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Strengths Explorer: Future Thinker

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Your mind loves to think and dream about the future. You are a person who thinks about what is possible, not what is impossible.
Clifton Strengths Explorer


For youth with Future Thinker, the future is full of possibilities. They love to dream, create, and brainstorm. Most find thinking about the future monumentally more exciting than thinking about the present. Gallup writes, “your visions of the future might be bigger than most people’s because thinking big is one of your talents.” Future Thinkers don’t just think about the future for fun, they enjoy doing so in order to find meaning. They are naturally oriented to look for meaning and purpose in what they do. Gallup explains, “You like to think about the important things in life, what they mean, and how they are connected to reach other.”

At our strengths day in McCook, Nebraska this year, I had the opportunity to sit down with a young woman and explain her strengths to her. During our discussion she mentioned that she has a hard time concentrating in class. I asked why that was, and she said that her mind wanders to her cupcake store. So I asked naively, you own a cupcake store?! She replied, “I will.” She went on to explain what it will look like, the colors of the walls, and the flavors she will sell. You see she led with Future Thinker, so to this young lady, the future of owning a cupcake store was so much more fascinating and exciting than anything she was learning in the classroom.

31.5% of our TeamMates mentees have Future Thinker in their Top 3 SE themes. In research conducted with Gallup using the Gallup student poll, our mentees have higher levels of hope. Hope is the energy and excitement we have about the future. The reason our mentees have higher hope is because they have something consistent to look forward to each week-their mentor coming to visit. By just showing up in a consistent regular way, you are building on your mentee’s hopefulness. And if your mentee has the Future Thinker theme, by just showing up, you are implicitly sending them the message that their dreams matter and can one day come to fruition. Even if their dreams about the future seems highly unlikely, even if they pester you with questions about life that you haven’t discovered the answer to, and even if they seem inattentive as their mind wanders to their future cupcake shop, show up anyway.
-Tess


Image Credit: (http://strengthsschool.com/future-thinker-strengths-explorer/) 
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