In December 2009, I was invited to give a keynote address at the PANS Week of the University of Ife, my alma mater. I was asked to speak on any subject of my choice, and I chose life after the four walls. I wanted to expose them to the real life situation after the university education. I emphasized the fact that university education is good and should be acquired, but real success in life depends on a number of other factors which must be blended neatly.
We need vision to know the direction we should move. We need to set goals and make plans. Without these elements, we just drift and end somewhere. I pointed out that we all have God-given talents and abilities to enable us to make a unique contribution to the society. Talent is one of life’s greatest gifts. A university cannot put talent into anyone. It cannot teach talent. It can only help to develop the talents and to improve intellectual ability in the students.
Really, each person is responsible for activating their talents. Talents must be developed through polishing, training, and experience. One way to be successful in whatever you do is to discover your talent and work in that area. Working in your own area of talent will make you love what you do, and that will open the door for success and achievement.
Your work will become fun and make you happy and healthy. One reason for stress and burnout among workers is that they are operating in an area outside their talent. You cannot expect superior performance from such workers. The secret of success is to find engagement where your talent can be applied. Most people work for money and not for the love for what they do. They eventually may get the money but miss the joy and fulfillment that good life offers.
One of the greatest mistakes people make is to invest their energy in copying the talents of others. They envy and covet what other people have. This is self-destructive and leads to low self-esteem. They will never excel or achieve much. They will only end in mediocrity. This is why the world is full of mediocre people who cannot make meaningful contributions anywhere.
They prefer to be copies of other people instead of being the original God created them to be. Get busy stirring your own gifts, knowing full well that you will account for them to the Giver. You will not be expected to account for the talents God has given to other people but you will be held responsible for your own talents.
The story of the talents in Matthew’s gospel chapter 25 illustrates clearly the point I’m trying to make here. Jesus narrated that story not for our reading pleasure but for application to our lives. Of course, the first thing is to discover your own talent. If you have not yet discovered it honestly ask God to reveal your own talent to you.
God wants everyone to discover and serve Him in that their area of talents. Your own talent is one of the greatest things about your life God wants you to know. I love 1st John 5:14 which says, “now this is the confidence that we have in him that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us.” Any prayer of faith that is in the will of God is answered.
This is our confidence. Find your own niche and determine to make a contribution to humanity. Don’t engage in a rat race. Identify the service you can render in your own area of talent and concentrate on it. Remain focused and avoid distractions. This is the way to become important and successful.
You need to think of your work and the impact it makes on the community or society, in general. When you do what you love to do, acquire knowledge and skill in that area through training and development, you are sure to excel and make a mark in your world.
“Do you see a man who excels in his work? He will stand before kings. He will not stand before unknown men.” Proverbs 22:29. Some people have more talents than others but all of us have something that we can do well. Every person is capable of doing something better than the other people. This is called the strength zone. Everyone must find this zone and make the most of it. Develop and work around it, and the sky will be your limit.
