“To find out what one is fitted to do, and to secure an opportunity to do it, is the key to happiness.” — John Dewey
Diamonds are attractive because of their appearance and the value they carry. If one discovers acres of diamonds, the person can vastly accumulate great wealth. Who doesn’t desire to find such diamonds?
The great thing is…we all can find diamonds. They are existing everywhere. The surprising thing is most of the time they are just close to us. We don’t get to see them because we ignore their existence.
Find out how to find your diamonds that can offer you riches that you desire in any aspects of your life. Provided you find the right one, and act on different ways to increase its value.
The video below will help you understand the story I will share
It seems like it’s a common knowledge for all of us to use our strengths or talents. But the sad thing is, lots of people still set them aside.
Here are 7 Reasons Why We Should Put Our Talents, Gifts or Strengths to Use:
1. Other People Can Benefit From Them
“Non nobis solum nati sumus. (Not for ourselves alone are we born.)” — Marcus Tullius Cicero
Humans coexist with one another. In a symbiotic relationship, one of the ideal relationships is Commensalism where the two individuals benefit from each other.
Our gifts or talents are purposely created not just for ourselves but to help those around us.
We benefit from other people’s talents. We benefit from Jobs’ Apple creations, Edison’s light bulb, Ford’s automotive ideas or our mom’s cooking. Almost everyone around us contribute to our welfare in one way or another.
Now the interesting question is: How do other people benefit from our gifts or talents?
Our gifts or talents are ours but they are not just there for us. They are given to be shared with others. Just imagine the world if nobody shared a talent.
What a gloomy world it would be!
There’s no sense of delight when we only want to serve ourselves. Sharing our talents with other people can create more lasting fulfillment.
It is actually a win-win situation. We get to exercise our talent and other people on the other end receives a benefit from it.
Annie Does It Well
Annie is one of the most generous people I know. Not because she gives money away all the time, but because she unselfishly shares her talents. She does not wait for any recognition. She finds joy when she uses her talents.
I met her in a crocheting group. Her hands are very fast in looping yarns around. In a matter of few hours, she can finish a prayer shawl to be sent to elderly people in nursing homes. These elderly people love these shawls because they feel like they receive a warm hug when they use them. On top of it, they like the idea that someone devoted time to create them something.
Be inspired by Annie. She uses her talents right in her own house, yet, they benefit others.
2. Other Lives May Change Because of Our Talents
“You have not lived today until you have done something for someone who can never repay you.” — Jon Bunyan
Sherry, a former-ballerina-turned-attorney, married Bob, who is likewise an attorney. They started a program in 1984 called “City Hearts: Kids Say Yes to the Arts”.
They deeply believe in the potential and gifts of children who are trapped in the cycle of delinquency and poverty. They saw that using their talents is the first step to provide the appropriate avenue to transform and benefit these children.
They believe that:
“each child should be given a vision of his or her place in the world to create a ripple effect in the sea of humanity.”
Their message is to find our path and put our talents to work.
City Hearts currently reaches 500 at-greatest-risk youth each week. Two individuals who are very passionate to put their gifts to use and tap others to use theirs create a tremendous impact in the society.
We may even change someone’s life just because we exercise our gift. It doesn’t need to be a huge one. Start small and someone out there will be inspired because of it.
3. Leads to a More Satisfying Life
“Hide not your talents, they for use were made,
What’s a sundial in the shade?” — Benjamin Franklin
Our gifts or talents are also considered our strengths. Gallup conducted a research on people who use their strengths every day and how it affects their performance and overall, their quality of life.
Gallup found out that people who use their strengths and talents (something that comes naturally and can be enhanced through practice) every day are six times more likely to be engaged on the job.
The key points they found in the research are as follows:
a. Improved Health and Wellness
b. Experienced Less Worry, Stress, Anger, Sadness or Physical Pain
c. Boost Their Positive Emotions
d. More Energy to Face the Day
e. Higher Engagement Level on the Task
They also found out that building employees’ strengths is a far more effective approach to improving performance than trying to improve weaknesses. One sad thing found in the research is that vast majority of businesses in the U.S. don’t focus on helping employees use their strengths.
Gallup’s data show that simply learning their strengths makes employees 7.8% more productive, and teams that focus on strengths every day have 12.5% greater productivity.
This means lots of people can benefit more if they use their talents and strengths every day.
4. We Can Make Money Out Of Them
“We can’t take any credit for our talents. It’s how we use them that counts.” — Madeleine L’Engle
Money, yes we all need money. We don’t need to feel guilty recognizing that money is one of the purposes why we should use our talents. But let’s be careful to remind ourselves at the same time that our gifts and talents are not just for accumulating money.
