Welcome to my weekly newsletter – A journey of personal growth into mindset, self-mastery, meaning in work for creators and solopreneurs.
#42 – 10 Feb 2023
💡 Unleash Your Hidden Talents: The Power of Your Individual Gifts
I used to think I had no real talents.
I was always a B student in school.
I struggled to get picked on the first football team.
As a shy introvert, I didn’t have a huge friendship circle.
Maybe I missed out on the luck lottery.
Maybe I was just born “not good enough”.
You’ve felt this pain of unworthiness before, haven’t you?
I’ve since uncovered that this was one big limiting belief.
Here are three ways I broke free from the chains of that limiting belief and unleashed my hidden talents:
Growth vs fixed mindset
It turns out that feeling of shame was all fixed mindset thinking:
Individuals who believe their talents can be developed (through hard work, good strategies, and input from others) have a growth mindset.
Carol Dweck
They tend to achieve more than those with a more fixed mindset (those who believe their talents are innate gifts). This is because they worry less about looking smart and put more energy into learning.
To succeed in life, we must adopt a ‘Growth Mindset’.
It can be as simple as switching your language from “I can’t X” to “I can’t X yet, but I can learn how”.
I had a million reasons for not stepping onto this creator/solopreneur path.
“I am not creative enough.”
“I am an accountant.”
“I am too old.”
All false.
I can almost do anything with hard work, dedication, and a willingness to learn.
And so can you!
Pick yourself
At some point during my life, I realised many people in the best positions weren’t all that special.
You know when you have a boss who doesn’t seem that much smarter than you?
Or your equivalent colleague who happens to earn 20% more than you?
Or the person on the sports team who you could easily outperform?
Well, it turns out that you don’t have to be the best to get to the top.
You just have to be willing to choose yourself!
And by that, I mean:
- Speak up,
- Make the request
- Have an uncomfortable conversation
The more you ask, the more you get.
Simple, but true.
That boss who doesn’t seem more intelligent? Well, they have probably built great relationships which go much further than intelligence in business and life.
The person who earns 20% more? Well, they probably point out every time they over-deliver on a project and then ask for a raise regularly.
The person on the sports team who you are better than? They are probably a team player who has mastered their role. The old saying goes, “A champion team will always beat a team of champions”.
You still have gifts
Look, I know I told you that we are not born with special talents (fixed mindset), and we can learn our way to utopia (growth mindset).
But in fact, you do have something special about you.
Something exceptional that is impossible to quantify.
I guess I would call it a gift.
Maybe your superpower.
Alright, alright, what is it?
You are YOU.
And you have a story.
You are someone who has never existed before and never will be repeated!
You have a unique DNA, body, mind, voice, accent and set of experiences. You are nothing like any other human who has or will walk this earth.
Even if someone magically did have all your same underlying data, they wouldn’t have the experiences that shaped you through your moment in time.
You really are one of a kind. That troublesome but lovable upbringing has made you into a certain kind of person. I know, a wonderful one, right? You developed a keen interest and an eye for certain things – your curiosity. You have had many mentors and teachers over the years, some good and some bad. Who comes to mind? For better or worse, they made you, you!
But you might wonder, “what about those little quirks I hate about myself?”
Well…
They might be your greatest asset in this age of AI and monotony.
You are original.
You have a story.
And you need to lean into this to unleash your potential.
In your story lies how you can best serve the world.
For example, I was always known as the creative one as a kid—the dreamer. Always making things and exploring the fascinating world inside my mind. It probably explains those B-grades and why I drifted from football to music, haha!
Over time, that magic got beat out of me as I pursued a “good career” in accounting. That ‘playing it safe’ decision made everyone else happy except myself.
I now wonder what could have been if I had dared to speak up and follow my heart at the time.
But here I am, returning to that creative sense, those gifts!
Suddenly that “weakness” in the accounting world is a great strength in this online space.
And it’s only just beginning for me.
It feels natural, and I feel alive!
I’m pretty sure you have some inklings of a better path more suited to you, or you wouldn’t be here.
Maybe it’s time to explore your gifts and unleash those hidden talents.
❔ Reflection
Where am I adopting a fixed mindset towards my dreams?
How can I shift to a growth mindset and increase my desire to learn?
How can I “choose myself” over the next week?
What is a hidden gift from my story which could unleash me on the path to achieving my dreams?
💬 A quote to ponder
We have a path that no other human being has ever followed since the beginning of time, and never ever will be til the end of time.
David Whyte
So saying that a human being has a specific original gift is not pollyannaish at all.
It’s incredibly congruent with the practical understanding of the way the constellation of a human identity is put together by the uniqueness of who brought them in, how they were brought in, and where they grew up. And who they grew up with, and what they grew into.
📣 What happened this week
Newsletter experiments
You will have noticed I am experimenting with the newsletter format and length.
Although I enjoyed the longer deep dives across all four newsletter sections, I noticed my open rates dropping slightly.
What’s the point of all this work if it doesn’t get read?
So I want to reel it in, but retain the depth.
As solopreneurs, we can’t reinvent the wheel each time with new content. We should be maximising the impact of our efforts.
And I am conscious of trying to align each newsletter to one topic so I can optimise my blog for search engines.
My vision is to use these newsletters as templates YouTube/Podcast, so that I can reach a greater audience, as not everyone loves to read!
💭 Final thoughts
Hot tip – I set a 2-hour timer to write this. A massive improvement on my previous 5-hour escapades, lol!
Today’s writing background playlist was “This is Chopin” on Spotify.
Thanks for reading!
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It would be great to have you on board!
Cheers!
