she often finds herself in position to help people find their way. She points people in the right direction on campus and in grocery stores. On a trip to Disney World, a family stepped off the tram, ignored every Disney cast member dressed in staff uniforms and came straight to her to inquire how to find the castle. This professor responded by pulling out an extra map from her fanny pack, drawing a path from the tram to the castle and handing that map over to the grateful family.
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I was so excited to hear her story as I was preparing to speak with this group of faculty members about discovering their brilliance. I looked her straight in her eyes and asked if she realized she was more than a professor. You don't just teach sociology, you help lost people find their way. When students come to your classroom, they don't just come to learn, they come to find their way. Her eyes filled with tears as she whispered. I never thought about it that way. Brilliance was always there. She just needed someone to hold up a mirror so she could see it.
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And the same is true for you. Your brilliance is not hidden. You just need a little help discovering it. Your brilliance is not hidden. You just need a little help discovering it. In that process, you're seeking to identify your innate, unique brilliance so you may fulfill the calling of God on your life. You're fed up with aimless grinding and ready to embrace the value you innately bring to the world. Ready to embrace the value you innately bring to the world. These are some of the milestones you'll hit as you discover your brilliance. You'll understand the difference between your skills, talents, passions and your purpose. You'll identify your purpose, apart from your career title and your job description, and you'll clearly and concisely articulate the value you bring to the world without doubt or confusion. In discovering your brilliance. You will be enlightened by recognizing all the ways purpose has manifested in your life and you will be ignited by new opportunities to walk wholly in brilliance.
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Hurdles to discovering brilliance how do I find my purpose? This is the question I most frequently receive in my inbox. Receive in my inbox. Before I walk you through the steps of discovering and living in your brilliance, I need you to know what stands in the way of this discovery. After checking your backpack and building strong boundaries, I've found three primary hurdles to discovering brilliance. One Western culture promotes work over purpose. 2. You think you have to start all over. 3. You believe purpose must be difficult to be valuable.
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In American culture, we often ask children what do you want to be when you grow up? As soon as a child is old enough to attend school, they're constantly confronted with this question. If we're honest, we're not asking about their being. We're really asking what do you want to do for a job when you grow up? What do you want to do for money? This conversation continues into adulthood. When we meet a new person early in the conversation, we often ask what do you do? These questions condition us to focus on our doing instead of our being. What if, instead of asking a child what they want to be when they grow up, we studied them to notice how God shaped them?
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Proverbs 22 and 6 teaches us to train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it. In the original Hebrew language, this verse means to guide your child towards their natural bent, toward the purpose they were created to fulfill. In other words, we should steer our children toward their brilliance, not toward any specific career. All is not lost if you didn't have anyone in your life with the awareness to steer you toward brilliance as a child. It's not too late for you to investigate your life, to find the breadcrumbs of brilliance along your path, just like you should study your children and grandchildren to identify their natural God-given brilliance, children to identify their natural God-given brilliance. I encourage you to look back over your own life to discover how the fingerprints of God have always been on your life. The purpose of discovering your brilliance is to reconnect with the Father's original intention for your life. He had a plan for you before you took your first breath. It is time for you to recognize that plan and align your life with it. You are about to discover your being and release the unnecessary doing.
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The second common barrier to your brilliance is your fear of stepping forward because you think you'll have to start over. When I began to see my brilliance, I couldn't deny the revelation, but I tried to avoid it. I thought I would have to start all over. You mean to tell me I've invested 20 years of my life into a career and now I'm going to walk away from it? I was so attached to my doing that I couldn't see. The gift has been the same all along. Walking into brilliance did require me to let go of many things, but one of the greatest lessons I learned is it did not require me to start over. Your brilliance will build on everything you built so far. Everything I'm doing now was built upon those 20 years of learning and relationship building. Brilliance will not require you to throw it all away. Brilliance will honor where you've been and take you to where you're supposed to be. Honor where you've been and take you to where you're supposed to be.