Our talents can help us earn money. With proper development and use, they can even offer us richness beyond imagination — in all aspects of our lives.
We must find ways to use our talents even though wou are working in a different field. People are often unconscious about the kind of talent they have. If we are aware of something where we are really good at, we can start small and make money out of it.
Maybe we can do a part-time hustle and we’ll be surprised on the learning we can have in the process. That’s what most successful people claim. They found what they are really good at and with constant use and practice, their gifts serve them well.
Lots of opportunities are right at our fingertips with the improvement of technology. In this article from AARP, they cited ways on how to use those talents. Whether we are great in doing calligraphy, tinkering things, drawing or anything else, there is always an opportunity waiting for us.
That’s why Upwork, Etsy and Fiverr keep thriving up to now. I like lurking around on those websites because I see so many talents in there.
5. Lets Us Leave a Lasting Impression to People
“Don’t be a pepper on the eyes of people; Rather be the salt on their tongue and make a difference that influences their sense of belonging to the earth.” — Israelmore Ayivor
If wewant to leave a lasting imprint to people we encounter, use whatever we have to offer. These are our gifts and talents.
I really enjoy the story shared by Arianna Huffington on her book, Thrive. It is about her sister, Agappi, who graduated from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London.
Despite the awards she received, she didn’t get the parts she hoped for when she auditioned for a theatre play. This led her to be discouraged to use her talents.
But a random encounter from a stranger changed the trajectory of how she sees her talents. She took the courage to talk to a random stranger which opened up a conversation about theatre play. At that same moment, she opened up herself and shared her talents with a woman who is apparently aware of the play.
She did a short monologue and the woman broke in tears after being moved on the way she acted. She felt more encouraged than ever. And on that same bus, she had her important lesson:
“That moment of sharing without an agenda of getting a part wasn’t about the outcome but about the joy of touching others and giving unconditionally what was mine to give. And that brought with it a tremendous sense of fulfillment.”
6. Leads to Faster Growth and Development
“The biggest room in the world is the room for improvement.” — Helmut Schmidt
A research study has been made on 133 bowlers to monitor how positive self-monitoring of their skills affect their performance. They found out that positive self-monitoring is more favorable on tasks where they exhibit a high skill.
Through constant use of their strengths, positive self-monitors significantly improved their bowling averages. This translates to the application of strengths and talents in different areas. When a person positively monitors his performance and look for ways to improve his strengths, he will develop faster than focusing on his weaknesses.
If we would like to improve vastly, start on where we are good at. We have nothing to lose because we already have them.
7. Show Appreciation to the Giver
“Your talent is God’s gift to you. What you do with it is your gift back to God.” — Leo Buscaglia
One thing I like about gift giving is the feeling I get when the receiver opens the gift and love it. But I like it best when I see that the person is using the gift. It makes me wanna give him/her more gifts next time.
When we are using the talents given to us, we are opening more doors and windows for more gifts. Why is this so?
Because it’s how the Law of God works. Whoever we believe in, when we use the talents the Creator gave us, it shows that we appreciate His works. He will give us more opportunities to use them in return.
His principle is — whoever has will be given more and whoever hides the talent, it will be taken away and be given to someone worthy. If we don’t want to lose it, start searching for it and put it to use.
Like what Rick Warren said, the author of Purpose-Driven Life, :
“When God gives you a talent, he expects you to use it. It’s like a muscle. If you use it, it will grow. If you don’t, you’ll lose it.”
Our talents are investments of God. If we don’t capitalize on them, they will never grow. We will lose the compounding interest where we and others can benefit from.
CONCLUSION
Every human being conceived carries with him or her that innate ability that is uniquely his or hers. It is like our finger print. Lots of people may carry the same ability, but the way we use ours will make us unique.
These talents, gifts or strengths are our diamonds. We need to dig them. Nobody can dig them for us.
Once we find them, we should remove the dust. Keep polishing them. The more we take care of them, the more we can recognize the other diamonds in our lives.
Soon, our gifts and talents, just like diamonds, will shine brightly and will serve us well in the long run.
Because we took the time to search for them, the return of investment is more than what we have imagined.
Because our Creator saw that we are using them, He will bless us with more opportunities to apply them.
Make a promise to yourself. You’ll search for your diamonds. And you’ll make sure they will shine brightly.
Call To Action
Will you be my kindred spirit? Follow me here on Medium for more inspiring stories.
Oh, let me give you my virtual hug because that’s what kindred spirits do.
Originally published at journal.thriveglobal.com