9 Exercises to Enhance Your Personal Expertise

(Read the first article in this series here.)

Personal Self-Expertise is an invaluable tool that transforms the way you communicate in your business and personal lives. It functions as a front porch for two reasons: 1) It equips you with the confidence of knowing exactly who you are; and 2) It magnetizes others to you because they admire and respect those who know exactly who they are.

But it takes time and study to get to this point. In this article we are going to explore 12 exercises that will help you enhance your self-expertise.

101 Goals
Make a list of 101 Goals for the next year. Any kind of goals can apply: business, personal, financial, athletic or romantic. Make some big and some small. And be sure to write them down on one sheet of paper so you can keep it with you. Take as much time as you need, too. This is not an easy exercise and it may take a few weeks.

Now, not only is this an effective goal setting technique, but when you’ve completed your list, ask yourself this: what patterns do I see among my goals? Are they all related to business? Are they all related to material things? Are they concrete goals or abstract goals? It’ll blow your mind! And this exercise will provide tremendous insight into what you value and therefore contribute to your self-expertise.

101 Things That Make Me Happy
Lists allow us to easily put information which belongs together in one place. They don’t prioritize, segment, or bias any one item; but rather allow us to simply get it all down on paper – and sometimes that’s the most important part of learning. In this exercise, you will start to see commonalities of certain things that make you happy. Yet again, further insight into the person you really are.

25 Of Your Greatest Accomplishments
Not only will this exercise put you in a great mood, but it will demonstrate your talents and passions. For example, if all of your accomplishments are related to helping others, that says something about your character. If all of your accomplishments are financial, it says another. List and learn!

Philosophies/Theories
Most people have certain philosophies and theories about life, business and relationships; but few people write them down. So take some time one Saturday or Sunday, go to the park, and organize your thoughts. Think of yourself as a famous philosopher who is writing his manifesto about life. Now, you don’t actually have to write the whole thing out, but list several key areas of life along with which rules, theories or philosophies you adhere to in order to become successful. You never know, you may be the next great thinker! And you’ll also be surprised at how easy it is to organize your ideas once you do so visually.

Favorite Quotations
Write down as many of your favorite quotations, movie lines, song lyrics and words of wisdom you’ve accumulated over the years. Then look back and see what they have in common. Many of your ideas will form patters and groups. And this will open a window into your mind, heart and soul that you never would have seen otherwise. Once again, this exercise will amaze you when you discover how much wisdom you actually possess. That’s the great thing about self-expertise – once you bring it to the surface, it starts to make a LOT of sense.

The Roof Is On Fire
Ask yourself this question: if your house was on fire and you were only allowed to go back and grab one thing, what would you choose?

Let’s say your answer was pictures. Good. Now, dig deeper and think about what that means: are you family oriented? Do you place great value on memories? Are you a materialistic person?

Dinner For Three
Next, ask yourself this question: If you could have dinner with any three people – dead or alive – whom would you choose?

Me? I would choose 1) Robin Williams, the most entertaining man alive; 2) Adam Duritz, my favorite singer and musical inspiration; and 3) Samantha Walters, one of my close friends and the warmest person I’ve ever known. These answers show that my self-expertise has components of humor, music and friendship. What about yours?

Everything You Want To Be
I once heard Larry Winget, world famous author and speaker tell an audience, ‘Go home and make a list of everything you want to become.’

Wow.

It was an incredible exercise that motivated, inspired and moved everyone to learn more about who they were. I suggest you make the same list.

Personal Mission Statement
In Steven Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, he takes you through an exercise called ‘Writing Your Personal Mission Statement.’ Everyone should do this. It’s quite possibly the greatest tool to realizing your self-expertise. Now, you can create your PMS in any way you like, but here are some suggestions for what areas to include:

Roles – Who are you and what is your purpose? Are you a dad? A daughter? A businessman? A friend?

Beliefs – What do you believe? What ideas are important to you? What values do you stand by?

Choices – What things do you choose (and don’t choose) to do? What people do you choose (and don’t choose) to be around?

Advice – What are the most important phrases, verses, quotations or pieces of advice you always tell yourself?

The best part about your Personal Missions Statement is that you can carry it with you wherever you go. Try to read it to yourself every morning. After all, there’s nothing better than starting your day by reading a statement of exactly who you are.