Let's face it, ever since we were little kids we've been asked what we've wanted to be when we grew up. I'm sure all of us said we either wanted to be a princess, firefighter, nurse, pilot, etc. at one point in our lives. No one ever stops to teach you how to find your gift.
As we grew older, our thoughts and interests change, but what question still was always asked, 'What are you going to do when you grow up?' We were ever faced with trying to figure out who we were meant to become, what were we supposed to do. You can daily habits to improve life, but it must be done after finding you natural gifting.
Instead of thinking of what you will do, it's much easier to think about what your gifts are. Gifts give us purpose, but a job does not always provide you with purpose. Thinking of your gift relaxes you because it was made for you. Thinking of what you want to be will stress you.
Why do people put so much weight on this topic? Is it because people want a fast answer to feeling secure? Or is there something else behind it? Ponder the verse below, and then we will get into it.
"A man’s gift makes room for him and brings him before the great." Proverbs 18:16
Focus on what you have, and not what you don't have. This is important. When you start with what you have, you are grateful. When you focus on what you don't have you feel empty.
To Find Your Gift, You Have to Start Where You Are
Focus on what you have, and not what you don't have. This is important. When you start with what you have, you are grateful. When you focus on what you don't have you feel empty.
There will always be a lot you don't have. No matter how talented you are or how much money you have, you will still not have everything.
To find your gift, you have to start where you are and focus on what you have. Your gift will be in the things you have and what you have been doing.
To Find Your Gift Think of What Comes Naturally to You
- Do you like math, art, history?
- What articles or books do you like to read?
- Who do you follow on social media?
- What do you always know a lot about?
Think of all the things that you are interested in. What could you do, with the interests that you've laid out? What could you possibly do to contribute to this world? The answer you give creates a pattern that points to a larger truth.
Your gift is the thing that comes naturally to you. You need some other stuff, but you should in the least be interested in it. If you are not interested in it, you will not have the patience to cultivate that talent. Finding the gift is only step one, but you still have to work that gift.
What Can You Stick With?
Here is the most important determining factor of your gift. Can you show up and work at it for a long time. A gift may come easy to you, but that does not mean that the road will be without obstacles. You will have to overcome the difficulty to succeed always.
Ten years is a good target time. If working on your gift for ten years seems like too much, then you may need to look to another place.
I started training for the Olympics when I was seven years old, and I did not make the team until I was 22. That is years and years of working on the same skills, injuries, setbacks, losses, and victories. I loved to run and to spend 15 years on it was nothing.
You need to find that thing that you could do every day even when it is hard.
To Find Your Gift Think of The Death Bed
We all want to leave here with a legacy. What do you want to be remembered for? What will you be proud of? Want to be recognized as someone who was always there for someone, someone who was a fantastic caregiver, painter, photographer, philanthropist?
Whatever you want to be remembered as should be used as a guide to figure out what you were meant to do. If you don't want to be remembered as a great basketball player that may not be your thing, and that is okay. That is not to say that your gift has to be the only thing you are known for.
What Brings You Peace?
I don't want you to think about what makes you happy or what makes you feel joyful; those feelings are fleeting and change. I want to know what helps you think once you figure out this.
What makes you feel peace within yourself that is the direction you should be headed towards. Some people work with kids, for example, and they are at peace internally. You will know when you find something that brings you peace because you can forget the rest of the world when you are in that thing.
Let's Go Back To Being A Child.
As I mentioned at the beginning of this article, we have always been asked since we were kids what we wanted to do with kids being so honest and truthful about what they want to do. I want you to think about what you wanted to be when you were a child.
It's not necessarily the actual profession you want to emulate as an adult, but what it symbolizes. Teachers often want to guide and mentor, vets want to help those who don't have a voice, astronauts what to set out and find new and exciting things.
It can be simple things you remember about being a child. Maybe people always told you that you had a beautiful smile as a kid. Perhaps that means you need to be in front of a camera. It could be that you were always great at making friends and you should work in sales.
To Find Your Gift Find Things That Fit On Multiple Lists
Look where multiple of the examples mentioned above meet up. If there is something that you noticed about your childhood, that is also something you are interested, it comes naturally to you and brings you to peace, that is a good sign.
Some people argue that some fall into their gift out of sheer luck. Whereas I think people who go after what they are gifted in and they remain persistent until they are are successful.
When you find your gift, you will see that doors will start to open for you. The right things will be drawn to you. If you are persistent things will click, and you will be able to reach insane levels.
Visual Your Best Self
Take a step back and look at the big picture here. Ultimately we all want to be the best versions of ourselves. What does your best version look like? The best version of yourself is who you were truly meant to be.
Let's face it; we all want to contribute to this life and be the best versions of ourselves possible. All while leaving something of us behind. Figuring out who you were meant to be is a personal one. It can be a tedious and grueling process but once it is all said and done, and people can stop asking you "so what do you want to do" that's when you know you've done your best. Don't sweat the small stuff, and take things one day at a time.
Your idea of what you are "meant to do" in life is really up to you and no-one else. The key here is to realize that the shape and length of distance are really up to you. No-one else can impose their thoughts on you because it would be theirs and not yours.
Until you realize that it comes from a deep place within, you won't believe it. Sometimes going deep within yourself and figuring out what you need to do is precisely what needs to happen, and that's okay!
How I Found My Gift and Used Daily Habits to Improve Life
For the longest time, I thought my gift was sprinting. The thing that sucks about athletic gifts is you retire early, and then you have no idea what to do next. Luckily the talent led me to the gift.
I thought it was running, then maybe writing or entrepreneurship but all of that was. Sometimes we are introduced to things because they put us on the right path, and that is my story.
Track and field and entrepreneurship taught me something important about myself. I learned that I was very consistent, and it made building new habits easy for me.
While most people struggled to do one thing for a week, I could quickly build three or four habits at one time. I set out to build habit stacker and dedicate my life to helping others to build excellent habits. I use other talents I have in entrepreneurship, marketing, writing, and speaking to bring my gift to the world.
Find Your Gift and Work At It
The hard part is figuring out what you were meant to do. Once you get that out of the way, you have to work the gift. Here is where you are going to need some courage.
People have gifts in areas that can seem unprofitable. For example, who would guess I could make money helping people with their habits? It turns out that if you help someone with their habits, you can help them accomplish whatever they want to.
Once you find your gift, you have to go to work on it right away. All gifts need to be cultivated. Kobe Bryant was a gifted basketball player, but he still had to practice.
You are no different! Your skills need to be worked on and continuously grown. You should track this habit daily. There should not be a day that goes by that you don't work on your gift to some extent.
"A man’s gift makes room for him and brings him before the great." Proverbs 18:16
How to Get Started Working On Your Gift
Habit Stacker provides resources to help you improve your habits. The first way we do this is through our online course Habit Mastery. The second way is with the Habit Stacker mobile app.
Olympian and founder of Habit Stacker Ian Warner, teaches the Habit Mastery course. He walks you through practical techniques that you can use to improve your life. No fluff or non-sense! You get instant access to over 45 different videos breaking down how to build good habits.
The Habit Stacker app is what you use to live out your habits daily. It's a habit tracker that lets you know what you need to do each day. The app sets your daily routine board for you each day, so you all you have to do is get the task done at the top of the list. You can look back and see how your daily habits improve life.