My son Max with his gift
What’s the gift that you have within you that allows you to shine, sets you a part and provides a positive impact on other’s and the world we live in?
A pretty simple question to ask, but a tough question for some people to answer!
This week I was so grateful to witness my four year old son and twenty-one of his fellow peers graduate from Kindergarten.
All parents and carers were invited along for a special concert and we each sat in front of the makeshift stage in their classroom, with red velvet curtains to the side and a Christmas tree in the centre.
The teacher announced that each child would walk down the middle of the room to the stage to place a gift under the tree. She then explained that together, all 22 children had identified what each other’s gift was and so the gift that they carried – represented their internal gift.
Feel Empowered and Inspired
to Make Your Mark in the
World and Reach Your
Full Potential…
*Cue instant tears from me*
Each child confidently walked past fifty people to place their gift under the tree and smile proudly at their loved ones.
When it was my son’s turn, his teacher announced that his special gift was “To never, ever give up and that he always encouraged other’s to do the same.” I must admit that he certainly does have the strengths of being resilient and persistent!
The children’s gifts ranged from: ‘making people laugh,’ ‘always including others,’ ‘making sure we are OK,’ ‘great listener’ and ‘good at story telling.’Each of us has a special gift that we can offer the world. These gifts or talents are also considered our strengths and so it got me thinking, ‘what is my gift?’
If I had to narrow it down to just two words it would be my EMPATHY and ENERGY.
Can you quickly and confidently say what your gift is in just a few words?
There are a few reasons why you might not know what your gift is.
1. It has never been a conscious thought.
2. You are aware that you would like to know, but just haven’t take the time to think about it.
3. You hear people say what your ‘gift’ is, but you don’t quite believe it yourself.
4. You’ve thought about it, but just aren’t sure what your gift is.
“Hide not yourtalents, they for use were made, what’s a sundial in the shade?” — Benjamin Franklin
So how might knowing your gift impact your business, career and life? Gallup conducted research on people who utilise their strengths and gifts every day and how this affects their performance and overall life quality. It was found that people are six times more likely to be engaged on the job if they use their gifts every day.
They also found that using your gift provided a plethora of positives such as:
- Improved Health and Wellness
- Experienced Less Worry, Stress, Anger, Sadness or Physical Pain
- Boost Their Positive Emotions
- More Energy to Face the Day
- Higher Engagement Level on the Task
They also found out that building employees’ strengths is a far more effective approach to improving performance than trying to improve weaknesses. It was found that the vast majority of businesses in the U.S. do not focus on helping employees use their strengths.
The data showed that if a business encouraged their employees to learn their strengths, it increased individual productivity by 7.8% and if you’re in a team and focus on collective strengths, productivity increased by 12.5%.
Can you really afford to not know your gift and those of your employees?
Do you want to know how to discover your gift? Here’s 8 ways to unwrap yours…
1. Have some quiet time to do a self-reflection. Put pen to paper and see if anything stands out i.e. is there a theme or common thread?
2. Ask those who have known you personally for a period of time what they think is your special gift.
3. Ask those who have known you professionally for a period of time what they think is your special gift.
4. Try new things to discover skills and passions that might just be lying within you!
5. What did you enjoy and what were you good at as a child? The days before you felt that you had pressure to conform and be someone that you are not…
6. What are you passionate about now, what comes to you naturally and that really enjoy?
7. What are your wins – what have you done well in business, career and life?
8. When you’ve been through challenging times, both personally and professional, what do you think you did well?
I’d love to know what your special gift is and how this has provided a positive impact in the world.
If you’re having difficulty discovering yours, or simply narrowing it down, please send me a message and I’ll help you out.
Here’s to embracing the gifts that only you can give!
