“No one can arrive from being talented alone. God gives talent; work transforms talent into genius.”
-Anna Pavlona
When it comes to possessing a talent or certain talents I’m sure there are things that we feel we are skilled in. I like to think of talents as being more so as being like our soft skills where there are certain recurring patterns of thought, feeling, and behavior that continuously do. In other words, they are the things that come naturally to you. In an article called What Are Talents by Emily Lambert she gives the following as examples of the different types of talents different people possess:
Examples of Talents
| Talent | Definition |
| Adaptation | Adjusting to changes in the workplace while maintaining a positive demeanor. |
| Communication | Conveying ideas effectively and identifying messages others are attempting to convey. |
| Conflict Resolution | Bringing others together to resolve conflict and reconcile differences. |
| Decision-making | Making high-quality decisions based on limited information. |
| Embracing Diversity | Understanding others’ perspectives and dealing effectively with different types of people. |
| Execution | Setting goals, monitoring progress, and taking the initiative to improve your work. |
| Innovation | Generating novel solutions and creative ideas to solve problems. |
| Managing Others | Taking charge of a group and motivating group members toward common goals. |
| Persuasion | Convincing others of a direction, activity, or idea, and influencing decision-making. |
| Teamwork | Working effectively with people and cooperating with others. |
Notice that each of these talents only come to be because of one thing: making the choice or decision to actually do something. There is a fine line between playing an active role in your own life to being on the sideline watching your life past you by.
Russian prima ballerina Anna Pavlona of the late 19th and the early 20th century emphasizes in today’s quote that talent alone only goes so far as it is the true work that you put into something that turns that work of art into pure genius. Let’s use a few of the talent examples from above to see where the true work is applied to help use reach that genius level. Being able to adapt to things outside of your control while maintaining a positive demeanor is something that is perfected over time through mindful practicing in developing strategies that help you remain calm, cool and collected. Execution can only occur when we choose to set goals. We choose to monitor our progress on those goals and we choose to take ownership to improve our work. Each requires a certain amount of work on our part to makes things happen. Any of the others listed can only happen when we put forth the time and effort necessary to see change: see change in what we hope to see as the end result of our own hard work but more importantly see the change within ourselves. Once we see it we must then become it. If we are not deciding to learn and grow in order to get better we have still made a decision even if it was to do or be nothing. Remember that you are so much more than that. Just put forth the effort that I know and you know that you are capable of.
What does this quote mean to you and how can you apply today’s message towards developing your responsible decision making skills?
Becoming The Change 