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hotspanishbloodbyYuliaLibkina

Descartes totally knew his verb. He was famous for it.

“Cogito, ergo sum.”

“I think, therefore I am.”

Nancy Duarte, who wrote Slide:ology, an excellent book on how to create great presentations, says her verbs are “conquer and liberate” while her husband's verb is “relax” – a fascinating combination – and one to which I personally relate. She proposes exploring your own verb as you design your presentation, to help you make powerful slide design decisions. Isn't that an interesting application?

I use a similar process in naming my clients Expression Élan, their distinctive mix of personality, style, values and action play. Most people haven't thought about their verb before.

So, in case you haven't yet discovered your verb, here are some questions to ponder:

1. What are you here to do?

2. How do you tend to do things – with what kind of energy?

3. What experiences do you value most in your life?

As you look over your answers, consider verbs that might resonate for you. My verb is “reveal”, even though sometimes I wish it was “dance”. That's the thing about your verb, though – it doesn't hold the entire rights to all the things you love to do, it is simply the consistent, underlying, driving action/focus in your life.

Alex Mandossian wrote this lovely blog post with the same title as this one (which I found after I titled my blog post, thank you) and he gives some nice examples.

So, what's your verb? And how does it play out in your life? Maybe more essentially, could it play out more?

Image is Hot Spanish Blood by Yuliya Libkina on Flickr.