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The final barrier to address is your belief that purpose must be difficult to be valuable. You fail to place value on the brilliance inside you because it feels too easy to be valuable. It comes easy to you, so you think it must be easy for everyone. Friend, the brilliance that flows so easily from you is like climbing the highest mountain for another person. We are all a part of the same spiritual body, but each person has a distinct, unique part to fulfill. 1 Corinthians, 12, 12 through 27. Your brilliance flows freely from you, with little effort. You express the same brilliance as a child that you're longing for now. God created you with supernatural ability to express a specific brilliance that does not require performance. Friend, your brilliance comes easy to you. I'll walk you through this process of discovering your brilliance and living in it as we do this work. Our ultimate goal is for you to ensure that every passion and action in your life aligns with your brilliance and action in your life aligns with your brilliance. Discovering your brilliance relieves the conflict of misalignment in your soul and frees you from the cycle of burnout. The best news is free people, free other people. So get ready to make an impact.
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Friend, I want to pause here for a minute for a spoonful of PBJ. I want to share something with you from my devotion this morning. I was reading Psalm, chapter 1, verses 1 through 6. And when I read verse 6, and what I often do is I'll read the verse and then I'll write it in my own kind of paraphrase, as it's speaking to me I wrote the Lord watches over my journey. And when I looked up the word that's actually in the scripture, it meant my bend or my direction, and it referred to us being arrows and how when we are shot forward. And if you know anything about archery and I don't know a whole lot, so y'all forgive me if you are a part of archery, but what I do understand is an arrow has to be bent in a certain way to go in a certain direction, and I believe that all of us are bent a certain way, just like the scripture that talks about our children being arrows in our quiver. It refers to them as arrows because they all have a natural bend and when you launch them into the world, they go in the direction of their natural bend. You have a natural bend. I wrote I'm an arrow and God is intimately aware of the way I will fly.
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So when I talk about your brilliance, I want you to know that it's about your natural bend, not about creating something new. Not about creating something new, not about becoming something new, not about pretending, but actually relaxing into and resting into who you were created to be from the beginning. Let's continue. The blessing is in the seeking. Brilliance is not a pinnacle you reach one day after a lifetime of searching. Discovering your brilliance is not an ending. It is a journey. Do not expect to cross a finish line and make it to a pinnacle of completion. Most people who come to me seeking support and finding purpose expect to discover a secret code that gives them their purpose and then live happily ever after. Friend, what you are going to find is a path specifically ordered for you by God. The blessing is not in the completion. The blessing is in the seeking.
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Consider how Jesus taught about the kingdom of God while he walked the earth. Jesus often taught through parables. Simple stories used to share deep truths. In Matthew, chapter 13, verses 10 through 13, the disciples asked Jesus why he used parables. His disciples came and asked him why do you use parables when you talk to people? He replied you are permitted to understand the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but others are not. To those who listen to my teaching, more understanding will be given and they will have an abundance of knowledge, but for those who are not listening, even what little understanding they have will be taken away from them. That is why I use parables, for they look, but they don't really see. They hear, but they don't really listen or understand.
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The keys of the kingdom of God are for seekers, only those who will listen, study and submit to the will of the Lord. The more you tune in, the more you will understand. The more you seek, the more you will find. Your seeking is not in vain, friend. There is a promise stated in Matthew, chapter 7, verses 7 through 8, that guarantees the outcome of your seeking. Keep on asking and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking and you will find. Keep on knocking and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, everyone who seeks finds. And to everyone who knocks the door will be opened.
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God promised to reveal his truth to seekers, so the real power is in the seeking, not the knowing. Get curious about God and his word. Get curious about who he created you to be. Please note I said get curious, not get anxious. Trust God enough to obey the step for today without knowing the step for tomorrow. Release the pressure to know the entire plan. That is not how God leads us. He is a step-by-step God. Read scripture, ask questions, journal, pray, seek.
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Matthew, one of Jesus' disciples, instructs us to seek the kingdom of God first, before anything else, and everything else we need will be added to us. Matthew 6 and 33. God has not called us to seek because he's hiding something from us. Because he's hiding something from us, we need to seek because he hides kingdom keys for us, for our benefit. It's the greatest treasure hunt of all time. He knows the seeking will lead to greater wisdom, new skills, deeper levels of understanding, sharpening of your soul, a thicker skin, transformational relationships and a new level of fulfillment at each new level of brilliance. God instructs us to seek because we receive everything we need with each step we take. The Father will not ask you to do anything he doesn't do.
