Transform Your Talents Into Strengths

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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