When I give talks on knowing your core gift, a number of people would approach me to say that they don’t know what their core gift is.
These are people of different ages—some are fourteen, others are twenty-five, thirty-two, or even forty-four years old. They don’t know what their core gift is because of fear.
The reason why you still don’t know your core gift is because you are afraid of failure.
But if you’re not afraid of failure, and you have tried and failed, and you didn’t stop but just kept on striving despite rejection, ridicule, and criticism—then you get better and better at doing something.
My dear friend, if you still don’t know what your core gift is, go out into the world and give your imperfect gift. You will be laughed at, ridiculed, and rejected, but do it again and again until one day, you’re going to be so good at it that the world will applaud you.
Believe me, every great success started as a phenomenal failure.
Here are the four questions you need to ask yourself if you want to discover your core gift.
The first is a simple but powerful question: what are you good at?
In Filipino, saan ka magaling?
God made you for a special reason, for a special mission. He wants you to bless the world in a particular way, so He gave you a gift for that mission.
I’m a communicator. I speak and I write.
Go back to your childhood because you will see hints of your core gift starting in a small way.
I was already a communicator back then but in a different way. When I was a child, I liked to draw. Now, I still draw, but I use the canvas of my imagination. I tell stories not through illustrations but through words, adverbs, and adjectives.
This is one hundred percent accurate to uncover what your core gift is. So, look at your childhood and find hints of your core gift.
Here’s the second question: ask yourself, “What do I like to do?”
What is the thing that makes you happy when you do it? What is your passion?
What is the thing that excites you when you do it?
For some, it’s entrepreneurship. For others, it’s accounting. I’ve met people whose gift is accounting and they’re so alive when they do it, even when it’s difficult. For some of you, your core gift is music. For others, it’s fixing or creating things with your hands. Or it’s organizing. Or listening to and encouraging people.
So, what’s the thing that makes you come alive every time you do it?
This is only eighty percent accurate in discovering what your core gift is. Why? Because you can idolize a great singer, so you like to sing—but singing doesn’t like you. You’re alive when you sing, but others want to die when they hear you.
Sometimes, you like doing something, but that doesn’t mean it’s your core gift. If you know you’re not good at it, you can just make it a hobby. It still has a role in your life.
Here’s the third question: ask yourself, “How have I blessed others the most in my life?”
That’s a clue! Success is about service. If you want to be successful, serve more. Love more.
Here’s the fourth question: “How has God blessed me the most?”
Because as you serve, give, and love, it will come back to you, and you will experience more blessings. You will have a trail of blessings that can serve as a clue to your core gift.
*This excerpt was taken from BETTER TODAY THAN YESTERDAY by Bo Sanchez, available in paperback and e-book copy at http://www.feastbooks.ph!
