You can do anything you want! Really?

Talents are God-given and skills are acquired. Certain people are good with numbers, while others are good with art. I may be good at speaking, but I am bad at dancing. 

Early in my college days, I already had the ability to communicate my ideas clearly. But muscular coordination was something I struggled with. I could not even park my car straight!

Now, these instruments taught me to speak with clarity during seminars, and for audio CDs, and self-improvement books.

By applying the knowledge and executing the lessons, a talent can further become a skill.

You have heard speakers say, “If you put all of your heart and passion into it, then you can be anyone you want to be and you can do anything you want to do.” It is nice to hear, but not very practical.

I posted this on my Facebook page, “You will know what God has for you by what He puts in you. If He made you strong then you could be an athlete. If He made you good with speaking then you could be an educator. This is potential. But I need to know my limitations as well. If God has not given me a nice singing voice then I should not attempt to have a CD and that I will never be a rock star.

For speakers and parents to tell their audiences or children that they can be anyone they want to be or do anything they want to do is not right and accurate.

Many agreed with the post, but few disagreed and accused me of robbing people of their passions.

They believe that as long as you pour your heart and passion into it, you can do anything you want to do and be anyone you want to be. Hmm…

Consider this, no matter how passionate and intentional Shaquille O’Neal is in his quest to do anything he wants and to be anyone he wants to be, he will never be a good professional racehorse jockey.

God designed him to be good, not in badminton, not in swimming, but in basketball. He used the sport as a platform, developed additional skills and became a very successful entrepreneur.

I may attend a “motivational seminar” and I may be fired up from all the encouragements the speaker said, that I can be anyone I want to be and I can do anything I want. But that’s not really the case.

There is a confession I have to make. I have exhausted my passion and my energy, but I still cannot do a slam-dunk unless I lower the height of the basketball hoop.

Here is the deal. The ability to discover your God-given talent is fundamental. If you are young, be on a quest to learn, be open to corrections and be humble to accept your own limitation. Don’t give up quickly and don’t find cheap excuses to justify quitting.

Be sensitive, look at your track record and try to determine your best asset. What is it that you love doing? Would you still do it even without the pay and recognition? Is it bearing fruit for you?

It is good to have a positive attitude, but it is essential to be realistic with one’s situation.

I never told my kids this, “You can do anything you want to do and be anyone you want to be.”

What I told them was, “God has given you talents, but you need to develop them into skills through diligent study and hard work.” 

Today, all three of them have discovered their talents.

Talents are God-given, but skills are acquired. And to make the equation complete, add purpose and meaning.

Talents and skills do not bring happiness to a person’s life, purpose and meaning should be added. Purpose is discovering talents and working on it until it becomes an excellent skill. Some people have already started working on their purpose.

Perhaps, the problem here is that some keep it to themselves and are not happy. Others have found significance because they know that their purpose in life is to bless others with what they have and what they do.

Do not bury your talents. Build them into skills. And when your skills are built, these may then create treasures for you, do not store and hoard it.

The real essence behind true wealth and joy is blessing others and helping them build theirs.

(Spend two life-transforming days with Francis Kong learning leadership and life skills as he present Level Up Leadership on November 18-19 at EDSA Shangri-La Hotel. For further inquiries, contact Inspire at 09158055910 or call 632-6310912 for details.)