Tuesday, June 12, 2007

Wake Up Your Talent

One of the biggest obstacles to our progress can be that we compare ourselves to others too much. We look at people who are successful—or at least more successful than we are—and feel that to do the same would require an effort that we just aren’t capable of. We look at people with apparently more talent or skill than we have, and feel that it’s impossible for us to achieve the same.

But this is to underestimate our own strength and the ability to make a difference in our own lives. We need to realize that we may not have had the same success, but are successful in our own way. We need to realize that we may not have the same talent or skill, but have our own talents and skills which we can use to great effect in our own lives.

Looking at other people and feeling ill-equipped to make a difference usually leads to complacency and stagnation in our lives. We get stuck in the same place—and when we’re not moving, our chances of progress and success in our endeavors is zero.

No matter what talents we have, we should use them. We should be moving forward. When we do that, the success we saw in others begins to move closer to ourselves. When we begin to move, the skills that other people have are more likely to become part of our skills.

We should always remember, too, that just because someone else has talent or skill, or has had some success, doesn’t mean that the person is making the most of their talents or skills. They might well be making no use of them at all, in which case the person with less talent or skill can achieve more—as long as they are moving.

Take a look at what talents or skills you have and ask yourself whether you are making the most of them. If not, make a decision to put them to use. Even if the talent is a small one, it can achieve great things if put to use.

Always remember the words of Lao Tzu.

“An ant on the move does more than a dozing ox”

Whatever the size of your talent, if you doze you achieve nothing. What talent or skill are you wasting today by letting it sleep?

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