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God is a seeker. Jesus told of a woman who had 10 silver coins but lost one Luke 15, 8 through 10. She swept her whole house and turned it upside down to find that coin. When she found it, she rejoiced with her friends. In the same chapter we learn of a shepherd who had 100 sheep but lost one Luke 15, verses 3 through 7. Jesus told how the shepherd left the 99 to go find the one and rejoiced with his friends when the sheep was recovered.
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Both parables show how significant each person is to God. God is not satisfied with good enough. No matter how many of his children are with him, his heart is always seeking the one who is lost. We erroneously believe we found God. Believe we found God. The truth is, he found us. He sought after us until we were found, according to John 4 and 23,. The father is seeking people who will worship him in spirit and in truth. God expects us to seek, because he himself is a seeker. Seek God. Seek your brilliance. Brilliance evolves as you walk in brilliance. You will become increasingly acquainted with the depth of your innate, unique gift.
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The more I allow God to use me as a crisis disruptor, the more I began to see. My brilliance is more than that. God has given me a supernatural ability to hear what's not said and a voice that brings healing. My coaching clients often experience breakthroughs as I reflect to them feelings and values they never expressed in words. I can hear beyond the words. I hear the longings of the heart. By holding up this mirror, I empower my clients to address a side of their story that was hidden. Folks who hear my podcast often remark on the soothing nature of my voice. I never thought there was anything special about my voice until I started the podcast, but many people over the years have shared how my voice brings comfort and healing to them. I am now aware that God gave me my voice as a balm for those who are hurting. I am intentional about the words I speak and how I use my voice, as I now see how brilliance flows through my instrument.
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Dr Sasha had recently completed her doctoral work when she joined our coaching community. She had worked as a counselor for many years and was established in the field, but she struggled to see the core of her brilliance. She knew she wasn't defined by her work, but she desperately desired to identify the gift of God inside her. Through the heart work strategies, sasha uncovered an innate, unique gift for teaching. Although she had never had the title of a teacher, she had been a trainer on multiple jobs. She served as the onboarding trainer at her counseling firm and she even taught dance to children at church. Through heart work, she began to see how the light in her life shone over the years through her teaching. Over the course of our time together, sasha was offered and accepted an opportunity to become a full-time professor, moving from counseling full-time to training new counselors. Our community had the honor of supporting her as she said goodbye to colleagues and a profession she had invested in for years and stepped into her next adventure. Sasha has discovered the joy of living in brilliance every day and remains connected to the heart work community as her brilliance evolves.
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There are layers of your brilliance you cannot access until you walk in it. Through discovering brilliance, you become aware of your innate, unique gift and as you live in brilliance, you are exposed to the breadth and the depth of power given to you by our Heavenly Father. You are His child and as such, you resemble your father. As you discover the vastness of his love for you, you will also discover the colors, textures and power of the brilliance he gave you to sow into the earth.
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Brilliance requires laser focus To produce the most impact. Your brilliance should be focused as directed by God. As you walk more fully in your brilliance, more people will see your shine. This causes people to be drawn to you and your gift like a magnet. You will receive offers and opportunities you didn't ask for or expect offers and opportunities you didn't ask for or expect. Do not I repeat, do not be dazzled by an offer. Do not be intoxicated by the attention. Approach every door prayerfully and soberly. Practice obeying God in small things, so you will hear him clearly. Concerning the big things, ask questions like God. Should I call this person back? Is this assignment something you want me to do? Is this the place you would have me invest my gift? Father? Is this the opportunity within your will for my life? Do I have your endorsement on this opportunity? Father, will you please show me anything on my plate you didn't assign to my hands?
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Pastor Darius Daniels of Change Church shared three powerful lessons about remaining focused within the plan of God for your life. In his sermon called this is Confusing Stranger Things, part Two, he proclaimed. These three lessons allowed him to reach his goals without destroying his soul. Number one just because I am able to doesn't mean I'm assigned to. Number two saying yes to the wrong thing means you will have to say no to the right thing. And number three God never withholds something from you and gives you something inferior in return.
