Gifts Interview: Dave Dutton

Tuesday, April 14, 2009, by Leigh Anne & Sherra

One Word. One Focus. Every month we'll focus on one word…
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We will be interviewing women (and occasionally…a man or two ) who inspire us, encourage us and renew our spirits. Women from diverse backgrounds…women just like you…women very different from you…women who share and teach so we can all learn something new. Their words may be just what you need to read today…

Leigh Anne and Sherra say…

Have you ever wondered why when someone asks you to list your strengths and weaknesses it is so much easier to list the weaknesses! Why is it so hard to recognize our strengths?? Being able to identify and recognize our strengths can be a tremendous help in our relationships, parenting, work environment and just about every situation!

Today we would like to introduce you to our friend Dave Dutton of Stuck in the Rut. Dave has developed a system to help people identify their natural strengths, their gifts or as Dave likes to call it their “Given Talent”.

He is also our first M-A-N interview and we are delighted to introduce him to our iLashGirls readers!

We have both been through Dave’s program. Dave helped us to identify our given talents. A Given Talent is your unique way you think and act every time you do something that’s energizing to you. It’s your natural you… the you that’s been there since you were a ten year old that’s been your faithful companion. It’s the very core of you. This information has helped us as we work together. Knowing each other’s given talents helps us to draw on each other’s natural strengths. It is amazing how knowing this information has helped us work more effectively with one another.

Word of the Month ~ Gifts

Be sure to read all the way to the end of the interview as Dave is offering a fabulous resume package!

Dave is the owner and CEO of Stuck in a Rut. He has served as an executive for companies ranging in size from a billion dollar internet company to a $20,000,000 personal growth company.

First, a few personal fun facts and then our questions…

One word that describes you:

Determined

What’s your motto or mantra:

I won’t grow up.

What are the top three things that are most important to you — the things you love to do and you are passionate about?

1. Finding the inner genius of those around me.
2. Watching people blend their individuality to do amazing things.
3. Anything outdoors and challenging with friends and family.

Tell us more about what made you create this system.

As I was busy climbing the corporate ladder, I couldn’t help but notice how people tended to stay in jobs they were good at, but they didn’t particularly like all that much. I saw how people got branded by what they’ve done, which made it was next to impossible to get into something very different from their past. It seemed that a person’s very first real job tended to cast the die for the rest of a person’s life (for better or worse).

I didn’t like the fact that the job system made us into our past, mainly because my past was as an accountant and I knew it wasn’t me. Yet everybody seemed to insist that was me.

I saw this identity crisis in all parts of the job system: in how we do resumes, introduce ourselves and network… virtually everywhere. I saw lots of people around me fall victim to the same problem. We were no longer a person. We’re just a job title.

That seemed like insanity to me. Human beings connect to other human beings not through their job title, but through who they are inside. Yet everybody around me was following a job system that seemed to insist you are your job title. I said baloney!! That’s not me. I’m not falling for that deal.

Through a process of asking myself over and over who is the real Dave, I was drilling way down into the core of me. It turns out this process is what conceived The Clarifier®. Looking back on it, what I was doing was separating “true Dave” from the “Should Bee Dave”. (A Should Bee is something that’s not really you. It’s just become a part of you because it was imposed on you by outside influences.) I knew I wasn’t a very happy camper when I was operating through my Should Bees which made me even more determined to separate myself from my Should Bees.

I continued this drilling down into the real Dave for a period of about eight years with the only intention of finding how to tell others about me. What I eventually found was deep down inside me was a particular core way of thinking I did each and every time I was doing something energizing. This core way of thinking totally defined me. This core way of thinking we call your Given Talent was, still is and always will be me. It’s what motivates me and what I can’t get enough of. It’s who I am when the “Should Bees” are stripped away.

We originally started out thinking this was mainly a career tool. We have since found the findings of The Clarifier® is much bigger than just about careers. It turns out to be a huge self discovery tool.

Three hundred people later, I can tell you for sure that everybody has their own particular step-by-step core way of thinking they do largely intuitively that totally defines them. It’s their particular form of individuality. It perfectly describes you.

All from this country boy who just wanted to know how to describe himself to others so they could know the real Dave.

Why is it so important for people to discover their Given Talent?

When someone lives through their Given Talent, you’re living through your natural creative self. It’s who you are when things are flowing. When you’re using your Given Talent, you’re working through your very soul. It’s like the creative ten year old within you just waiting to get out and have fun.

When you know that, you can excel by just being you. You don’t have to pretend to be someone else to prosper in a career and elsewhere. Life is extremely gratifying when you’re using your Given Talent, whether you’re a stay-at-home mom, a student, someone in mid-career or someone looking for more after retirement. You can’t get enough of life using your Given Talent.

Who could benefit from discovering their Given Talent?

Even though the name of our company is Stuck in a Rut, being stuck isn’t a requirement to benefit from The Clarifier® which is the name of the process that uncovers your Given Talent. It’s a fantastic self confidence tool. Our clients consistently tell us that it gives them a sense of authenticity, validation and clarity of purpose they’ve never had before. It’s a wonderful tool for those looking for more in their life, or just want to know more about what really makes them tick. It’s a fantastic gift for a high school or college student. It keeps you from spending a bunch of dollars and time on your child’s education only for them to be bored by it.

Can you share more about the process you take people through in helping them discover their Given Talent?

