“The successful person recognizes his God-given talent, works hard to develop that talent into skill and uses those skills to achieve his goals.”
—- Larry Bird, professional Hall of Fame basketball player.
Mark Twain is most famous for writing The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.
But, long before he wrote his first book, Mark Twain was already famous throughout the world because he had one innate talent that he discovered purely by accident.
It happened unexpectedly one night at a public dinner organized by some printers to celebrate the founding of the typesetter. Mark Twain, at the time just twenty years old, had been one of the many typesetters invited to the dinner. Public dinners, back in the 19th century, were often followed by speeches.
Well, after the dinner plates were cleared, one by one, various speakers stood up and delivered their remarks. After the last speaker concluded his speech, one of Mark Twain’s typesetter friends called out for him to speak. Twain was unprepared, but nonetheless made his way to the dais and spoke, off the cuff and without any notes.
His native performance was so exceptional, he received an ovation from the crowd who had attended the dinner.
By accident, Mark Twain had discovered that he had an innate talent for speaking; specifically, for storytelling.
It wouldn’t be long before Mark Twain would fill halls with people from from San Francisco to New York City, who came to hear Mark Twain tell his stories.
We all have some innate talents or God-given gifts. These gifts, however, remain dormant until we expose them to the light of day. We do this through experimentation – engaging in diverse activities until we find an activity that we are just naturally better at than others.
Mark Twain’s was speaking and telling stories.
Mark Twain would spend the rest of his life, some 50 years, speaking and telling stories to halls around the world. His gift brought him fame and fortune.
When you find an innate, God given talent, you must exploit it by throwing yourself into it, as Mark Twain did.
“The two most important days of your life are the day you were born and the day you figure out why.” — Mark Twain.
As ever: brilliant post on success and success principles. Love it. Thank you.
Tks Ben. Much appreciated!
You’re the embodiment of Samuel Longhorne Clemens
Big fella making me blush. Tks Chuck.