Last week’s message suggested that you should be looking for a magic mirror to help you see who you are and how you can make the change you want to see. I hate to bust the fairy tale bubble but you are mature enough to take it. There is no magic mirror. Then how do you discover the truth about who you are?
Begin with the knowledge of your uniqueness. You are truly one-in a million; actually one in 33.1 million according to the Gallup organization and their research into the talents that drive excellence. The great news is there is not one SINGLE talent that determines excellence. What Gallup’s research has discovered is that the most successful people (we can wrangle over the term success in another message) have not one but multiple attributes that determine their success characterized by excellence in performance. What is the key to this excellence then?
It is an understanding and making use of your individual talents. Gallup defines talent as a naturally recurring pattern of thought, feeling or behavior that can be productively applied. Talents are spontaneous, top-of-mind, perhaps even subconscious reactions to situations you encounter. These are the things you do well, consistently, without even thinking about it.
That is what makes self-identification of talent so difficult. Using your talent is a non-event; it doesn’t register with you that you just did something excellent with an ease and effort that many would envy, hence the need for a Magic Mirror or the better substitute.
Gallup’s studies of excellence revealed 34 talent patterns or themes and the combinations of these unique talents explain the broadest possible range of excellent performance. If you are connecting the dots here, you are recognizing that one of the most powerful ways to make change in your life will be to utilize your natural talents. But just what are those?
Taking the information derived from these many interviews with excellent performers, Gallup created a tool to measure your talents. For $9.99, less than the cost of lunch for most of us, you can learn your 5 dominant talents, receive personalized insight on how those talents show up for you and generate an action plan to put those talents to work.
It is not magic, it takes some effort from you and it provides more points of reflection than a mirror. Click here or go to gallupstrengthscenter.com to get your top 5 talents. Let me know what you learn about you! And, if you want to dive deeper and examine how to make the action plan work in all areas of your life, then send me an email!