Take 20
Personal Development Advice, Tools to Improve The Quality Of Your Life

Today I’m going to introduce you to a side of yourself you may not be familiar with just yet.

Meet, your talents.

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 haven’t been able to identify them yet, you may have convinced yourself you don’t have any.

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 saying it misunderstands the concept of talent.

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 that must be developed into a 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 mind blowing. You’ll begin to realize you are powerful beyond measure, and are 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. To do so would be inaccurate.

For example, when a child at a young age recognizes math and science are easy for him, it’s not because he is a master mathematician or scientist. It is his keen sense of detail, and his ability to think outside of the box that make 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 in life.

Here’s another example. Tiger Woods has been playing golf since he was 2 years old. He displayed an acute ability at a young age to excel at the sport. His father recognized this, and continued to coach Tiger on the game of golf. As time progressed, Tiger improved tremendously. His ability to push himself to the next level while 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.

What if Tiger’s father somehow overlooked young Tiger’s ability to play golf? Would Tiger still be the best player in the PGA today? Perhaps he would be, but most likely 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 turns them into something 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 in 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 you’ll be able to transform your talents into your greatest strengths, you’ll need to find a starting point. Obviously, you must first identify your talents. Fortunately, this is the easiest step in the transformation process. A great book I came across to help you kick-start your talent identification process is Strengthsfinder 2.0, by Tom Rath.

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 that 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 leading researcher 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 of the book, 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 irrelevant 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 that 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. For our talent to be useful, we must consciously develop each one of our talents into strengths. Imagine your current talents 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 joyful, and we feel like we’ve truly hit our stride. Great things begin to manifest in our reality, and we feel like things are only getting easier and better. These are the natural side effects of transforming your talents into strengths; you become more 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 good 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.

Photo by kevindooley

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Disclaimer: Before moving on to my review, I want to say that I will never promote a product on this site unless I believe in full faith it’s one of the best on the market in its field. My goal is to provide readers with honest and useful recommendations that will help them move toward reaching their goals in life more efficiently and effectively.

That being said, the links in this article are affiliate links because I believe relaying this information to you is valuable. I would appreciate it if you used the links below so I can make a small commission on the sale. If you are not comfortable with this, please feel free to find the product through other avenues and I will not be paid a commission.

This eBook is NOT for men only. Women can use the information in it too. Ladies, don’t worry, you’re not going to become super muscular like the women you see on those body building contests on TV. Building muscle isn’t that easy!

In his best selling eBook, “Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle”, Tom Venuto, world-class bodybuilder and fitness expert, reveals a step-by-step method to help you reach all of your fitness goals.

I know, I know. There are hundreds of books out there claiming to do the same thing. But something about this eBook caught my eye. It didn’t have ridiculous pictures of people on its website claiming they lost 100 pounds in 2 weeks. The book wasn’t pushing a crazy diet (Atkins, South Beach, Ketogenic) either.

It did, however, honestly state it would require hard work on my part to reach my fitness goals. And that if I wanted it bad enough, the information in this book would take me to where you wanted to be. I appreciated Mr. Venuto’s honesty, and I said, “Why the hell not? I’ll give it a try!”

I purchased his eBook (with an 8-week free trial) and started reading right away. I was immediately impressed with Tom’s approach to getting in shape. He acknowledges it’s a slow process, but keeps you hooked with his own tale of how he reached the level of world-class bodybuilder.

The entire book is built around Tom’s philosophy of honesty and hard work. You’ll feel confident in knowing that Tom has legitimately experimented with tons of different approaches to fat loss over the last 14 years, so you’ll know he isn’t just talking out of his ass.

He isn’t trying to get off easy by selling a pricey product that delivers no real value. He doesn’t recommend that you get on some obscene diet, and he doesn’t state you’ll only need to work out 1 day a week to see results. He makes it clear you will have to put forth a considerable amount of effort to see results, but reminds you the results will be worth it in the end.

How it Works

The eBook is titled “Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle” because of its approach to fat loss. Many diets and fitness programs do help you burn fat, but you also lose a considerable amount of muscle in the process. You don’t want this because muscle is metabolic tissue! It actually burns calories and fat for you while you’re sitting around. You want to keep as much muscle as you possibly can while burning fat, and Tom’s book will help you do just that!