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Climbing the ladder of success without the focus of the father who created you will lead you to destruction. There is no gold star system or 4.0 to obtain. The father made you for your brilliance and he promised not to lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you Matthew 11 and 30. He knows how you should express your brilliance and where that brilliance is best applied. Ask the father. Focus only on what he requires of you. Do only what he says. Doing more than he says is not impressive. It's disobedient. Trust him to keep you focused Skills, talents, passions and purpose.
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To discover your brilliance, you must understand the difference between your skills, talents, passions and purpose. One of the dangers of being an incredibly capable woman is that you can do a lot of things. Many women find themselves in burnout because they spend most of their life focused on skills and talents that drain their energy and for which they have no intrinsic motivation. Again, just because you can do it does not mean you should. Making a shift to focus on purpose and passion provides the greatest impact from you and ignites an intrinsic fire that cannot be contained.
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Skills are tasks you've been trained to do but if you're honest, you can admit you're not very good at them. You can get the job done, but you struggle. Skills cost you greatly in time, attention, effort and emotion because they don't flow freely from you. You must exert a lot of energy to complete the task. As an example, in higher education we have very intricate budget processes. Now, friend, I was trained in these processes every year for 20 years, but I had to relearn them every time budget season came around. I got the job done and I never got my hand slapped because of a budget error, but it cost me an excessive amount of time, tears and frustration every single year. Budget season demanded about a week locked in my office for hours trying to wrap my mind around all the steps. It's just not my thing. These tedious processes did not come naturally to me. I did them, but man, was it difficult.
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A skill may be a requirement of your job, but if you could delegate it, that task would be the first thing you'd hire someone else to do. You cannot ignore your skills, because they are often a necessary part of your job. But if all your time is spent focused on skills, you will be eternally exhausted and dread the thought of each new day. Grab your disrupting burnout journal. It's time to identify your skills. What task have you learned to do? Because you had to that you're not good at which tasks or responsibilities drain every ounce of motivation out of you. List at least three of your skills.
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Next, consider your talents. Unlike skills, you're pretty good at your talents. You're probably better than many other people in these areas. You may have been recognized or complimented for having the talent but, if you're honest, it still costs you an extreme amount of energy to get things done. In that area, you accomplish the task exceptionally well, but you're not motivated to do it. Very often, tasks are risky business for professional women because this can be a place where you get stuck. People who recognize your talent want you to do that task all the time because you're so good at it. That's just human nature on their part. So you settle. You settle for good enough. You settle for the pat on the back. You settle for the validation. You settle for the achievement. But you know there's more. Your heart is exhausted at the thought of having to do it too much longer. You're good at it, but it still costs you time, effort, attention and emotion.
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I have a talent for working through techie things like building my own website, editing my videos and running my social media. An IT expert may call me out as a fraud, but to the untrained eye I'm pretty good. There's even a bit of enjoyment in it for me. I feel accomplished after I've tinkered long enough to figure out a new software. But the truth is it takes me too much time to accomplish a small techie task that an expert could get done in a matter of minutes. It costs me days and mental energy to take care of tech tasks in my business and I often fail to get it right on the first try. When I compare my tech abilities to other tech novice I rank top of the class, but no one is calling on me to fix their computer Well, except my husband and my mama. I will never be known as a tech expert, but I have done well enough at it to run my business. I call that a talent.
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I also have a talent for cooking. Well, we should be clear. I make a few things that are home runs every time. Crock-pot mac and cheese, red velvet cake and 7-Up cake are my most popular requests. I have to say my red velvet cake is unmatched. I have yet to taste one better, and those who have tasted my cake over the years agree. Everything else I cook is average or maybe slightly above, but my cakes and mac and cheese stand above the rest.
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I fell in love with cooking through my grandma, ozella. She was the manager of the cafeteria in our local high school and believed in sharing love through food. She and I cooked together every Saturday for many years in my childhood Homemade biscuits, apple pie and our special gooey bars. Gooey bars are my workplace potluck fan favorite. I will tell you what's in them, but I'm sworn to secrecy. My colleagues have tried to get that recipe out of me for years, but I promised grandma to only share it with my daughter, hint Google gooey butter cake. It's the closest I've found.
