One can express a person’s experience of the impulse to act in an image of a profession or a picture of a work situation. The professional profile is not a job recommendation. It serves only to illustrate the experience of the impulse to act. This step helps to recognise the qualities of the impulse to act. This is particularly important when one has a negative judgement of a person’s behaviour. It is a methodical approach that enables one to overcome the negative judgement and recognise the quality behind it. Furthermore, the image of a profession is helpful for remembering the impulse to act. The two impulse-to-act verbs are more difficult for many people to remember.
Method
To find a suitable image of a profession, ask yourself: “In which profession or professional situation is this type of behaviour a quality?” You can then ask: “What does my person do in this profession or professional situation?” These questions help you find an image of a profession for the action impulse verbs.
It is important to look for the job profile without thinking about the specific person whose impulse to act is to be described by it. Otherwise, one tends to ask oneself whether this profession might be suitable for that person. But that is not the point. Whether the image of a profession is chosen in the masculine or feminine form (e.g.actor or actress) is independent of the actual gender of the person in question. The profile chosen is the one that seems more appropriate for expressing one’s own experience. The focus should be on gaining a completely new perspective on the other person’s actions – a perspective free from any judgements or assessments one may have already formed about that person beforehand.
Examples of job roles
We described Robert’s impulse to act as ‘trying things out playfully’. ‘Trying things out playfully’ is what you have to do when you put a product through its paces. The image of the product tester came to mind.
Here are a few more examples of impulses to act* and job profiles:
Name | Impulse | Job profile |
Robert | Experimenting while playing | Product tester |
Daniel | Presenting while collecting | Tour guide |
Constantin | Maintaining while selecting | Fruit rack attendant |
Dorian | Moderating while looking around | Moderator |
Julia | Feeling while delving | Masseuse |
Nadja | Aiming while organising | Traffic warden |
Sonja | Expanding while dreaming | Narrator |
* You can find a description of the impulses to act in the window ‘The individual way of acting’.