He teaches that fat should be burned off using a combination of cardiovascular exercise, weight lifting, and nutrition. By following Tom’s advice on how to maximize your efforts in each of these three areas, you will learn how to burn fat while maintaining your current amount of muscle mass.

After reading the book, the thing I liked the most about it was its focus on good health. Many fitness books out there suggest methods that work, but at the cost of your health. Tom’s book puts you on an extremely clean diet. Even if you don’t plan on working out, you could adopt this diet for the rest of your life and see major improvements in your overall health. Also, the book promotes slow and healthy fat loss, and suggests that only 1-2 pounds of weight-loss/week is healthy (sorry to all of you who were hoping for 100 pounds in 2 weeks).

Another plus is the book’s readability. Tom exhaustingly explains each step of the process in language anyone can understand. He doesn’t use boring jargon to try to confuse you into believing him. He helps you understand why each step works (good for you doubtful types) by citing the biochemistry to back it up. The material is easy to understand, and easy to start applying right away. This made reading the book an entertaining and educational experience. I flew through the book’s 400 pages in 2 days, and began the transformation process almost instantly.

Real Results

After 8 weeks of using this program, I can honestly say it works just as promised. After just one week, I had lost an amazing 1% body fat (not typical), and the fat loss continued at this rate for about 3 weeks. After 4 weeks, I had a serious knee injury and was unable to stick to the fitness portion of the plan. However, I have stuck to the nutrition segment of the plan, and plan on starting up on the fitness portion again tomorrow (after weeks of physical therapy).

I started off at 16% body fat, and am currently at 12.5% body fat. Keep in mind all of this fat loss was during the first 4 weeks of using the program. I have been able to maintain my level of body fat percentage for the last 4 weeks without working out, simply by sticking to the nutrition guidelines laid out by Tom. If this doesn’t prove the nutritional aspect of the system works, I don’t know what will.

When I finished reading the book, I didn’t ease into things; I immediately changed my lifestyle to incorporate all of the steps Tom teaches in his book. You may be saying to yourself, “That’s too much for me Rahul,” but before you even think that thought, Tom has you covered. He lays out a comprehensive goal setting procedure that’ll help you stick to your guns, and make the transition process a smooth one.

My diet now consists of 5-6 small, spread out meals per day. Each meal is comprised of lean proteins, complex-carbohydrates, and good fats. I drink almost a gallon of water per day, and I watch my caloric intake scrupulously. I eat a lot of vegetables and fruit. I’ve eliminated fast food and processed sugars from my diet.

As you can see, this diet is healthy, and is quite reasonable. Also, you’re allowed to eat a couple of “cheat meals” per week. For these meals you can eat whatever you want; go nuts! I think it’s a nice touch to the program because it helps you keep your sanity.

Tom emphasizes that changing your diet isn’t difficult; your current meal choices only require a tune-up. All you need to do is substitute some of your current meal choices with their better alternatives. For example:

• Substitute white rice with brown rice
• Substitute corn and flour tortillas with wheat tortillas
• Substitute white bread with wheat bread
• Substitute French fries with a baked potato
• Substitute fast food meat with chicken breast, extra lean steak, or fish

In the end, you ultimately choose how strict you want your diet to be. If you want results faster, you’ll have to adopt a stricter diet. If you don’t mind taking your time, you can loosen your diet up. I appreciate this flexibility, as it makes the program more doable (for the people who like to ease into things).

Taking the Plunge

Deciding to take responsibility for your health is a conscious step in the right direction. You’ll be choosing a better life overall, and will be paying respect to your body in the process. Your health should be more than just some diet, or some exercise routine; it should be a lifestyle. When you choose to lead a healthy lifestyle, you are choosing to feel better about yourself for the rest of your life.

Remember, your body is your means of expression in the physical world. Treat it properly. Don’t take it for granted.

If you feel like you’re ready to make the commitment toward improving your health, then you should definitely purchase “Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle”.

What do you have to lose, except for a couple of pounds? There’s an 8-week money back guarantee, so if you don’t like the book you can return it and receive a full refund of your money, no questions asked. I certainly won’t be sending mine back; this book is just too good!

Please let me know what you think of the book in the comments section below. If you’ve been using it for a while, please please please share your results and how the book has changed your life. Your fellow readers will greatly appreciate it, as will I!

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