Discovering Your Unique Ability

“The man, who is born with a talent which he is meant to use, finds his greatest happiness in using it.” - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe I’m sure you’d agree that most people spend a lot of their time doing things they’re not passionate about. As you read through the following four categories think about how much time you spend in each area. Incompetence: these are the activities that you don't do well and that you have no interest in doing. When you spend time in the area of “incompetence” there’s no potential for your growth, advancement, or fulfillment. Competence: these are the activities that you perform reasonably well, but you have no real interest in doing. When you spend time in the area of “competence” there’s very little potential for your growth, advancement, or fulfillment. In other words, you’re “okay” at these things, but most likely you'll never stand out. Excellence: these are the activities that you do really well, but you’re still not passionate about doing them. Others recognize your skill in these activities, but in your heart you don't really enjoy them. When you spend time the area of “excellence” you may experience some growth and advancement, but you will not feel truly fulfilled. Unique Ability: these are the activities that you naturally perform well and really enjoy doing. When you spend time in the area of “unique ability” you’ll find an endless potential for growth, advancement, and more importantly personal happiness and fulfillment. So, a surefire way to increase the amount of happiness you experience in your life is to identify your Unique Abilities and put them to use in as many ways as possible. Your Unique Abilities are the essence of your life’s purpose and hold clues to what will truly fulfill you, and the more fulfilled you are, the happier you’ll be! The first step in identifying and leveraging your Unique Abilities is to get some feedback on how others see you. I suggest you initially speak with three people you know from different areas of your life (i.e., work, family, friends, etc.). Explain the four categories (incompetence, competence, excellence, and unique ability) and ask them what they see as your Unique Abilities. Try to get them to be specific. In other words, if they say one of your Unique Abilities is "accounting," ask them what exactly made them say that. Maybe it's your ability with numbers, or organization, or problem solving. It doesn’t matter what it is, just get them to be as precise as possible with each Unique Ability that is identified. After you’ve gathered this feedback you can begin to ask yourself the following questions: - Where might I use these abilities? - What environment? - How can I let these abilities come through more often? These questions and any others like them that you can think of will offer you clues to “where” and “how” you can experience a greater amount of happiness and satisfaction in your life.