We have all been gifted with different spiritual gifts which make us all unique and special. As they say, there are no two people in this world who are ever alike. Not even twins.

Discovering what are the talents that we have been gifted with will lead us to our passion. What is it that we love doing and we love to do regardless of whether we’ll be compensated for it or not?

Once we have discovered what we’re passionate about, the next step is to cultivate it. We have to hone all the skills needed to support our passion, so to speak. It will be a waste to never use any special skills we have probably just waiting to be discovered.

For the next few paragraphs, I want to share some key points when it comes to learning a new skill or improving current skills. In my case, it is writing, but the points below are all applicable in any field or area of specialization.

Using Talents and Skills to Fuel Your Passion

1. Render Services

This will come naturally. When we love what we do, we do things on our own accord. Sometimes, there’s even no need for a motivation. It’s always the self who will dictate how the entire process will flow until we accomplish the kind of finished output we desire.

Try to look for platforms where you can share your talents. In my case, for example, God gave me the opportunity to write for a faith-based website (Daily PS) and I get to read what other Christian writers are writing, too.

2. Collaborate with a Community (Same Interests)

The social media is the best network to look for like-minded individuals. LinkedIn Learning, for one, has the “Career Advice” feature where you can ask other people their viewpoints and who have the same interests as you.

It also offers so many courses on a wide range of specializations (you may try it free for 1 week). I was able to finish the course on content marketing and I was surprised that they also provide a certificate upon course completion. Public forums also offer fresh and new insights to add to your learning experience.

3. Explore All Learning Platforms

Speaking of learning, there are so many platforms to learn from out there. It is not just limited to the world wide web. It extends to the streets, your home, your workplace, your friend’s house, and anywhere actually. Coming up with a newer and better output because we learned something new is too much of a good opportunity to pass up.

In some cases, you will need to pay for learning some new concepts. But in my experience, you’ll always get your money’s worth. Currently, I am exploring all about learning business processes, marketing, and management in preparation for a new season (daunting but having faith in Him) that God is slowly ushering me and my siblings in.

I was able to learn about making a professional logo this time, too. It’s a bit challenging but very much achievable. I am also developing a new website for the family project to build our online presence but I will be needing help with the graphic designing. For the latter, I’ll just ask my 3rd sister. She’s the Creative Director because she’s the most creative in the family – awesome artistic ideas. 😉

All 5 of us, siblings, are members of the board and ze parents are the CEOs. Our beloved Momma CEO has quite a benchmark when it comes to standards so we need intensive planning for the business model.

The progress is slow and there have been delays in our proposed timeline for developments due to weather conditions. But it’s fine since we are still in the process of finalizing all the paperwork. We’ll wait for God’s timing since it’s always perfect, anyway. 😉

On a different note, I can already see why God brought all 5 of us in our respective passions and careers for future roles – Managing Director, Finance Director, Operations Director, Creative Director, and Marketing Director (I presume this is me – uhm, scarrryyy. lol).

I’m also now in complete agreement with this article from Harvard Business Review entitled “How Family Business Owners Should Bring The Next Generation Into The Company.”

And the Bible asserts the same idea:

“An inheritance obtained too early in life is not a blessing in the end.” – Proverbs 20:21

With all these things I am doing including my other freelance jobs, I need to make sure my writing (my primary passion) won’t be compromised so I created my personal editorial calendar and a log sheet for tasks in preparation for the new website. I didn’t know I have already saved enough drafted articles for my blog and Daily PS good until the 1st quarter of the year 2019. 😀

*Trivia:

Every time you have a sudden thought/s in mind whether you’re doing something, somewhere, write it down either on a piece of paper or type it on your phone. I write the title first then the gist of the thoughts in bullet form after. You’ll never run out of topics to write about, I promise. 😉

By the way, I’ll be sharing a series of articles how to do all that I have mentioned above (a la workshop) but it’s scheduled for next year. I have to make sure I am providing you nothing but the best info out there so it needs extensive preparation. 😀

4. Create an “Areas to Improve On” List

When we subject ourselves to constant rediscovery, it will be easier to pinpoint where are our weak spots. Our biological composition reserves that room for improvement. Because it is in our nature to be flawed.

So perfectionism isn’t our goal but expressionism. We improve ourselves to express ourselves better. And not because we want to be validated and recognized. You just have to own your work and be proud that you’ve helped others one way or the other. 😉

To end this short (my idea of short) post, the best part about cultivating our talents and skills is actually that 3-in-1 package of fun, an attitude of servitude, and fulfillment we experience while doing a certain project. We don’t see it as a task, a duty, an obligation, or anything else. We see it as a product of something we love.

In fact, the by-product speaks so much of love as much as it speaks of our identity and individuality. In my case, my identity lies in being a Christian, in loving God, and in writing my love for God. So my audience (that’s you, love!) gets to feel that kind of love that I have, too.

Hmmm, let’s be honest here though, do you really feel the love? 😃 Don’t worry if you don’t, but I hope this will suffice:

“I love you so much for reading this and I pray you get to share the love, too.” ❤

“God has given each of you a gift from His great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another.” – 1 Peter 4:10

Writing to you with love,

For more related articles, you may read:

“Good Stewards Of God’s Gift”

“In Season: What Is An Altar Call?”

“9 Things You Need To Know If You Want To Be A Writer”