Date: 20 February 2006

One of the recent advertisements on TV starts off with a number of attributes of the so-called “average person” (who will have 2,6 children!!). The point which the advert wants to make is that none of us is an “average person” – we are each unique.

Yet few people have a clear picture of themselves as unique individuals. We frequently lack direction in our lives because our “life purpose” is also unclear. The result is that we carry on our daily activities at work, home and elsewhere without a sense of meaning.

At the core of AIM’s developmental processes is a journey of discovering one’s Unique Design©. The following convictions underpin the facilitation of this process:

FOUNDATIONS OF THE UNIQUE DESIGN© PROCESS

• Excellence is a deliberate process. Just as a person succeeds by design so he/she fails by design; success and failure are deliberate processes.
• We do not pay attention to success, and therefore we cannot duplicate success when it is required.
• Every individual has an actual and spontaneous preference of “how” he/she creates successes and deals with problems. This preference typically happens at a very high neurological speed and it is therefore difficult to assess, to duplicate, and to know the limits of the particular success recipe.
• Every individual has a library of neurological software programs, which is called experience and competence. In a working environment the challenge is to access the appropriate program, or combination of programs, which matches the demands of a particular context.
• Many things change, such as your skills, your level of education, work situation, family setting, interests or psychological condition. However, your motivational ability pattern does not easily change.
• You can find recurring themes in childhood, work and play, in good and bad times. This is your UNIQUE DESIGN. This is your way “to do life”.
• Living this design brings fulfilment and joy.

THE UNIQUE DESIGN© PROCESS

In the Personal Development workshops offered by AIM individuals are guided in a process of discovery. Each person identifies his/her own UNIQUE DESIGN according to specific motivational themes in the areas of passion, external environment, abilities, relationships, and ultimate outcomes or what makes life really meaningful.

This discovery process is facilitated through personal story telling which is both injoyable and motivational. Based on the preceding process an individual then formulates his/her PURPOSE STATEMENT and develops a PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN. 

In our mentoring of individuals and facilitating leadership and team processes in organisations based on this UNIQUE DESIGN process participants develop a new self-awareness and sense of identity. This leads to new direction and motivation to realize their unique potential.

Author: Dr. Marius Schalekamp