Alignment and Contrast

The Alignment Meter is one of the most powerful tools of Talent2Strength. It measures thriving (alignment) and suffering (contrast) in our experience. This helps us identify, actively shape, and communicate with others as we measure our levels of contrast and alignment in a given activity. Our state of being is always evolving due to the variety of our lived experiences. Below is an illustrated interpretation of our model. The full model and activities that go with it are part of our curriculum. But you don’t need the full model to get value from it and apply it to your life.

The meter is like a speedometer that measures from 0-100. All of us have this meter inside of us. At any moment we know where we are on the Alignment Meter if we take a moment to orient to our thoughts and feelings.

I know if I’m suffering (0-25), if I’m doing something that I just find miserable, I feel weak, and I feel drained. If I wasn’t forced to do it I probably wouldn’t do it. There are things in our environment that make us suffer and it is good to take a moment to check in with your meter so that you can identify the kinds of activities that put you in suffering mode. This awareness is the first step to being able to look at ways to shift those activities out of your daily experience.

Then on the opposite end of the scale is thriving (75-100), and those are the activities that I just love doing. Even if it looks like work to other people, it’s fun for me. I feel strong, I feel authentic, and I’m fully committed. You want to plan on working more of those activities into your life. When you connect the activity to the place it has for you on the alignment meter you can begin to more deliberately orient your life around the activities that make you thrive. Activities that positively engage your talents usually push you toward the thriving end of the meter.

Actively look for ways to eliminate the things that make you suffer. Actively seek activities where you thrive. We can’t always have perfect alignment, but we can always have greater alignment.

Often, we find ourselves somewhere in between Suffering and Thriving, in the area of Struggle (25-50) or Traction (50-75), but we’re likely bouncing around among all four sections all day long. That’s the reality of day to day living, but this tool is meant to provide a way to see it more tangibly. And seeing it allows us to intervene.

A special note about contrast: it is not a bad thing. Contrast is extremely valuable if we learn to recognize it. It clarifies what we don’t want so that we can take action and have more of what we do want.

Where were you on the Alignment Meter over the course of today? There were probably some things that you just loved, and then some things that you were like, “Oh gosh, this is terrible.” Or maybe the whole day was spent bouncing between bearable and content.

One of the greatest indicators that you are experiencing something as thriving versus suffering is the degree to which the activity is a match for your themes. The more alignment we experience, the more our themes are positively engaged.