S1.E3: Unlock Dyslexic Strengths and See the Whole Forest

Episode 3 dives into dyslexic strengths like emotional intelligence and big-picture thinking, I share with my own experience.

Transcript Summary: Think about your strengths. Dyslexics see the forest, not just trees. I managed 30 people in my 20s thanks to emotional intelligence. At 40, I know I'm multi-talented.

Timestamps:
 (0:00) Unlock Dyslexic Strengths
 (1:58) Emotional Intelligence
 (3:36) See the Whole Forest (Big-Picture Thinking)
 (6:15) Multi-Talented at 40
 (8:03) Feel Proud & Get Your Workbook

Excerpt: "You as a dyslexic can see the whole forest."

Free Dyslexic Goal Workbook: https://www.andreapickard.com  
 Follow: @dyslexia_unfiltered  

#DyslexicStrengths #Neurodiversity

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Hello and welcome to today's episode of Dyslexia Unfiltered. Today we are exploring dyslexic strengths and how they can help us with goal setting and achieving those goals that we really want to achieve. Today's episode is episode three of season one, where in season one we are exploring goal setting completely from start to finish. The intention for today's episode is for you to be able to go away with some tips and ideas about how you can lean into your dyslexic strengths to help you achieve your goals. So before we dive fully into the episode, I would like you to take this moment now to think about what your strengths are. They may be your dyslexic strengths or they may be other strengths you have not so related to your dyslexia. But I'd like you to take that time right now to think about your strengths. The reason why I'm asking you to do that is because how often do we take time to really think about what drives us forward? What it is that our personal strengths are, and we are all unique. So even though this podcast is aimed at dyslexic thinkers, we are all different, even though we are dyslexic thinkers, we are we all are unique, and we all have our unique strengths to us. So really think about your strengths. This might be something you think about a lot, or it might be something that you never get the chance to think about. And while you're doing that, think about times in your life where your dyslexic strengths have helped you. While you're thinking about your strengths, I'd like to give you an example of one of my dyslexic strengths that I think has helped me. I believe because of my dyslexia that I have high emotional intelligence, and this has really helped me personally and professionally. I've been able to have friends that have stayed with me for so many years since I was a teenager. I'm now 40, and I've got lots and lots of friends who are like sisters to me. I have been able to maintain those relationships over that time. And in in my work life, in my corporate career, I was in facilities management for over 15 years. In a facilities management role, you have to know every single person in the business, you have to know all the contractors as well. So you know the cleaners and you know the CEOs and their PAs, you know all of those people. At one part of my career, I managed a team of over 30 people, and I was only in my 20s at that time. I believe it is to do with my emotional intelligence that I have been able to have that successful career in the corporate worlds and connect with many, many, many people, and I'm talking hundreds of people. So somebody I know described dyslexia to me in a certain way, and I don't know where this originally came from, but I really liked it, so I'm going to share it with you. They explained dyslexia to me as imagine loads of trees in a forest. You might not be able to see the trees in front of you, but you as a dyslexic can see the whole forest. The reason why I'm sharing that with you is because I want you to really know that there are strengths that are to do with your dyslexia that can help you when achieving your goals. We know there's a lot of challenges involved in having dyslexia, and I know that I've personally been through, you know, real challenging times, mainly in my school years and when studying. But today I want us to focus on our strengths specifically. And I want you to think about that big picture thinking that I mentioned with thinking about seeing that whole forest. Think about a time in your life when you may have used your dyslexic strengths. And I want you to feel proud of yourself. I really do. So I'd really like you to think about what thoughts and feelings are coming up for you as you think about your dyslexic strengths and how they've helped you in your life and how they could possibly help you in the future with achieving your goals. Let's break it down. How could, for example, emotional intelligence help you? How could problem solving help you? How could creativity help you? How could that big picture thinking help you? Now, as I mentioned earlier, dyslexia shows up differently for different people. So I'm just giving examples of ones that are general ones for people with dyslexia, but you know yourself better than anyone, and you will know what your particular strengths are. And what I would love you to do after this episode, if you do have some time, either straight away or like later on, maybe this week, really get a notepad or however you want to get creative, but just really just jot down how those strengths that you have could help you with achieving your goals going forward. When I was at school, I never felt like I had a lot of talent. Um, I always felt like other people did, but I didn't. Now I've reached the age of 40, and actually I've realized that I am multi-talented, and it's actually really hard for me to say that out loud. That's actually the first time I've said it when I'm sharing that with you now. But I've realized that I believe it's because of my dyslexia that in the workplace I did have a lot of success because I leaned on those dyslexic strengths, being thrown different things all of the time, especially in the facilities management arena. I've been in situations where I've had to juggle a lot of things, and I believe that is also down to my dyslexic strengths because I'm able to go from one task to another and see that whole picture, and it's the same thing with this podcast. I am growing as I go, and I really hope you'll come along with me on the journey. So I'd really love for you to reflect on today's episode and hopefully you've got some thoughts going now about your own dyslexic strengths. I know sometimes it can be challenging to think about your strengths, but definitely try to lean into this and really think about how these strengths will help you with achieving your goals and reflect upon ways your strengths have helped you in the past. I would really love to know what your goals are, what your dyslexic strengths are, and what you're looking to achieve. So I'd really love for us to keep in touch. You can head over to my website www.andreapicard.com. You can sign up to my email newsletter, and when you sign up, you will receive um access to a workbook that I've created on goal setting, and there's also a video that goes with it of me talking through how to use the workbook, and it's done with dyslexic thinkers in mind. So please do go for that and keep in touch with me. I will send you regular emails. I will see you next time on Dyslexia Unfiltered.