One year of Scribbles!!

The first "Scribbles"was published today, exactly a year ago....

This has been some journey! Throughout this year we have published at a rate of around one article a week.

Our objective has been to keep resourcing people, especially our Talent Guides and the people they coach, with ongoing information on talents, leadership and character.

We hope you find this Blog meaningful, and that it provides you with insight and food for thought. Please give this link, http://www.africanmosaic.blogspot.com/ to others and encourage them to sign in for the free updates.

For more information on Africanmosaic and what we do, please visit our Website at http://www.africanmosaic.com/ .

Keep on embracing uniqueness, and growing strengths!

Dries Lombaard
C.E.O. Africanmosaic

The advantages of identifying and understanding your...Spiritual Theme

Some people identify with a so called spiritual theme in a huge way. This is one of your themes that you leverage most in your spiritual journey, or on your spiritual pathway. It is very active in your faith life. No matter what religion or faith you belong to, you might identify with the spiritual world most through a specific one of your Top 5 themes.

In order to identify my possible Spiritual Theme, ask questions like the following:

• Through which one of my Top 5 talents do I connect with God the most?
• Is there a specific one of my themes that becomes very active whenever I practice my faith?
• With which one of my Top 5 themes do I feel most comfortable within spiritual or aith environments, like when I go to church?

Why it helps to understand my Spiritual Theme

Identifying the spiritual theme helps a lot especially if you are a spiritual person, or someone of faith. It then opens new understanding, not only about your own faith life, but also about your relationship with God.

FAQ’s on Spiritual Themes

• Can your Spiritual Theme change over time? - Yes, absolutely. It is part of your spiritual journey and could change with it.

• Could I have more than one Spiritual Theme? - Yes you could. Just be aware of the fact that there could be dynamics involved.

• Does everyone have a specific Spiritual Theme they could identify? - No not at all. When someone is coached one should be very sensitive with this theme, as it becomes very personal to people - just like the Guilt Theme might.

• Can my Spiritual Theme be the same as my Core or my Ignition or Relaxing Theme? - Yes it could.

• Are certain Talent themes more prone to be Spiritual themes than others? - Yes. The most common Spiritual Themes out there are themes like Connectedness, Belief, Relator, Intellection, Restorative, Harmony, Positivity, and either Context or Futuristic - although it could be any pother theme. Can you think why these themes are common?

PS - For more on the application of Strengths and Talents in a Faith based environment, read the book “Living Your Strengths” by Albert Winseman. (Gallup Press)

- By Dries Lombaard, C.E.O Africanmosaic

This concludes our series on different types of Talent Themes.

If you would like to be trained in these and other skills as a talent Guide, visit our website at www.africanmosaic.com

The advantages of identifying and understanding your...Guilt Theme

The presence of a Guilt theme could have an enormous impact on your talents and your effectiveness. Many people are not aware of the presence of their Guilt theme, and therefore they stumble over it every time they use it. The guilt theme is also one theme that very often leads to someone not wanting to see a specific theme in their Top 5, or not really identifying with it. It gives a negative feel towards the beauty of the theme.

In order to identify my possible Guilt Theme, ask questions like the following:

• Is there one of my Top 5 Themes that immediately “weakens” me when I think of it? I feel it is a burden to have this talent?
• Is there one of my themes that I just cannot celebrate and embrace, no matter how I try?
• Is there a specific talent theme that I feel is “wrong” to have? You know that you have it, but you wish you did not because it cannot be positive in your view.


Why it helps to understand my Guilt Theme

Identifying a Guilt theme sometimes comes immediately to someone…but this is one theme that you should not force to identify. But, should it be there, you must face it. The advantage of identifying your Guilt theme lies in the fact that you can now see how your inability to embrace and celebrate the good of the theme has hindered your thought, feelings or behavior. There could be many reasons for the existence of a guilt theme, but some of the most common are upbringing, religious vies or traumatic or negative experiences connected with a specific theme.


FAQ’s on Guilt Themes

• Can your Guilt Theme change over time? - Yes, and it should not only change, it should actually be resolved and dissolved. A guilt theme is not a good thing within the strengths based approach. Sometimes people might need therapy to change their view of a specific theme.

• Could I have more than one Guilt Theme? - Yes you could. Even 3 or 4 are in some cases possible…

• Does everyone have a specific Guilt Theme they could identify? - No. Not all people can identify with a Guilt Theme concept, and therefore it must never be forced.

• Can my Guilt Theme be the same as my Core or my Ignition or Relaxing Theme? - Yes it could. Especially when it is the same as your Core Theme, it should be addressed with urgency in order for you to embrace it.

• Are certain Talent themes more prone to be Guilt themes than others? - Yes. The most common Guilt Themes out there are themes like Responsibility, Competition, Significance, Deliberative, Discipline, Adaptability, Belief and Woo - although it could be any other theme. Can you think why these are common guilt themes?

- By Dries Lombaard, C.E.O Africanmosaic

Next Time we explain more about your Spiritual Theme

For more about us, visit our website at www.africanmosaic.com

The advantages of identifying and understanding your...Relaxing Theme

Your Relaxing theme helps you to “shut down”. It tends to relax and calm down your thinking, feeling or behavior. This “relaxing” or “calming” effect could be linked to ideas, actions or feelings. This specific theme act like a relaxant that slow you down, and even helps you rest. It might be used intentional or unintentional. The more you understand the dynamic of this Relaxing Theme, you understand how to leverage it best for your own advantage and management of your energy.

To identify your Relaxing Theme, ask yourself questions like:
• Is there a specific theme that tends to “kick in” and help my thought, feelings or behavior to relax?
• Is there a specific one of my Top 5 themes that I know I need in order to relax or calm down?
• Which one of my Top 5 themes seems to have the strongest calming effect on me?
• Which one of my Top 5 themes do I see most prevalent in times like vacation, weekends or when I practice a hobby?

Why it helps to understand my Relaxing Theme
Just like the Ignition Theme, understanding the impact and effect of your relaxing theme will come to good use. It has the opposite effect than a Ignition theme, and therefore you might want to avoid it when you need to pick up speed and get started. But it is very useful when relaxing, and even helping you sleep.

FAQ’s on Relaxing Themes
• Can your Relaxing Theme change over time? - Yes, just like with your Core Theme and Ignition Theme, this theme is dynamic and not static. But it tends to be more “stable” than for instance an Ignition Theme.

• Can my Relaxing Theme be lower than my Top 5? - Yes, and like an Ignition Theme it often is. It is then advisable to explore other themes with your Talent Guide in order to discover a possible theme.

• Could I have more than one Relaxing Theme? - Not really, because just like with your Ignition Theme, usually what happens is that another theme reacts to the Relaxing Theme immediately. This is theme dynamics in action.

• Does everyone have a specific Relaxing Theme they could identify? - No. Not all people can identify with an Relaxing Theme concept, and therefore it must never be forced.

• Can my Relaxing Theme be the same as my Core or my Ignition Theme? - Believe it or not, but it is possible. If that is the case, it surely needs a lot of management. It will be scarce though.

• Are certain Talent themes more prone to be Relaxing themes than others? - Yes. The most common Relaxing Themes out there are themes like Activator, Adaptability, Harmony, Relator, Ideation, Input, Intellection, Woo and Restorative - although it could be any theme. Can you think why these are more common?

- by Dries Lombaard, C.E.O. Africanmosaic


Next time: Your "Guilt Theme"

Want to know more? Go to www.africanmosaic.com