Building Awareness & Utilizing Your Unique Talents
All successful people have one thing in common — they might tell you that they find themselves in the right place at the right time for a number of different reasons but the fact is this — they are all aware that they are there!
Successful people also follow certain principles, and these principles have been around from the beginning of time. These principles work for everyone. They work everywhere regardless who you are without any emotion or suggestion. They just work. All successful people have applied these laws in their lives, knowingly or unknowingly.
Of course, it’s always better to be aware of the direct correlation between these principles, their proper application, and what you can expect as a result. So, how do you go about increasing your awareness?
You invest time, money and energy on improving yourself.
Some people might say this is a selfish act because it’s all about “me me me” … But as an example in my own life, a better me becomes a better doctor, which helps my patient. A better me becomes a better husband. A better me becomes a better father. And I become a better community person so I can help more people. So, increased awareness and the money and time you spend for you is not selfish by any means — you are consciously improving yourself and, by extension, helping a larger number of people.
As you make an effort to increase your awareness, your understanding of what was there already in your life becomes clearer. Awareness gives you more power. It starts giving you more energy. It helps you create direction and helps you make decisions.
“I used to think my personal and professional lives weren’t connected. I discovered, however, that when I took steps to improve my practice, my personal life improved, and vice versa.” – Dr. Agarwal
WHERE ARE YOU IN THE 7 LEVELS OF AWARENESS?
7. MASTERY – Respond and act again and again. Your soul is always for expansion and fuller expression. Your inner talent will force you to think and act.
6. EXPERIENCE – Once you accomplish certain results, you want to do more and more often. You’ve experienced the result and the value of increased awareness.
5. DISCIPLINE – “I don’t care what the consequences will be, this is my desire. I’m going to do it.” Force yourself through conscious act of will to do certain things with your strong will power.
4. INDIVIDUALITY – Where you listen from your desire and what you want to accomplish. You start ignoring the masses. When the mass mentality pulls you back, you ignore it and keep moving on.
3. ASPIRATION – You have desires but are afraid to live them because masses are not doing that. You are afraid to go left when everyone else is going right.
2. MASS – You’re following the “group think” – listening to the outside noises, ignoring what comes from the inside.
1. ANIMAL – You are in a reactive, fight or flight mentality. You are interested only in daily survival and worry about getting through the day.
EXERCISE #1: MASS MOVEMENT
In the audio, I share a story of my Dad threatening to not pay for my tuition in college unless I enrolled to become an engineer. Can you remember moments in your own history when an individual (the “masses”) tried (or succeeded at) pushing you in the mass direction?
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EXERCISE #2: AN EXERCISE IN DISCIPLINE
Where in your past have you exercised conscious discipline to achieve that which you desired?
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WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH ALL THOSE TALENTS?
You're learning to expand your awareness and skills to expand your own life fulfillment and help or provide service to more people. This same conscious effort can be applied to the talents you have, many of which might lie dormant or not in service currently. Each of us was brought to this earth to express our unique talents for the betterment of our lives and the lives around us. It’s an imperative, then, that we begin to utilize those talents!
EXERCISE #3: BE YOUR OWN TALENT SCOUT
Make a list of your talents, whether personal or professional in nature below. Give yourself plenty of time, and feel free to ask your closest friends and family members what they think your greatest talents are:
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Now that you’ve completed this list, identify which one or two make you feel the most satisfied when utilizing them. Rewrite those here:
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Now, which of these talents provide the greatest service to others? Rewrite those here:
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If you ended up with talents of “service” that differ from those talents that bring you the most fulfillment and satisfaction, what can you do with those talents to bring you the most joy so that they can help others? List those initial ideas and action steps here:
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STRENGTHENING YOUR WEAKNESSES
There’s really nothing worse than spending your time trying to strengthen your weaknesses. Why would you do this when you clearly have great talents that need to be shared AND there are people out there in this world of ours who happen to be very strong n the very weaknesses you struggle with!
EXERCISE #4: YOUR SHORT LIST OF WEAKNESSES
In the first column, make a list of your weaknesses — that stuff you really don’t like to do, want to do, or struggle with.
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Now, in the second column across from the "weaknesses" you wrote about, write the name of a person who either excels at this very thing you struggle with, or would probably be able to provide you with the proper reference to a person with these strengths. When you’ve completed this exercise, what do you suppose my next suggestion will be to you?… That’s right! Pick up the phone and start delegating your weaknesses. Imagine what a relief it will be to be freed of these trying tasks so that you’re able to spend time at what you love to do most!
EXERCISE #5: ALL ABOUT “ME”
It’s not just important — it’s imperative — that you create time in your schedule devoted to increasing your awareness. In order to progress in life, you must continue to nurture that connectedness with your inner spirit. Take a few moments to think about how you would like to improve upon the skills and talents already invested in you. Do you prefer reading books? Do you learn more through teleseminars or in-person seminars? Do you prefer being coached, either in a small group or in a one-on-one situation? What courses, classes or tours would you want to take? In the space below, jot a few of these ideas and be as specific as you can.
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Now, make a decision to ACT on what you’ve written by committing time now or in the very near future (that you actually schedule) to research specific options that you can get involved in right away.
CONCLUDING THOUGHTS
Some people come to me, unsure of what their real strengths are. In my work place, I use a written profiler that takes about 40 minutes to complete. When you’re done, it shows you exactly where your strengths are. If you’re interested in learning more about this profiler, please reach out through our website contact page.
As you come to rely more on your inner voice, begin to look for successful people and positive-minded situations that you can surround yourself with. Guard yourself from the media’s constant stream of bad news or water cooler discussions on death or illness. Remember, what you think about you CREATE in some fashion in your life. Keep your mind consciously focused on that higher level of awareness and life. Stay focused on utilizing your talents to improve your world and the world around you.