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I enjoy cooking, but it's a talent, not a passion or purpose for me. Some people cook big dinners and complicated desserts on a regular basis for fun. They experiment and try their own mix of ingredients to create masterpieces. I use recipes. A real cook may say that's blasphemy. I rarely make the red velvet cake because it's such a laborious recipe. I get rave reviews every time I make it, but the effort is a bit excessive for me. All these favorites listed above only come out for the holidays. Your girl is not cooking up red velvet cakes on any random Tuesday.
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It's a talent? I'm better than many when it comes to cooking, but the effort wears me out. What are your talents? When I asked this question during a workshop recently, three of the ladies identified party planning as their talent. They get called on to plan family events and they're good at it, but they would rather not do it. They try to hide from it, but they get called on every time. What are some things you're good at, better than many, but which you'd rather not do too often? List those talents in your journal.
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Passion versus purpose. Passion and purpose are where you want to invest most of your time, attention, emotion and effort. I use purpose and brilliance interchangeably. They are the same. In Christian communities, we also use the word calling to describe purpose and brilliance interchangeably. They are the same. In Christian communities, we also use the word calling to describe purpose and brilliance.
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Many people mistake a passion for their purpose. Passion and purpose are often used interchangeably, but they are not the same. Purpose is the innate, unique brilliance you bring to the world. Passion is an expression of your brilliance, the way you share your brilliance with the world. Failure to understand the difference contributed significantly to my burnout. Passion is fiery. My burnout. Passion is fiery, reckless and intense Purpose brings structure and boundaries to your passions. Without purpose, chasing passions will drive you into burnout. Without purpose, you think you must do all the things to pursue your passion, instead of being who you were created to be and doing what flows easily from you.
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For example, I'm passionate about education. I truly believe education changed the trajectory of my life and the lives of generations to come after me. Therefore, I dedicated my life to education. I'm great at it and I believe in it, and my passion for education drove me to a breaking point Because I thought I was operating in purpose. I didn't know how to say no. I failed to build boundaries because I thought education was my ultimate calling. I learned the hard way that passion is more about doing and purpose is about being. Passion is the expression of purpose. Passion is how I share my purpose with the world through my gifts like teaching, speaking, writing and singing.
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You may be passionate about many things, but they all flow from one purpose. Every passion is birthed from your innate, unique brilliance. Purpose is your being. Passion is the vehicle through which purpose is presented. It is your doing. Making the transition from exhausting passion to living in brilliance freed me to serve well without paying irreversible consequences. Purpose-filled women clearly distinguish between their purpose and their passions, allowing brilliance to be their guide Friend.
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In the next paragraph, I'm referring to a graphic. The graphic is on page 180 of your book. The graphic above shows how you have one purpose, one innate, unique brilliance. That brilliance is expressed through several passions jobs, roles, accomplishments, behaviors, acts and service. Most people I've met have trouble pinpointing their purpose right away because we have not been taught to value our being over our doing. Therefore, to discover your brilliance, it is often useful to start by considering your passions. Complete the purpose versus passion diagram in your disrupting burnout journal using the instructions below.
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First, fill in the outer circles with your passions. Think about the things you've done throughout your life jobs, volunteer opportunities, family roles, performances and other activities. Don't just consider experiences you find applaudable. Add your very first job and your leadership roles in college. Remember the ways you showed up in school. Consider your roles in group projects and friend groups. Recount your position as a student athlete or captain of the debate team. In what ways have you volunteered or offered service without payment?
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Brilliance is not just connected to what you get paid to do. Brilliance shows up in every aspect of your life. Don't limit your thoughts to accolades or high profile wins. Brilliance did not show up the first day you were recognized for something good. You've been brilliant since your first breath.
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After documenting as many expressions as you can remember, think about your impact expressions as you can remember. Think about your impact. Number one. What were the outcomes or benefits for others of you serving in each role? Number two what were the outcomes or benefits for you serving in each role? Number three what do these outcomes and benefits have in common? Number four what do these outcomes and benefits have in common? Number four what themes do you find among the list of impacts? And number five what is the one common thread that flows through each experience? We will chat more about connecting the dots in the next section. No pressure to have the right answer, friend. This is an activity you will revisit as you become more familiar with your brilliance. Our goal in this moment is for you to awaken to awareness of your own brilliance, purpose and passion in action.
