I’ve spent the past two years strengthening my life. Yes, since my husband passed away (it will be two years next week), and my kids have officially left the nest (well almost, the younger birdie tends to come back more often than the older one), I’ve had a chance to concentrate more on me, myself and I.

So, it was very fitting when the publicist for Marcus Buckingham, the author of “Find Your Strongest Life, What the Happiest and Most Successful Women Do Differently,” contacted me and asked if I would like Marcus to write a guest post for my blog.

“Absolutely,” I told the publicist, “but first I need to take The Strong Life Test and discover the role I was born to play, as Marcus’ book says.” At 50+, it’s time to find out what my role in life is truly meant to be, and pay more attention to my strengths. I do want to be a happy woman during the second half of my life.

I heard Marcus speak at a recent women’s conference this past October and loved his presentation on the topic. He described nine different life roles:

1. An Advisor is good at giving advice. (Am I good at giving advice? I do try to give advice to people.)
2. A Caretaker always wants to make sure that everyone is okay.(I must be a caretaker, I’m always trying to be inclusive.)
3. A Creator wants to understand, take notes. Marcus says creators like time for themselves and have the best conversations with themselves. (I must be a creator. I always talk to myself.)
4. A Motivator wants to raise the energy in the room. (Well, that’s me. I like to pump up the volume when I’m in the room.)
5. An Influencer wants to move people to action. (That could be me too. I don’t like to sit around. I like to execute and move people to act.)
6. An Equalizer sees the world as a whole and wants to do the right thing. An Equalizer is a passionate defender. (Hmm, am I an Equalizer?)
7. A Pioneer loves the new and has a strong tolerance for ambiquity. (Not me. I don’t think dealing with ambiquity is one of my strengths.)
8. A Teacher asks ‘how can I help others learn and grow?’ (That’s me. I like to teach others.)
9. A Weaver sees the world as a web of relationships and is always looking for what’s best in other people. (Hmm, am I a Weaver?)

Once you discover your lead role and your supporting role, Marcus says you should follow your internal compass to live a stronger life.

I was intrigued by Marcus’ perspectives and especially eager to take The Strong Life Test. I did. And guess what I found out? Surprise, surprise, surprise.

My lead role is ‘Teacher.’ A teacher ‘begins by asking ‘what can I learn by this?’ My focus is instinctively toward the other person. Not her feelings, necessarily, but her understanding, her performance, her skills. (No wonder I have so many people on my gift-giving list. This fits me to a tee. Plus, I did get a degree in education more than 30 years ago, but I never did teach. Why didn’t I teach? I can’t remember! I like The Strong Life Test. Tell me more. Tell me more.)

My best quality is ‘my faith in others.’ (Yes, yes, yes. That’s me. I have faith in others and usually in my eyes people are innocent until proven guilty, rather than guilty until proven innocent…like when my son went to a concert in NYC and didn’t tell me.I told the person who snitched on him that he absolutely did not go to NYC to a concert without asking me first. Unfortunately, in this case, he was guilty of the act and did face a punishment.)

Tell me more. Tell me more. Oh no, a Teacher must be careful and not come to believe that everyone is capable of everything. (So true, so true.)

My supporting role is a Motivator. I knew it. I do raise the energy in the room. I do usually sense the energy in a room and feel compelled to do what I can to elevate it – just like The Strong Life Test says. Listen to this: It says that a Motivator is an instinctively optimistic person. (Yep, that’s me.)

But what should a Motivator be careful of? Uh, oh. The Strong Life Test says that I should be careful that I don’t get sucked dry by emotional vampires. (Yep, that’s me. I do let all the vampires suck me dry. No wonder I like the Twilight movies.)

That was fun. I think I would like to have Marcus write a guest post for my blog. I’m going to ask him. Stay tuned. Maybe he will write it next week or the week after.

Judi