Anoop Verma
Every human being has a unique talent, or a quality that sets him or her apart from rest of us. The talent might not be for any particular vocation or job, it could be more than a skill, it could be strength of character or some other quality. Majority of the people in the world are unable to discover their unique talent or talents. This is either because they don’t realise that there is something unique about them, or because they are simply disinclined to look inside their own selves. We look at the mirror so many times, and yet we fail to recognise the person in the reflection.
If you look at the dictionary, you will often find that talent is being described as a “natural endowment.” That might as well be true. However, it is up to you to grow the talent that has been seeded inside you at the time of birth. You have to be good at identifying the talent that you have. Your talent may be an ability or natural capacity for creativity, social skills, intellect, athletics or anything else. Your talents could be right there in front of your eyes, and yet you might miss them, or you may lack the courage or the resources to develop your talents.
In many cases, people are obsessed with searching for talents or qualities that are in line with popular culture. They may want to be like the popular youth icons. You may want to appear funny, sexy, anything at all, that you think will make you popular. While trying to achieve a plethora of ersatz talents, you overlook the actual tremendous potential that you have, sitting there, waiting to be discovered. The best way of discovering your talent could be by finding out what already exists inside you. Your talent may not be for performing, good looks, music, or athletics, but that doesn’t mean that you don’t have a talent or that your talent is less important than someone else’s. You have to be open to talents that can put you in the background rather than in the spotlight.
In order to recognise your unique talent, the first thing you need to do is ask – “What values and virtues do I most admire and wish to practice in my life?” The values that you admire most would necessarily have to be those around which you would like to organise your life. The unique talent that you have can only flourish if you are able to achieve the values that are most dear to you.
Even if you don’t do so consciously, at a sub-conscious level, your mind is going to pick up dozens of values that are floating in the public domain. The general flow of your life will to a large extent depend on whatever choices you make, and the order of priority you place on your choices. Majority of young individuals end up choosing values on the basis of popular culture, but values based on popular culture are often related to the dominant political and ideological themes. They are often clichéd and ersatz. You have to apply your own mind to discover the real values.
The main problem is that all of us are raised with certain clichéd ideas of what our values should be like and what we are expected to be in life. Most of us get deluged under the tsunami of such clichéd ideas and we fail to remember that ultimately life is what we make it, whatever we make it. Perhaps the best approach is to be dedicated to being the best that it is possible to be. However, the idea of being best should not lead you into a vortex of rat race. Your idea of best should be based on your own set of values, and not on anyone else’s opinion.
Your next step is to create your personal mission statement. You have to be clear about what you want to do in life. You might even go ahead and set certain financial, business and sales related goals for yourselves. With your set of values, and a personal mission statement, you can try to develop ideas for a series of career choices. You will eventually discover your talents for certain kinds of jobs, and learn about the areas in which you need to venture for the achievement of your goals.
Your talents might or might not lead you to riches or fame, and talents are also not something that you can use to verify or validate yourself. Your talents are only something that will pave way for you to express your full potential. Once you have recognised your talents, your experience of life will be anything but full or fully lived. The recognition of your own uniqueness is something that will pave way for you to participate in the world in a more fruitful and satisfactory way. This will be good for you and also for the people around you.
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