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I'm encouraged by powerful women who identify their purpose from their passions. I watched a video of Oprah Winfrey speaking at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. When asked about purpose, oprah says it looks like I was a talk show host. It looks like I was in movies. It looks like I own a network, but my real contribution is to help connect people to themselves and the higher ideas of consciousness. I'm here to help raise consciousness. Oprah clearly separates her being from her doing, her brilliance. Her purpose is connecting people to ideas and stories so they can live a better life. She has expressed that brilliance, passions through a talk show and the own network, through acting in movies, by opening a school for girls in South Africa and in many other ways, as much as Oprah Winfrey has accomplished. She does not define herself by the doing. She's clear on her brilliance, which fuels the impacts of her passions.
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Tunde Oyenian is a Peloton instructor, nike athlete and author of the New York Times bestseller Speak. Tunde shares in her memoir her path from losing a significant amount of weight in high school to selling department store makeup and to all the accolades she enjoys today. Tunde writes that she quote helps people discover themselves for the first time. End quote. This brilliance is not something new. It didn't emerge after she was chosen for the national stage that is Peloton. Throughout her story there's a consistent thread of helping people discover themselves for the first time, consistent thread of helping people discover themselves for the first time, which she expressed through her passions for makeup, exercise, speaking, writing and empowering. Tunde understands if she left Peloton tomorrow, the innate, unique brilliance she brings to the world would not end Her current international stage with Peloton is a vehicle for her purpose, not the purpose itself.
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Serena Williams, arguably the best tennis player in the world to date, is more than that. One might assume tennis had to be her purpose because she was such a prominent figure in that world and so skilled at the sport. Tennis is a passion, a powerful vehicle through which she has shared her purpose with the world. However, to walk away with such grace, serena must understand that she's more than tennis. I continue to watch her journey as she expands her foray into entrepreneurship and focuses on motherhood. Serena Williams has an undeniable will to win like none other. In an interview with the team at Slack, serena explains she requires honest feedback from every person on her team, from her nutritionist to her stylist. When pressed about why constructive criticism is so important to her, she offers a pragmatic answer there's someone working just as hard as me, if not harder. They're trying to beat me and I need to always stay a step above. In another interview she discusses her absolute disdain for losing. This supernatural competitive edge is not siloed to tennis. It impacts every aspect of her life. Whether she is designing new fashion or starring in commercials, I know will continue to be impacted by her innate, unique brilliance, her competitive spirit.
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A news story in the On the Road segment by Steve Hartman on CBS Evening News on April 7th 2023, perfectly shows how your brilliance is not limited by your job title or job description. The students at Weatherby Elementary in Hamden, maine, became the state chess champions due to the brilliance of their coach. School custodian, david Bishop, heard the children practicing their chess moves one day after school and couldn't help but join the fun. Mr Bishop had played the game since his childhood and simply loved it. He had no background in teaching and had never been trained to teach the game, but did you notice his name, mr Bishop? He was made for this. With guidance and coaching from Mr Bishop, the students went from unknown to state champions. When asked about his role in the win, mr Bishop says when they told me to make the school shine, they never said how. Oh, friend, I just love that Mr Bishop was not stifled by his title, level or job description. He didn't paralyze himself with thoughts of that's not my job.
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David Bishop found new joy at work and his avenue to shine through an innate, unique brilliance only he could provide to the students. The segment ends with Mr Bishop saying I found my purpose. Have you found your purpose, friend? Do you know who you are, beyond the title, salary and job description? It's time to discover your brilliance. Connect the dots. Brilliance is in you now and has been for your entire life. To discover your innate, unique brilliance, you only need to trace your own steps. Connect the dots, travel back through your experiences and mark your impact. What do you find in common among all the ways you have impacted the world Through this exercise? My business bestie, dr Ramona Lawrence, found a theme of recognizing and implementing systems to ensure a project and implementing systems to ensure a project, organization or body works efficiently. When I introduced this process to my sister friend, taisha Andrews, she found a theme of guiding people toward light in their lives. My impact theme is walking folks through crisis. Allow me to share my own walk with you as an example of the journey.
