One of my hobbies is collecting and asking questions that lead people to richer more fulfilling places in their lives. One of my favorites is “What are you insanely great at?” It is designed to get people to think about their strengths, talents, and gifts and how often and how well they are utilizing them in life and business. I believe we each have a unique contribution to make, something we were designed by our creator to do that is unique to each of us as individuals. He molded and shaped and formed us to fulfill a unique destiny, to play a special role in making this world a better place.
Getting a firm grasp on the answer to this question and regularly implementing it can literally transform you. Your satisfaction and significance will skyrocket and in many cases so will your income.Dr. Srully Blotnick did a study involving a cross section of 1500 people analyzing the common denominators of those who became wealthy. Out of that group 83 became millionaires. He found that the only common denominator was that they patiently and persistently worked in a vocation doing things they liked to do and were very good at. He outlines his findings in the book, Getting-Rich-Your-Own-Way. The book didn’t suggest that these people were ecstatic every hour of every day but that they were regularly and consistently absorbed, engaged, and enthralled with their work.
From a time management point of view or an income point of view, the biggest waste of your time is to consistently spend it on something you dislike and aren’t very good at. Usually they are the same thing. If by chance you are good at something you don’t enjoy, you will never be great at it. You won’t spend the time necessary to develop your talent. So find the strengths you enjoy using and pour your heart into those. This should be great news to those that have been exposed to the myth that successful people are those that spend time doing things they don’t like.
Leadership expert John Maxwell has a theory I completely subscribe to: On a scale of 1-10 with one being awful and ten being insanely great the most you can probably hope to improve is two notches. If you are 4 you probably have potential to be a 6. If you are a 7 you probably have potential to be a 9. So focus on the investing your time in places you are at least a 7 or 8 on natural ability alone. These are the places you can be insanely great by applying the necessary effort.
How can you know what you’re great at? The best advice I can give you is try stuff, notice results, get some feedback, and pay attention to what you enjoy. By the way, don’t focus only on feedback from others. History is paved with geniuses in every discipline who were initially thought to be very untalented. On the other hand if you are the only one that thinks you’re great, you may have a problem.
In the coming weeks we will also look at some "Strength Indicators". These are resources designed to get you thinking about your talents, aptitudes, and gifts. Most aren't tests in the purest sense but vehicles to point you in the right direction.
