Talents Vs. Gifts

Uncovering The Power Within

I was having a conversation today with Top Homie/Sensei Justin Michael when the topic of Talents vs. Gifts came up.

One might ask - what's the point of differentiating the two? After all, both represent things you're good at, both are sources of fulfillment, both are recognized by the people around you. Who cares whether you're practicing a talent or a gift?

It is indeed precisely the similarities between the two that make the distinction so critical. As NFL season nears, I'd be remiss not to throw in a good football analogy: Cultivating your talents is like a well-functioning run-game. Done right, you march down the field steadily, in increments of anywhere from 3-5 yards at a time. Commentators refer to this as "winning in the trenches".

The metaphor is revealing: Winning in the trenches is far from pretty work. You're methodically grinding down an opposing defense, winning in small but consistent chunks.

So too is the case with your talents. You may find success in cultivating them, but the success is hard won. You may experience hard plateaus and setbacks which can only be overcome through sheer "pig-headed determination" (RIP Chet Holmes the GOAT). The road to developing your talents often lead you to lay awake at night, wondering if this is something you really want after all.

Your gifts, on the other hand, you take to like a fish in water. It's watching Patrick Mahomes improvise plays no coach would ever dream of drawing up, or throwing a perfect dart down the field while nearly upside down. It's Joe Bonamassa playing Carnegie Hall at the age of 12, or Abhimanyu Mishra becoming the world's youngest chess grandmaster at the same age. When you practice your gifts, you align yourself with the tide of the universe. Interacting with your gifts is invigorating, and seem to kick off a virtuous cycle in which the Universe pours back your toil with exponential returns.

Unlike your talents, which shout at you in the hustle and grind of the day to day, your gifts lurk and whisper. They're found in the gentle smile of a long forgotten elementary school teacher telling you just how special your short story was, or the class you got an A+ in while earnestly pondering the struggle of your classmates. It's no wonder that our gifts lay dormant and neglected for so long. As Earl Nightingale says: "Everything that's really worthwhile in life came to us free—our minds, our souls, our bodies, our hopes, our dreams, our ambitions, our intelligence, our love of family and children and friends and country. All these priceless possessions are free. But the things we get for nothing, we can never replace."

It is perhaps cruel that talents and gifts look so similar - we are all of us mere mortals, and cultivating the former while under the impression it's the latter is an opportunity cost in the most precious commodity of all: Time.

I asked Justin what questions to ask oneself in determining whether something is a talent or a gift, and he shared the following:

"- What makes me come alive?

- What comes so effortlessly to me that it's like breathing?

- What would I do if I could not fail?

Now here's the important part: Take that gift and turn up the volume and intensity until you're at the very edge. Block out everything else. Take your gift and push it to 11. Most people never apply their full force of will to their gifts. They apply a little to talents with growth mindset and plod along, when they could pour into their gifts and see The Universe open before them."

Happy Sunday. May you find what's been in you all along and open the gates to Heaven because of it.