Page 106 - Talane Miedaner - Coach Yourself to a New Career_ 7 Steps to Reinventing Your Professional Life (2010)

94 COACH YOURSELF TO A NEW CAREER

INTERVIEW QUESTIONS FOR YOURSELF
1. What things do I frequently get complimented on or
praised for?
2. What do people ask me to help them with or do for them?
3. What is it that I do so well that people say I should get
paid for it?
4. What am I good at? (List everything—and it should be a
long list—that you are good at doing, from typing to fixing
things to listening; write down every single skill that you
have.)
5. What did I do for fun as a child? (This is an excellent
question to ask your parents when you are interviewing
them about your strengths and abilities.)

Draw Inspiration from Your Childhood

For inspiration, think back to what you used to do for fun as a
child. You were pure and innocent then, and you naturally played
games and did things that you enjoyed. What were those vari-
ous pastimes? In the space provided in this section, write down
everything you did for pure fun as a child. If you can’t remember,
ask your parents, review old home movies, dig out the early photo
albums, or retrieve that old box of toys from the attic and see if
these items remind you of what you used to love.
Revisiting your childhood this way is more revealing than you
may suppose. I was just chatting with one of my coaching col-
leagues about this subject and recalled that I used to keep a diary
when I was little. My family was very poor, and so I’d cut out pieces
of used computer paper (my dad was a computer programmer) and
make my own little books by stapling the pages together. Then
I’d write about my day. I still have some of them stashed away in