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Each one of us is born with a set of talents. Your opinion towards this statement is mainly influenced by whether or not you have been able to identify your own talents. If you’ve thus far been unable to identify them, you may have convinced yourself you don’t have any. Well, I’m here to burst your bubble and help you get acquainted with a side of yourself you’ve never met before; your talent.

Many people exclaim, “I’m not great at anything, I don’t have any talent!” When I hear a statement like this, I know the person who’s saying it misunderstands the concept of talent. I would like to suggest to you that talent is not a hard skill you possess, such as being a phenomenal basketball player, or a computer wiz. No one is “born to play basketball,” or “born to be a billionaire.” Instead, talent is innate ability you are born with which must be developed into strength before it is of any use. This can be done by chance (very rare), or through conscious choice. Once talent has been transformed into strength, however, the results are astonishing. We begin to realize we are powerful beyond measure, and that we are truly capable of great things.

A more accurate definition

A career can certainly be built around talent, but it is not how we would describe our talent. It would be inaccurate to do so. For example, when a child at a young age recognizes subjects such as math and science come easily to him, it’s not because he is a master mathematician or scientist, per say. It is his keen sense of detail and his gifted ability to think outside of the box, which makes these subjects easy for him. If he continues to develop his abstract thought process by constantly challenging himself with new concepts, he may end up becoming a world-class scientist or mathematician later on in life.

Here’s another example to illustrate what I mean by talent. Take Tiger Woods, for example. Since the age of 2 he’s been playing golf. He displayed an acute ability at a young age to excel at the sport. His father recognized this (who wouldn’t have?!), and continued to educate Tiger on the game of golf. As time progressed, Tiger improved tremendously. His ability to push himself to the next level in training began to separate him from other golfers on the course, and his incredible drive (motivation and discipline) propelled him to where he is today.

Now, let’s theorize. Say Tiger’s father (Earl) somehow overlooked young Tiger’s ability to play golf. Maybe he never let Tiger touch a golf club, or perhaps Earl never played golf. Would Tiger still be the best player in golf today? Maybe he would be, but most probably not. Regardless, this wouldn’t change the fact that Tiger is an achiever (someone with high levels of motivation and self-discipline) and a maximizer (someone who takes average situations and makes them extraordinary). You could argue he became this way because of golf, and you would be right. Tiger developed these talents into strengths through constant practice and application, and golf was the facilitator of this process. Any other facilitator in the development of these talents would’ve produced the same results for Tiger. Perhaps he would’ve been a masterful musician, or a business tycoon.

You can probably already tell most people don’t stumble across their talents at such a young age, like Tiger did. In fact, you can probably guess most people never stumble across their talents in their lifetime. If more people did, the world would be full of extraordinarily successful people. I suppose such accomplishments wouldn’t be so extraordinary then, would they?

Making the transformation

Before we are able to transform our talents into our greatest strengths, we need to find a starting point. Namely, we must first identify our talents. This is actually the easiest step in the transformation process. With the amount of material on the market today, you can be sure someone has written a book or created a program to help you identify your talents. A great book I came across while at Barnes and Noble was Strengthsfinder 2.0, by Tom Rath.

As soon as I opened the book, I knew it was exactly what I was looking for. The book provides an in-depth analysis of 34 of the most pervasive human talents. Included with your purchase of the book is a special code which gives you access to a comprehensive online assessment. The online assessment asks you over one hundred questions to identify your in-born talents. You are then provided with an action plan (how to develop these talents into strengths), and a personalized strengths insight report (it’s scary how accurate this is). The program was developed by the Gallop Company, the leader in Strength Psychology, and is based on decades of research in the field. Hundreds of thousands of people have been analyzed and tested, and findings are constantly refined to ensure the most accurate results.

At first I was a bit skeptical; I didn’t believe a book and an online test could identify my God-given talents. However, following completion, I was surprised and highly satisfied with the results. As I reflected upon my assessment, I realized my “Top 5” talents were traits about me I loved and was already familiar with, but had written off as non-conducive to success in my life. For example, I didn’t understand how my “Relator” talent (the ability to enjoy close relationships with people) could somehow be developed into a strength and be tied to my success. I soon found out this talent had, and still has everything to do with my level of success.

Relator, Intellection, Harmony, Competition, Input. These are my “Top 5” talents, as described by the Gallop assessment. As I scanned my results, I saw truth in them. I was excited by the idea of living a life which capitalized on my talent. I quickly began to take action to develop my talents, and the benefits have been enormous. This website, closer relationships with people, specialized knowledge, and higher expectations of myself are all offspring of my talent development process.

The strength formula

Strengthsfinder 2.0 uses a simple formula to demonstrate the impact developing your talents can have on your life. Let’s do a short exercise. Think of your strongest skill. Now, imagine two (1-5) scales. The first scale is the “Talent” scale. This, of course, is your level of talent in your specified skill (how natural it is to feel, behave, or think in this way). The second scale is the “Investment” scale. This includes time spent developing your skill, building up your knowledge base, and time spent practicing. Rate the skill you have in mind on both 1-5 scales, and then multiply the two numbers together to arrive at your strength factor.

Chances are your “strongest” skill in your eyes doesn’t even result in above a 12 on the strength scale. When I first did this exercise, my strongest skill at the time was a 12. This really helped me understand how limited I would be if I kept working on skills which weren’t my talents. For example, I could be a 5 on my “Investment” scale in a certain skill, but my “Talent” scale could be limited to a 2. The maximum output I can get from this formula is a 10, and that’s assuming I’m maxed out on the “Investment” scale. This explains why most people are always working below their potential, and why others (Tiger Woods, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Michael Jordan) are reaching the outer limits of their potential.

As I develop my talents, I realize I’m closer to a 4 or a 5 on the “Talent” scale in these areas. It’s exciting. I know if I work on building up my “Investment” scale in each talent up to a 5, I will then be a 20 or a 25 on the strength scale. I can only imagine the kind of things I’ll be capable of when I reach that level.

Have you been developing your mediocre skills, assuming they are your strengths? Are these skills a 1 or 2 on the talent scale, and a 4 or 5 on the investment scale? If so, it’s time to start devoting your time and efforts into developing your talents, instead of wasting your time developing your lesser strengths.

Talent is never enough

Having talent isn’t enough. In order for our talent to be useful, we must consciously develop each one of our talents into our greatest strengths. Imagine your current strengths on steroids. If you think you’re good at something now, wait until you start playing off of your talents. All of us are capable of truly remarkable things when we do this. Our “work” becomes our joy, and we feel as though we’ve truly hit our stride. Great things begin to manifest in our reality, and we feel as though things are only getting easier and better. These are the natural side effects of transforming your talents into strengths; you become powerful.

I challenge you to seek out your talents and develop them consciously. When you do so, you will become a role model to those around you who have not yet accessed their talents and put them to use. Who knows, maybe you’ll be the next Tiger Woods, Michael Jordan, Bill Gates, or Steve Jobs; or better yet, maybe you’ll be the best you can be. Now, I don’t know about you, but to me, that’s something special.

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