TRADING WITH YOUR TALENT

Everyone wants to be successful in life and the reason for this is to become powerful, having influence on others. We so much desire success in life that we pay less attention to the power we need to be successful. Recently, I asked few friends which of the statements below is true;

I need success to be powerful
I need power to be successful

The larger half of the respondents said they need success to be powerful and this is true (but not to mean other statement is wrong) . But we need to know that we've got within us the power to succeed.

To become successful and have influence on others, it must begin with you. John Maxwell in his book "Today matters" identified that the first step towards success includes starting with you. You need to put the power within to work to be truly successful and powerful. This power is the natural ability to do something(s). Yes, we call it TALENT.

Here are the steps to make your talent profitable

A) Identify The Power

What do you like doing naturally? People call your attention to the fact that you are doing it well but to you its just normal. You don't even get exhausted easily while in the act. Sometimes we use this power negatively, but there could be a positive reaction to it.

B) Put The Power To Work

Power is the ability to do work. Give response to the power within after you have discovered it. Use that power to work for people, with or without immediate pay. When we work without getting paid, we say we are working F.O.C. (Free of charge), but every work has a reward. We could get a seed or a fruit reward for the work we do. When we think we work F.O.C, what we get is seed reward which is worthless (monetarily) at the moment. Sure, it takes time for it to become fruits, but the reward is greater. I'm sure Joseph (first Egypt's prime minister) wasn't paid money for the dreams he interpreted for the king's officials in the dungeon. But after two years, the work he did for 'free' secured him a greater work which he got instant and lasting rewards for. That is seed reward for you.

C) Convert The Work To "Food"

Converting work to food means to love the work you do. Before you turn your work to food, make sure it is the work you like to do. It takes feeling to like but it takes decision to love. Turning your work to food is going the extra mile with your talent. When you move from liking what you do to loving what you do, what you get is speed in your success journey. Many people don't like the work they are doing (talk less of loving), but they stay on the job because of the pay.Today, good job is erroneously determined by good pay(money reward).

D) Give Diligence To The Work

What is worth doing at all is worth doing well. Don't just be good at what you do, always work on becoming better than good at it. Diligence at your work will bring you riches and greatness-availing you the opportunity of standing before great people. The first appointment of King David Jesse of Israel (one of the greatest kings in history) in the palace was as a result of diligence in the playing of musical instrument. The king's official that recommended him to King Saul said "I know someone. I have seen him myself: the son of Jesse of Bethlehem, an excellent musician. He's also courageous, of age, well-spoken, and good-looking. And God is with him"

David was not just into music, he was doing it well, and that is excellence. Excellence is the product of diligence. Diligence talks about practice, doing what you do on and on. Maybe you are thinking that happened in the past. Lately, I was showing a friend a musical video on the new Nigeria and he identified the musician as the personal photographer of Nigeria's President. I am certain she got the President's attention and that job through diligence with her talent (music).

E) Power (Talent) Is Never Enough

I have said so much about talent but I also believe talent alone is not enough to be successful. Power or talent can be a necessary condition but it is not in all, the sufficient condition for success. So if it is not enough to guarantee success in life, then what and what do we need to complete the success model? I believe lessons on greatness can be learnt from the account of great men. So I want us to look further into the curriculum vitae that was presented to King Saul about David Jesse. Aside from talent, the official went further and said some things about David.These are what makes the success equation complete. Join us tommorrow as we reflect on them briefly

Abiodun Sowemimo

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