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Family and friends I have always been the person you call on your worst day. My phone rarely rings for casual conversation or with an invite to go shopping. Normally, when my phone rings, someone needs something. They're hurt, they're upset, they may be crying. This has been true all my life. Adults came to me with their problems, even when I was a child. I once told a lady ma'am, I'm 12. I don't know what to do about your marriage, but I can listen. I was the big sister, extraordinaire, caring for my brother and sister like they were my own. I have always been the person you lean on when your strength is gone. I am the person you call when you don't know what else to do or who else to call. I get down into your crisis with you and help you walk through it. Get down into your crisis with you and help you walk through it.
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Profession I was on call for 20 years, which means I responded to crisis calls at all times of day or night. As a young professional, I lived in the residence halls with college students, so they only had to knock on my door. They knocked for everything from needing toilet paper to needing help with a friend struggling with suicidal ideation. As I developed in my career, I moved off campus, but the on-call responsibilities remained. As a mid-level professional, it was my job to coach my team through lower level crisis situations and to lead through life-threatening or life-altering situations. I responded in person if a student was arrested, hospitalized or victimized. As an executive leader, my on-call responsibilities were mostly coaching, but the occasional flood in the residence hall or student tragedy demanded my attention. In addition to serving on call, my daily responsibilities included any number of student concerns, complaints and crises.
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Ministry In ministry with my husband, my role continues to be the crisis support person. I tend to gravitate to the moments when someone needs a hug or they need someone to stand with them. On their hardest day, I have supported several laboring moms in the delivery room and stood with many people as they buried loved ones. There have been many coffee dates full of tears and even more tearful phone calls. My heart is bent towards people suffering in one way or another. Research On the day we lost our five nursing students, I was in the process of writing a dissertation on the role of the Dean of Students in managing campus crisis. I spent four years conducting research around the subject of crisis management before I had any idea about my personal brilliance Coaching when I transitioned out of traditional higher education work, I moved into a space where I support teams and individual professionals through disrupting burnout and other cycles that hamper productivity and collective brilliance.
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Teams in crisis bring me in to equip and support them in walking out that crisis and enter productive purpose. And now I'm walking with you as you gather the tools to beat burnout so you can know and maximize your brilliance. Friend, I'm a crisis buster. It's just who I am. I help you see beyond your current struggle to the light of a better tomorrow. When I look back over my journey, this is what I've always done, no matter the job title or job description. When you call on PBJ, someone in the room needs to know there is brilliance in them and tomorrow will be a better day. This is my brilliance.
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Take some time now to connect your dots. What do you find when you consider the ways you've expressed brilliance throughout your life? Wander back through your life experiences to find your common thread of impact. As you think through your jobs, roles and responsibilities, what difference have you made? It may be helpful here to chat with family and friends. Ask them how they see your role in your family or friend group. Ask them what impact you've had in their life. Do not challenge their responses. Just listen and take notes. Receive every compliment and let it land. Allow your people to help you identify your brilliance. Do the hard work. Let's take this one step further. Remember your brilliance is not just about your doing, but it's more about your being. Your brilliance is your identity. It's your superpower. You need to look beyond jobs, roles and responsibilities to discover your brilliance.
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Take some time to journal through the following questions. This activity should not be timed. As a matter of fact, I encourage you not to do this in one sitting. Visit and revisit the following questions as you journey through your life in search of your brilliance. Look for light as you answer the questions. Look for themes that continue to show up along your path. Note the commonalities as you go. What clues do you find concerning the brilliance God placed in you? Take your time, enjoy this journey. Download the Disrupting Burnout Journal for a fillable copy of this activity. Friend, you do not have to look for purpose, because your purpose is not lost. Brilliance has been in you for your entire life. This is just an opportunity for you to recognize it. You will never discover brilliance outside of yourself. Everything you need is tucked into your own story. Invest the time to investigate your life so you can meet the woman God created you to be.