The core part of The Clarifier® is an interview that can be done in person or by phone. The only homework before the interview is to remember specific energizing days (usually a play day) where the time flew by. During the interview, we ask a series of very simple questions using a very complex technique where we drill down more and more into the particular way of thinking you do during that day. This way of thinking is typically very unconscious which is why most people don’t see it in themselves. It’s what defines your form of intuition.

A very common experience our clients have is what we call “connecting the dots”. Near the end of the interview, you’ll see how your Given Talent shows up virtually everywhere. You’ll instantly know why some things flowed so well, and others were a struggle. You’ll see how your Given Talent explains not only the right career for you, but a ton about your relationships, hobbies, etc. It is not unusual for our clients to have a hard time sleeping that night from the excitement of finally understanding so much of what they’ve struggled to understand for years.

Can you share with us an example of a Given Talent?

This is an example of a Given Talent and how it translates:

Dan was considered the best IED Tech (bomb disabler) in all of Iraq. Even though he was good at it, Dan hated his job for obvious reasons.

Dan’s Given Talent is this. He is fascinated with motion, especially human motion, because he believes it is a glimpse into how the other person is thinking. The sequence of motions of others are like his roadmap into their mind. As he watches how others physically move, he is able to (with uncanny accuracy) predict what is going through the other person’s mind. That whole process happens within Dan in nano-seconds. He’s been doing it since he was a kid, he did it as a soldier, and he’ll even do it in retirement. He can’t help but do it because after all, that is him.

That’s why he was able to defeat much larger and more skilled martial arts opponents. That’s why he was so successful disabling IED’s in Iraq. In effect, when he disabled a bomb, he wasn’t disabling the bomb…he was actually disabling the bomb maker.

Dan went back to finish his tour of Iraq, and he used this knowledge to know exactly how to become an even more effective IED Tech. When his tour ended, Dan immediately enrolled in law school. Today, he is whizzing through law school to become a litigation attorney. Can you see Dan being able to read the mind of his opponent?

There are more examples on our website.

Once someone discovers their Given Talent how can it help them. How do they apply it in their life? Work?

When you know your Given Talent, it’s obvious where to direct your life to get more energy and fulfillment into it. It takes the guesswork out. You know what you do naturally that brings energy in you and joy to those around you. You know what occupations and activities will energize you and why. Your Given Talent even explains tons about your relationships. It’s like the ultimate compass. It shows you precisely where to go for fulfillment.

Share some ways you’ve seen knowing their Given Talent enhance someone’s life.

We’ve had lots of stories over the past four years. I’ll give you a couple of recent examples:

Mary came to us after being off work for seven years. She hadn’t had an interview in eight months. She used to work in the oil and gas business, and she couldn’t find work in that industry any more. (She didn’t like that industry but felt like that was her only option.) When she contacted us, she made a special point of telling me she was “skeptical” of anything working for her.

A week after she went through The Clarifier®, she called us because she was so excited. She started out by saying “she was having fun just being her”. (We use the sign-off on our e-mails of “Have some fun with just being YOU.”) She told us that she heard of a job and thought it perfectly fit her (the real her), even though she had never been in the industry or the specific job. She interviewed by phone and explained herself through her Given Talent and how that might lend itself to that position. The employer loved her genuineness and invited her in for her second interview. (That was a week ago, so we haven’t heard yet from her second interview.)

Another woman came to us after spending thousands of dollars on well known personal growth programs. As we wound our way through the interview, her Given Talent began to shine clearly to us. When we shared it with her, she broke down and cried tears of joy because finally she understood herself. In that very moment, she went through an extreme connecting the dots experience where she went back through her life and understood everything.

People go through The Clarifier® for lots of different reasons. Some just want a different job. Some want to refine their business. Others want to know how to enter the job market for the first time. Others just want to know more about what makes them tick. The Clarifier® will uncover what within you is your driving force, your individuality. And all you need to do is have the time of your life reliving energizing days.

Knowing your own Given Talent, how has it changed your life?

If I were to describe what we do in a few words (which is difficult), I would say we help people find their natural gift and show them how to add value to the world using it. We show you what sustains you from the inside when all else falls away. Nobody can ever take that away from you, regardless of the job market.

My Given Talent is what helped me develop (purely by accident I might add) this cool process that dramatically transforms people’s lives in the space of a short fun conversation. My job is now to help as many people as possible understand their Given Talent, because it’s the greatest gift I can give back.

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Giveaway

Simply Irresistible Resume Package includes everything you need to complete your irresistible resume. It is a completely innovative way of writing resumes that uses sophisticated direct marketing techniques combined with proprietary Stuck in a Rut concepts. Highlight your gifts and make your resume read like a compelling story of you!

Value: Could be priceless!

Enter to win by leaving a comment and tell us how current your resume is and why you need to win this resume package.

Comments must be posted by midnight PST on Friday, April 17th and we’ll pick a random winner on Saturday, April 18th.

For more information, please check out Dave’s website.

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Giveaway Guidelines

• Anyone in the U.S. with a valid email and a name is eligible.
• Sherra says you can use a code name if you want to.
• One entry per person, please.
• Emails are never published nor is your identity revealed if you choose to use a code name.

Popularity: 9% [?]

Related Posts:

• Giveaway Winner ~ Resume Package
• Discover Your Given Talent Podcast
• Knowing Your Given Talent is Fun!

Categories: Giveaway Surprise, One Word. One Woman.