How to Find the Work You Were Meant to Do
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Alex is a published novelist. He was 21 before someone whose
opinion he trusted pointed out to him that he could write. He
hadn't a clue. He had started a rudimentary journal when he was
8, and a neighborhood newsletter when he was 10. He thought
writing was something everyone could do and no big deal.
This happens all too often with talents. Talents are innate;
something so easy for you to do you can't remember when you
couldn't do it; something you 'can't help doing' so you don't
feel it when you do it, and you also think everyone can, they
just aren't. Talents are also things that are fun for you to do,
almost in the sense of flow - you'd do them even if you weren't
getting paid, and in fact they are the hobbies and avocations of
many of us. If you cease doing it for a while and start up
again, you're immediately back up to speed.
Knowledge and skills can be acquired, but talents are innate.
Why is this important? In their book, "Now, Discover Your
Strengths," Buckingham and Clifton propose the theory that if
you work in your strength areas, you can perform consistently
and effortlessly at a near perfect level and find great
satisfaction. Sounds like heaven on earth, doesn't it? Well,
there are ways to get there. Listen up!