Refuse to Choose - Success Strategies for Scanners

Guest Contributor: Hueina Su
Hueina's Posts - Hueina's Blog


As I mentioned in my Simply Successful Secrets post, I can identify with the "scanner" that best-selling author Barbara Sher illustrated in her new book Refuse to Choose!: Use All of Your Interests, Passions, and Hobbies to Create the Life and Career of Your Dreams. I first heard of this book from another coach I was working with last year. She is a "scanner" and could see the same quality in me. After reading the book, I have to agree with her.

This afternoon, I sat in a Teleclass where Kim Fulcher interviewed Barbara Sher about this book. Many of the audience members commented that they could totally identify with what she wrote. I bet some of my readers can, too.

According to Barbara Sher, scanners are creative thinkers who have an insatiable desire to learn and explore new things. They are usually multi-talented quick learners who are drawn to many interests all at once and want to do everything they are interested in. They get bored easily by repetitive or routine activities. Many scanners appear unable to make up their minds about what they want in life, cannot get started, or cannot finish what they started. That's because the "rewards" they are after in each activity they pursue might be very different from most people can understand. Once they get the "reward" they want in a particular activity, they would lose interest and move on to the next new thing. Because they are drawn to so many things, and they don't want to just choose one thing, some of them end up not doing anything at all. It's like "I won't do anything, if I can't do everything". It's worth noting that although many scanners have ADD/ADHD (including Ms. Sher), it's not the same.

In the book, Ms. Sher identifies 9 types of scanners: Double Agent, Sybil, Plate Spinner, Serial Specialist, Serial Master, Jack-of-All-Trades, Wanderer, Sampler, and High-Speed Indecisive. Most scanners are a mix of two or more types. For example, I can see myself as a Serial Master in some areas, and a Sybil & a Sampler in other areas.

The exciting thing about this book is, Ms. Sher not only identifies the traits of each type of scanners, shares many stories of people she has worked with, but also offers many tools, strategies, Life Design Models and ideal careers for each type of scanners. Guess what careers she recommends for Serial Masters? Career/life coach, motivational speaker, talent agent, teacher, and athletic coach. Hey, I guess I'm on the right track! Coaching certainly allows me to combine many of my passions and interests, and offers enough challenges, variety, and learning opportunities to keep me interested. If you think you might be a scanner, I highly recommend that you check out this book. It's a fascinating read.

One of the success strategies Ms. Sher offers in the book is what she calls a Support Team, which is essentially a Mastermind Group. In her first workshop years ago, after teaching goal-setting techniques, and asking participants to map out their action steps, she set up Support Teams with groups of 6 people. These teams were supposed to set up nightly phone calls and weekly meetings with each other, so they can cheer each other on, keep each other on track until they reach their goals. She has found such teams extremely effective and successful. As she states, "Support combined with accountability creates a Real Deadline".

Isn't it so true that when we make a commitment to someone else, we are more likely to stick to our commitment? That's the power of accountability (which is a crucial component in the coaching process too). A Support Team (Mastermind Group) provides the structure, support and accountability that are so critical for scanners' success. In the Teleclass today, she mentioned the Support Team too, and said that some of the teams she set up lasted as long as 12 years. That's quite remarkable considering that most scanners can't stick to anything for long, which I think is evidence that mastermind groups obviously work very well for scanners (and anyone else, really).

So, what are you waiting for? Pick up a copy of Refuse to Choose!, hire a life coach (contact me for a complimentary coaching session), and join a mastermind group, if you have not done so. You can also check out BarbaraSher.com and GeniusPress.com for an online forum and more resources for scanners.

Let me know what you think. I'd love to hear from fellow scanners!