Identifying Your Gifts
Christopher is a dental assistant at his father’s clinic in a small town. He wanted to be an author when he was younger but there was never enough time. As evidenced by two unfinished manuscripts at the base of his sock drawer.
When he is not working, Christopher spends his time online, reading the work of his favorite authors.
Lately, he has been feeling the urge to do something more with his life.
Driven by this urge, Christopher rediscovers his passion to write. He also discovers that the subject of most of his written work revolves around motivation and getting people to believe in their abilities.
Christopher is among the few people in the world who have been fortunate to identify their gift.
Finding your purpose in life.
Finding your life’s purpose is not simple. It takes a lot of work to discover what you are passionate about and to use it to make a difference in other people’s lives. The journey of finding your purpose is personal, but what you do after that is never really about you. It is about what you can do for others with your hidden talents.
We often desire to reach a state of glory. There are influencers in all spheres and we want what they have without realizing the limitations they had to encounter and boundaries that they had to break to get to where they are. We see people we can easily relate to because they have similar backgrounds to ours. Most of them were ordinary, some of them as awkward as us. That they are being paid to talk or sing or bake makes it all seem easy until we read their biographies. It took a lot of self-discovery for them to find their passion. It will take a lot more to identify your own gifts and talents.
How to identify your gifts.
‘A gift is the thing you do best with the least amount of effort.’ Steve Harvey.
The first step in identifying your gifting is finding time to reflect on your abilities. There are certain things that you know you are good at or that you love doing that are not necessarily things that they have taught you. It is important to dig deep within yourself to find what you are passionate about.
Listing down what you are passionate about, your capabilities or talents will help you narrow down things you can focus on in pursuing purpose. Alternatively, you can list down things you are interested in, or that you would like to do, given the time, opportunity, or resources to do them.
Limitations to this discovery process often come because of a lack of exposure. You may not even know what you like or have an interest in because your current environment does not allow you to go beyond the familiar.
It may not allow you to think outside of your normal routine or beyond your usual cycle. This then requires you to use your imagination. Think about what you would do outside of your normal lifestyle if someone was to approach you with a monetary offer to do what you loved. If you were to provide a service to people based on your passion, what would that service look like?
Identifying your gifts in other people
Another approach to use in identifying your gifts is finding influential people who have similar interests to yours. Hence, shadowing such people and observing their journey could help put into perspective what you can reproduce from what they have accomplished. Seeing what they have had to do to get to where they are might help you decide whether the path they chose can be yours too. Following them could give you insight into what it might require making it in the same field they are in should you choose that path. If your intense research can still pique your interest, then it is likely that you have found your purpose. Continuing to shadow such people offers you mentorship on how to proceed until you can share your gifts with the world.
The journey of discovering your purpose does not end with you identifying your gifts. Rather, it starts where you know what you are good at.
There is a lot of investment that goes into perfecting the gifts you discover. The greatest resource investment you will need to make is time.
You will need to spend a lot of time doing market researches to find where your gift fits in. Additionally, you must rehearse your delivery so that the world buys into what you are selling.
Investigate and make a plan.
Take the time to learn the ins and outs of whatever industry you go into. For example, if your gift is in the art industry, invest time in learning how to penetrate it. If your gift is writing you will need to read other authors and improve your own writing skills.
Invest time in finding out about publishing, marketing, and sales.
There are many other investments you will need to make. Some investments will be monetary. Others will include finding people who will help you nurture, package, and deliver your gift in the most effective way possible. Be it equipment, such as phones, cameras, or laptops or tools for your trade. The bottom line is you will need to invest to pursue your purpose.
Finally, identifying your gifts will take a lot of effort on your part. Do not let that intimidate you. Instead, let it motivate you as a result of satisfaction that you have lived a meaningful life.
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