We’re all born with a unique gift that we must share with the world. It was likely a difficult thing to identify in the first 2 decades of our lives because we probably didn’t recognize it as a talent or as anything particularly unique. And frankly, we were probably too busy measuring ourselves based on the things we couldn’t do back then.
My unique gift is the ability to connect with people on the deepest levels and to inspire and motivate them to align with their own gift. I didn’t start recognizing it until I was well into my 30’s, and I didn’t really give it my full attention until my early 40’s. I can see now that I always had this innate ability; in high school I was the one at parties who spent the whole time in the bathroom consoling a friend who was having an end-of-the-world crisis. I was quite young when I snagged a book from my parents’ shelf about self-hypnosis and began devouring self-help books. In looking back, I realize that I was feeding my passions very early on, although I wasn’t conscious of it at the time. I allowed myself to learn everything I could about the things that interested me. All that time spent gaining knowledge and experience proved valuable for when I finally understood that my passions were helping uncover my unique gift.
By the time I hit my 40’s, I was completely conscious of my innate talent and understood the need to align myself with it. I had been working at Twist & Shout for 16 years and although I loved what I did (wearing mainly a Marketing Director’s hat among others), I knew it was time for me to move exclusively into coaching, where I could express this talent more fully. It’s been a great lesson in letting go and trusting that my gift will guide me in the right direction if I just keep following the path of joy.
I understand the difficulty of identifying this gift, let alone trying to determine what to do with it. But I’m convinced that following your bliss is the best way to tap into it because when you’re in a joyful state, your passions are more alive and that gift is more likely to expand, grow and lead you to greater opportunities. Your inner voice is constantly nudging you in the right direction, but life oftentimes gets too loud (and our brains even louder) and it’s easy to miss or ignore the signs. When you’re happy, you’re more likely to get a whiff of this internal gps system and are more apt to follow its nudges.
What’s your gift and how can you express it to the fullest?
