Discovering our unique capabilities
Dear friend,
I believe every one of us
has at least one unique capability.
Discovering it
is the key
to building a life
doing work we love.
If we are retired
we may have
found our unique capability
long ago.
If we are starting out
we may think:
I have no unique capability.
Nothing I am able to do
that other people
want and need.
Certainly nothing
they would pay for!
Our freedom
Yet if we look around
we see many everyday people
putting forward their capabilities
on the internet
and making a good living.
Having a degree
is no longer necessary
to support ourselves.
We have the freedom
to develop our own minds
through independent reading
and online courses.
We can find our capability
develop it
and make a living with it.
The best guide I have found
for taking this path
is Graham Cochrane.
He teaches the steps
in his excellent book
How To Get Paid
For What You Know.
Yes, for professions and trades
formal education is still necessary.
But for most other domains
it is not.
Most of what we need
to know and to understand
we can learn online
and through reading books.
Self made success
So how do we begin
to move toward
self made success?
We ask ourselves:
What have I got?
The key is to discover
what our unique capability is
then link it
to what people want and need
and are willing to pay for.
To illustrate
When my son
was just a kid
I noticed he did not
like hard work.
Not that any kid does
but he had a particular talent
for avoiding it.
I was concerned.
I confess I thought he was lazy.
HA.
Was I ever wrong!
His avoidance
had nothing to do
with laziness.
He simply saw
HOW UNNECESSARY
most of the hard
part of work
really IS!
And he had no intention
of wasting his precious time
and energy on it.
Fast forward a few decades
and nation wide companies
were paying this kid big bucks
to fly in and show them
how to run their businesses
more efficiently.
He could walk into a company…
look around…
and see right away
all the ways
they were wasting their money
and their energies.
He could streamline
any operation
then teach the team
how to do it
the easiest fastest way.
Over to you
So, tell me something
you are really good at.
If you don’t know
I bet I know
some people who do.
“Who?” you ask.
Your friends.
Your friends
know you better
than you know yourself.
Let’s ask them, I say.
We may get
some pretty wild answers…
but there are sure
to be clues
in what they tell us!
The wisdom of friends
On second thought
let’s not put you
on the spot.
Rather than starting with you
let’s create a few
warm up scenes.
Let’s imagine
we have a young man
sitting here with us
who doesn’t yet know
his capabilities.
Let’s gather
a bunch of his friends
together
to help him
figure it out.
Actually,
let’s invite three different bunches
of his buddies
so we can get
a full perspective
on the dude.
Group #1
The first bunch of his buddies
is sitting right here
ready for action.
We cut to the chase
with a blunt question:
“What would you pay this dude to do for you?”
“Lord!” they exclaim.
“We’d pay him
to get us out of trouble!
He can persuade ANYONE
he is innocent.
We have heard him.
He’ll be standing
in the kitchen
after he made a horrible mess
and his Mom is ready to kill him
and all he does
is talk to her
about how
all he was trying to do
was make dinner for her
because she shouldn’t
have to do it
all the time…
And next thing you know
she is hugging him
and calling him her prince!!!
We’d pay him serious coin
to do that for us!”
We glean
from the response
of these friends
that this young man
has a unique capability:
he can talk under pressure
prevent blame
and be highly persuasive.
He could be a problem solver
in the areas of law,
politics or negotiation.
He could have his own online business
providing consultation services.
Group #2
We throw the same challenge
to the second group of his friends:
“What would you pay this dude to do for you?”
“That’s easy!” they reply.
”We’d pay him
to teach us how to cook!
When we go over
to his place
to watch the game
we see him
go out in the kitchen
and just start
throwing stuff together!
Half hour later
he’s laid out
a whole table full
of awesome food
and he calls us
to come and dig in.
Never even breaks a sweat.
Claims it’s easy!
Man, we’d pay him well
to teach us
how to cook like that!”
So,
we learn from these friends
that this young man
has another unique capability:
He can create delicious meals
in no time.
If he would put what he knows
into a video course
he could sell it
on his own website
and teach it in person
to individuals or groups.
Group #3
We toss the question one more time
to the third group of his pals:
“What would you pay this dude to do for you?”
“O man!” they exclaim.
“We’d pay him to teach us
how to dress!
He ALWAYS looks sharp.
He knows where to find
high quality clothes
for low prices.
He can put together
an outfit
with so much original style
it looks like it was
made just for him!
He’s not afraid of color
but never overdoes it.
He makes having style
look effortless.
Claims it’s easy and fun.
Oh, we would for sure
pay him big bucks
to teach us how to dress!”
Hmmm…
So we learn
from this third group of friends
that this young man also
has a unique capability
to create affordable fashion.
Could he become
a successful stylist?
You better believe it.
He could make
a very good living online
selling video courses
and providing
individual fashion consultation.
Get the idea?
This dude
is just a regular guy.
But by asking his friends
we have discovered
that he has not one
but three unique capabilities.
His friends
have always been
fully aware of them.
But he himself
has never realized
any of them.
Or has never
taken them seriously.
Certainly never considered
that he could make a good living
enjoying one of them.
Instead this poor kid
has been sweating bricks
at community college
studying something he hates
—accounting!!!—-
because his father
is expecting him
to take over
the family tax prep business.
Fortunately
now that he has been enlightened
by his friends
as to his own true colors
he plans to prevent
the tax tragedy
using the method
in my letter
How to say NO to the hard sell.
The wisdom of YOUR friends
So, now that we can see
how and why to ask people
what they would pay us
to do for them
how about seeking
the wisdom of some
who know you?
Could be friends…
Could be family…
Maybe for starters
just ask one
observant tactful person
to tell you a capability
they see in you
that they could imagine
paying you for.
You will be
highly surprised
what they will say.
Is this exploration just for the young?
Is discovering our unique capabilities
just for those of us
who are starting out?
Nope.
It’s also for those of us
who are starting over.
It’s actually for any of us
who are seeking
to learn more
about who we are.
Discovering our unique capabilities
is a liberating adventure
at any stage of life.
Treasure
There is treasure in your soul
that you are unaware of.
It’s never too late
for you to find
you have
a gift under the tree
that you haven’t opened.
💕 Keep yourself moving; action begets action.
A great asset, IMO, is learning to love making mistakes when learning new things knowing I learn the most from my mistakes. If I’m not making mistakes I’m not learning newer, more difficult things.
A lot of work on this post. Shall I point out a couple of mistakes? Just kidding. 😉