Dawn played soccer, lacrosse and was a gymnast as a child. At age 13 she dropped soccer and lacrosse and, with the enthusiastic support of her parents, devoted herself to being a gymnast. She was a very good gymnast. It got her a partial scholarship to college. Her parents were happy about that. Dawn is 21 years old now. She just finished her junior year in college. Her major is Accounting. She’s interning part-time, over the summer, at a prestigious CPA firm. After only a few weeks interning, she’s beginning to think she may not like being a CPA. It’s not for her. She has no passion for it. She longs for something else. Dawn doesn’t know what to do. She’s unhappy.
Pete played baseball and basketball as a child. He was a stand out pitcher and guard on his varsity high school team. Unfortunately, Pete was unable to get any college scholarships. Because his parents were poor, Pete was unable to go to college. Pete is 28 now. He went into construction right out of high school. He realizes now, he doesn’t like his job. He longs for something else. Pete is a new dad. He doesn’t know what to do. Pete’s unhappy.
Katie was an outstanding tennis player as a child. She, and her parents, focused much of their time and resources on Katie’s tennis, which she continued playing throughout college. Katie went on to get a graduate degree in education. Katie, now 35 and a mom with two kids, has worked as a high school teacher for ten years. She does not like her job. She’s thinking about a career change but doesn’t have any idea what that new career should be. Katie is very unhappy.
Sound familiar? Dawn, Pete and Katie are representative of the vast majority who do not like their jobs. According to a 2012 survey conducted by “Big 4” accounting firm Deloitte, 80% of those surveyed did not like their jobs. In another survey conducted by Gallup in 2013, 63% of the 230,000 employees in the survey said they were unhappy with their jobs.
What happened? What went wrong?
As children, most are never exposed to enough diverse activities which can help lead to the discovery of some innate, god-given talent, or something they like doing.
Experimentation is the only way to discover your innate talents or your passions in life. Your innate talents or passions are revealed any time you try something new and one of two things happens:
- It comes easy to you – this is life’s way of telling you that you have some innate, natural talent for doing something.
- You love it – when you really enjoy doing something, when it grabs hold of your emotions, this is life’s way of telling you that you have found a passion.
So, what do you do now that you’re an adult?
The key to finding a hidden talent, or some passion, is to focus on one new activity every three months. If it comes easy or you enjoy it, then you may be on to something big. If it doesn’t, then you move on. You can do your experimentation before or after your work hours. I discovered my unknown writing talent in the early morning hours of 2008/2009. I’ve been writing ever since and will continue doing so until the day I die, even if I never make another dollar.
When you find your hidden talent or find something you are passionate about, everything about your life will change. Your thinking will change. You will find clarity of vision. You will become hopeful. Life will become exciting. And you will find happiness and fulfillment.
About Thomas C. Corley
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