In A Shot Of Optimism, Uncategorized

When we’re discovering our Yippee, it’s easy to overlook our talents, to take them for granted or to struggle because we don’t know what our gifts really are.

Our gifts are often easy to miss because they started in childhood, and we’ve had them for so long, we forget they are special.

When my daughter Sarah was in elementary school, she loved music, so I took her to a show at the local repertory theater.

On the way home, I asked her how she liked it.  Surprisingly, Sarah gave me an accurate breakdown about everything from the characters to the music to the staging.  All her observations were right on target.  When I asked if she’d like to act someday she replied, “No, I’d rather be backstage because I can see how everything needs to be set up and organized.”

As an adult Sarah has developed new systems and processes for a variety of companies, where she’s able to see the big picture and manage the complexities of getting them to their successful endpoints.

Can Sarah do other things? Certainly! And there have been times in Sarah’s life when, like all of us, she’s overlooked her own gifts, not realizing they were special. There were also times when she was doing something that didn’t come that easily to her, because she wasn’t quite sure yet what her true gifts were.

We’ve all been there.

And when we are finally able to recognize our talents, we’re able to use them to build our careers.

But how do we learn to recognize them? How do we make sure we’re not taking our talents for granted because they are so easy for us?

If you think your talents are “nothing special”? Or if you are laboring at being good at something because you’re not quite sure what your talents are?

To identify your gifts and talents, try this:

  1. Think back through your life. Starting in grade school, and coming forward to today, what have been the types of activities that have come easy for you?   Hint – they are probably things you enjoy.  Jot them down.

  2. Look at the list, are there any themes?  Are you a great follower and supporter?  Are you the one who has new ideas?  Or are you one who makes sure stuff actually happens?  Did you use to organize the sock drawer?  Get the neighborhood kids together for a game of kick the can? Were you a good mediator?

  3. Once you’ve identified your gifts, ask yourself, which ones you use in your work?

  4. What could you do to increase the time you spend using just those gifts?

Let me know what you discover!  The world needs you to be using YOUR gifts, not going crazy trying to be anything else in the world.  Be YOU!

Until next Tuesday.  YIPPEE!

Elizabeth

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