The secret to your lifting is in your gifting

“The purpose of life is to discover your gift. The work of life is to develop it. The meaning of life is to give your gift away” — David Viscott

Rev. Sam Adeyemi said, “You will only shine in the area of your gifting.’’ Everyone has been given an innate gift to do something unique that no one else can do; every man is gifted for something. The core purpose of education should be discovering one’s gifts and talents as early as possible. There is no man that is as poor and miserable as the one that carries all his gifts, talents and potential to the grave. Real wealth is discovering your gifts and talents and making the world a better place through it. Just going to school to get a degree will never make you wealthy; it will only give you a platform to express your gifts, talents and unique abilities.

Real wealth lies not in your job or educational qualifications but in your gifts, talents and passion. While the poor go around looking for jobs with their certificates, the rich discipline themselves to discover, develop and deploy their God-given talents and gifts. The best form of education is the one that helps you to discover, develop and deploy your gifts and talents to solve problems around you. Until you discover the gifts and talents within you, you will be unable to solve the problems around you. There is a special link between the problems that you have been called to solve and the discovery of your gifts, find it!

Mark Zuckerberg faced a disciplinary committee in Harvard because of his unique gift in connecting students on campus through Facemash, which later evolved into Facebook. Steve Jobs was ‘ejected’ from Apple, a company that he started with Steve Wozniak but was later reinstated when it was very glaring that Apple couldn’t move forward without his unique gift. Bill Gates is ruling the world today not through his education but through his passion and gift. He once said, “I failed in some subjects in exam, but my friend passed in all. Now, he is an engineer in Microsoft and I am the owner of Microsoft.’’ Lionel Messi was not given a chance because of his diminutive nature and hormone deficiency syndrome that restricted his growth. While he grew to become a diminutive, he eventually became a giant in the field of football, breaking unimaginable records.

Myles Munroe said, “When you discover your gift, you find your area of authority in life.’’ Our individual gift is an indicator of our purpose and calling in life and until we discover and nurture it, we will continue to travel another man’s journey. The job you are looking for is not out there; it’s right inside your gift. As an entrepreneurship coach, I have come to realise that the easiest way to help unemployed youths is to help them find their area of gifting and passion. I have come to realise that the best of us is always within. Youths must take out time to diagnostically navigate within themselves to discover their area of gifting and core competencies. You can monetise that thing that you are gifted for and so passionate about. Instead of navigating around to look for jobs that most times don’t even exist, navigate within yourself and discover your gift and passion.

I normally tell graduates during some of my training sessions that they are not unemployed because they can’t find a job; they are unemployed because they have not started using their gifts and talents to solve problems. Unemployment has little or nothing to do with job vacancies; it is a function of whether we are putting our gifts to use or rendering them dormant. I have at several fora, reached out to people in government that we need to re-define the meaning of unemployment in order to solve the nagging menace. Unemployment is not the inability to find a job, but rather the inability to discover and use one’s gift productively and maximally. It is a gross waste of human resources and latent potential when gifted and talented individuals spend a chunk of their life looking for jobs.

I want to offer one of my greatest professional advice to the government at various levels: If you really want to help the youths, don’t give them jobs. Help them discover their gifts and talents. That is why talent hunt shows have solved more problems for the youths than what the government is doing. In fact, the main reason for the explosive rise and geometric explosion of the entertainment industry all over the world is simply because it is the only industry that is investing so much in talent hunt shows. Until a nation becomes a hub for talent hunt, it will always under-develop its youths.

I want to reach out to everyone out there to make your gift and hobby, your profession. Whether as a full-fledged passion or a retirement plan, monetising your gift and hobby is the most sustainable way of living. Look inward and repackage what you love doing to make money. Making money from your gift and hobby is excitation, but making money from your job alone is exhaustion. Discover and monetise your gift. We must educate the youths to discover their talents, gifts and potential instead of wasting their precious time and ‘destiny’ looking for jobs that only exist in the figment of their imagination. The job you are looking for is not out there, it is right within your gifting.

Write out your special gifts and talents. You may need to enquire from others if you are not very clear about it. Then, focus these gifts on solving problems around you. List out the things you are doing for free that you can actually do for a fee. Design a system to turn your hobbies to earn a sustainable income.

I am reaching out to the youths out there to stop hanging their fate on the government. Look inwards and discover your gifts and talents. The shortest route to success is to discover your gift, develop it and deploy it to solve other people’s problems. You are full of possibilities; stop attaching your destiny to the uncertainties of job search and salary baits. Discover your gift and ‘unleash’ it for maximum impact. Unlock your inner creativity, unlock your passion, and fire up your gift. You are too gifted to be poor!