Your Unique Ability

your unique ability

I was helping a good student with his physics homework. I could immediately tell that he had excellent study habits. He was organized, methodical, and accurate. He was also intelligent and skillful, yet, his return on his homework was not commensurate with his effort.

“What holds you back?”, I asked. 

“Well,” he said, “mathematics is not my strength.”

I was baffled. Why would anyone choose to major in engineering if mathematics was not their strength? It turned out that the student had selected the math-intensive field of engineering to prove to himself and to his family that he could do it.

always Work with your strengths

I have great faith in human will and motivation. I do not doubt that once you set up your mind to do something and pour all your energies into it, sooner or later, you will achieve it. But at what cost? Why choose a path that is guaranteed to require a lot of effort and misery? Why not choose other paths, equally, if not more, rewarding that can unfold with much less effort and much more satisfaction?

So, I challenged my student –  “go back home and reflect on what your strengths are. What field of study can take advantage of them?”

Wouldn’t it be more fun to choose an academic major that reflects one’s strengths? If you go with your unique strengths and abilities, and your major reflects that, you will be the natural star in that field. People notice when someone shines in their area. It is easier to find jobs, pay the bills, get recognition, or do whatever you wish to achieve.

THE Unique Ability Circle

Now, you can say, what if you don’t know your unique abilities? Or, even worse, what if you don’t have unique abilities? The truth is, everyone has unique abilities, but not everyone is aware enough to know them. So, here is a tool that can help you start your explorative journey. I adapted it from Dean Graziosi’s book, “Millionaire Success Habits.”

Draw three concentric circles and mark the spaces in between them as Unique Abilities, Excellent, Good, and Another Lifetime, starting from the center outward. Now, write down all the things you are currently doing, studying, or planning in their corresponding circles. Don’t take too much time to think, or else your inner self-critic will take over and hijack the exercise. You want to avoid that by brainstorming and writing down things almost as if in a “stream of consciousness.”The less you pause to think and the less you censor yourself, the more you will get out of the exercise. Remember, you don’t have to show your list to anyone. And, you can always revise, edit, or tweak it later. 

And finally, be realistic. You cannot expect 100% of what you do to come from the inner circle. Aim for half-half. Accept that there will always be plenty of things from the outer circles that you have to do. You have to make sure that they do not dominate the overall tone of your life.