As seen in context

Recently, I took the CliftonsStrength Assessment. The assessment is a 30-minute questionnaire that identifies your core strengths.

I’m usually not a big believer in such assessments, but I thought I’d try it, and I’m glad I did.

According to the results from the assessment, one of my core strengths is my ability to put things into context. And there are a few lines in the report that explains this strength perfectly.

It goes:

“You look back. You look back because that is where the answers lie. You look back to understand the present.”

This resonated with me.

Although I’d never considered my incessant need to contextualize information as a strength, I could see how it had helped me navigate challenging situations.

And as we wrap up this year, I know how easy it is for us to draw conclusions about the year that has been and beat ourselves up about what we did or didn’t do.

But I’ll implore you to put everything into context.

When you look back on 2021, don’t just look for shortcomings or successes; look for answers.

Cast your mind back to a time when you had all sorts of plans drawn up and, from there, follow the blueprints back to the present.

What you’ll find is that, over time, lines get blurred, intentions become so unrecognizable, rugs get swept from underneath your feet time and time again, but you kept moving, and time never stopped.

Until you acknowledge these events, you can’t understand the present or make better decisions about the future.

You need context to understand how far you’ve come, so your present can regain its stability, and you can rediscover the blueprints for your future.

And hopefully, when you piece everything together and see it all in context, you’ll realize how blessed you are to be staring into a device right now and reading these words to yourself.

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