Tapping Into Our Uniqueness

When I discovered Taylor Protocols’ Core Value Index, I thought, Finally! There is a tool that can help people understand their internal “wiring”! 

This understanding of a person’s innate core nature is the golden key that truly reveals that we have who we are to work with, so let’s bring that to our life, rather than assume we are empty and need to be “filled up” with information to succeed. With the “who,” we can unfold the “what” through our natural curiosity and design “how” we want to learn to bring forth our unique essence and create a livelihood. Then, as we pursue knowledge, we can naturally integrate who we are with what and how we are learning—ultimately becoming our highest and best self and unfolding our highest and best work.

In his time, Abraham Maslow was unique in his philosophy as a psychologist. His focus was not to study mental illness but to discover what constitutes positive mental health. He created a model of human beings’ needs, arranged like a ladder, with the most basic needs at the bottom focused on the physical: air, water, food, sex. Then came safety needs: security and stability. Then there were the psychological or social needs for belonging, love, and acceptance. At the top were the self-actualizing needs—the need to fulfill oneself and to become all that one is capable of becoming.

Maslow discovered through his research that self-actualized people tend to focus on problems outside of themselves, have a clear sense of what is true and phony, are spontaneous and creative, and are not too bound by social conventions.

Sounds like a great antidote to the ails of our society, doesn’t it?

That’s why I love the Core Value Index. It provides a process to connect our awareness to our recipe for uniqueness. This revelation enables individuals to bring all of themselves to their learning and their life design. We actually are a human operating system, and we have an internal code—a type of software—that when we work with it instead of against it unconsciously, we activate our gifts and talents, which drive an amazing sense of fulfillment. 

Even the quality of our relationships is enhanced. Transformation happens when people not only understand their own core wiring, but also understand that others have their own unique wiring that impacts their way of being. I have witnessed culture shifts in families that begin to understand how each child is unique and different from their parents in how they learn, grow, and develop as human beings; in school environments where teachers are empowered to facilitate dynamic learning environments; and, in businesses that tap into the genius of each person in ways that increase capacity, especially by hiring and placing people into the right positions with greater predictability of success.

Learning how we are wired to learn and lead for our greatest success is a breakthrough that is nothing short of life-changing.

Recently, I worked with a very successful woman from the high-tech industry who has all the trappings of success, but was miserable when we first chatted. She had difficulty sleeping and experienced terrible anxiety on a daily basis. With the results of her Core Value Index, she began to see how she had been warping her core essence in ways that had prevented her from being true to herself. For example, for most of her life, she had motivated herself to be the lone ranger with words like “I can do it myself” and was frequently overwhelmed. Her desire to make a big difference and give back is a dream on her heart, and yet she had been struggling with how to make it happen. When she learned that her core value was Love catalyzed by Truth, and that her core energies were best actualized as a team leader sharing her vision with others, it freed her up to let go of going it alone. Looking inside herself in this way revealed many other possibilities that are now bringing more joy to her life.

When I asked her, “How would your life have been different had you known this about yourself when you were younger?” she quickly answered, “I would have been truer to myself with my choices, and been more confident in bringing my voice and my purpose forward. I would have saved myself a lot of angst about ‘fitting’ the mold of success as defined by someone else.”

I think she’s right, not just for her, but for all of us––and especially our children.