No doubt you’ve had some urge at some stage of your life to be ‘different’ from others.
The older I get, the more I see that this desire to be unique is actually something that is deeply ingrained into all of us, almost at an unconscious level. That’s right: you are unique, just like everyone else.
In Western societies, the concept of being an individual is even more celebrated, and encouraged, at least up until the age of about 18, when we are told it’s time to fit in and be a respectable part of the world we inhabit.
What I am learning is that there is really only one way to be a unique person: by developing your talents.
What are talents? How can you define them?
I believe that talents are traits, quirks, behavioral anomalies that exist in each person. When a talent is channeled in the right way, it can form the basis of strengths, and eventually contribute to the world in a valuable way.
From learning about this for myself, and observing it in others, I believe there are three signs that you have a talent that should be shared with the world.
The First Sign: It’s almost too easy for you
You have some sort of ability to do something with ease compared to others. You can’t explain how, but it feels like you have a direct connection to the resources you need to make it work.
People notice it in you and can’t help but comment. In some cases, it is so easy or natural for you that you don’t believe everyone else can’t do it.
The Second Sign: It’s connected to a fear
Very often, to truly develop your talent requires you to overcome a secondary fear. Sometimes there is a deep-rooted fear inside you that is in direct opposition to you developing your talent. Once you start to face this fear (by doing what you are talented at) it starts to clear out of the way.
The Third Sign: The world rewards you
If you finally realize a talent, and overcome the fears that stop you, life rewards you almost immediately. I believe this is what you see when people start to develop themselves in the right way for them. Somehow the stars align and things just work in their favor. It might be better to say that things just work ‘in their talent’.
Understand, this doesn’t mean that breakthrough success is available from using your talent only a little. Large scale success only comes to those who go ‘all-in’ on their talent. Those who push almost everything else aside to work in and on their talent will see a huge amount of success in their lifetime.
Developing a talent takes time. Time to trust you have something inside you. Time to build the courage to overcome your fears. Time for the world to start rewarding your talent.
I believe that the ultimate reward of developing your talent is that you get to become who you really are: a unique person in the world who is sharing their gifts and leaving a legacy that lasts well beyond themselves.
Trust your talents. They are your way forward.
