Succeeding with your gift might take longer than you think
Contemplation: Have you ever noticed how long it seems to drive to a location if you are driving there for the first time?
I have read many autobiographies of people who have been influential on earth (past and present) and I have and concluded this: there is a magic ten (10 years) at being influential with your gift. Immediately in your mind you are saying, "such a long time?" Unfortunately YES.
A magic-ten-individual who is interesting to me is Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart who is rated by many as the best classical music composer. Watching his older sister practice, he began to pick up the basics of the piano when he was just three years old and at the age of five he composed his first simple piece of music. It was not until his teenage years after years of travelling with his father and sister on a tour of the courts of some of Europe's largest cities including Munich, Paris, London and Zurich that he started being recognized throughout Europe for his music. What does this indicate? It indicates that even the greatest music child prodigy himself had to go through ten years of downtime before he was saluted and appreciated.
Yes you have discovered your gift but you have to go through processes where your gift is being refined.
This “downtime” will build you up to be able to withstand and resist the pressures that come with your unique level of gifting. Therefore, what happens between your conception and your purpose is the ploy for you to be relevant and fitting once you get to your destination.
The biggest mistake that many of us make is to underestimate life. We think that it is easier to do something than it really is and that it will take a shorter time to accomplish it than it really will. If we look at influential people, we don’t always comprehend what they went through in order for their gift to shine. Look at Mnet idols for example; all the people auditioning think they can sing just because they saw a finished product of their favourite singer. What makes us want to hasten, rush and dash through processes that shape and make us become who we were born to be? What made me want to rush through my processes of recognizing that gifts are bigger than careers? Was I a bad person? No. I have come to realize that there is an evocative and desperate feeling that exists in every in human being that just wants to hurry up and prove who we are. Sometimes the desperate need to “get it now” makes us snatch something that is rightfully ours too soon! This results in abortion of necessary processes which would have contributed to our growth.
My friend whom I studied with at university always jokes about the fact that most technicians and apprentices always tell the public that they are engineers, while the people who actually studied the engineering degree are normally quite (they seem to don’t care about revealing their profession). Why? The process that enables them to get the promise (engineering degree) is so strenuous and grueling to a point where bragging about it is futile due to the challenging process of doing it. But those who haven’t been through the process (technicians and apprentices) don’t understand this, hence the bragging from some of them.
Adding to the time it takes to refine one’s gift, conditioning of one’s mind has to be taken into consideration. Allow me to paint this picture: a white graduate is most likely to handle finances better than a black graduate. This is because the white graduate most likely comes from generations of people where money has passed through their hands. Although the black graduate has been free physically from oppression (from being locked out of professional jobs during apartheid), the decades of oppression will play a role in the handling on finances due to generational ignorance (lack of information) about money. Likewise, the attributes that will make your gift function depends on you and your willingness to learn. How willing are you to let go of things that don’t work? How willing are you to say “I don’t know?” How willing are you to suppress your ego and learn from people? How willing are you to let go of tradition?
The Lesson
Why do they age the wine? Wine is aged so that it ferments, which results in the variation of colour and texture. They do not crush the grapes one day and then drink it the following day. It is made to age for years. You can tell that wine is good by how long it was aged. Knowing that you have a purpose will allow you to wait patiently. While you wait, you will understand that you are becoming of good worth and high quality – similar to wine. Envy of anybody doing better than you is also eliminated because you understand that your time has not arrived yet.
John is 18 years old and lives with his mother and father in Sandton. His father and mother are wealthy businessman and woman. John got his learners licence at 17 years old. Now at 18 years old he is still not a good driver at all. This is worrying to him because he is due for his drivers licence test in 2 months. John’s father promised him that once he gets his licence he will buy him a BMW M4. Over the past year John has been practising his driving with a VW Polo and it has dents everywhere due to his bad driving. Due to this, his father told him that even if he passes his test he will not get the M4 because he is not an established driver yet. John is disappointed but later realised that he was not ready for a powerful car. If John cannot manage 66kW of power, how can he handle 444kW from the M4? He cannot it. It will kill him!
Giving it away for free in the beginning
Your gift is a free token to you given by God for a purpose. Thus you have to be willing to give it away for free in the beginning for the sake of multiplying it. In fact I would go as far as saying that although your gift was a free gift to you, the real price that you pay is the refinement process that you go through (the magic 10). Hence it will help if you to have a job that will sustain you while refining it.
If you hear the name “Volvo” it is most likely that you will think about safety because they make the safest cars in the world. Where did that come from? In 1958 Nils Ivar Bohlin joined Volvo as a safety engineer. After testing the 3-point safety belt, he introduced his invention to the Volvo Company in 1959. At the time Volvo wasn’t recognized or well-known. After implementing this invention, the company was recognized as a leading automobile maker due this simple safety feature that their car had. They didn’t keep this invention to themselves though; they gave the patent away for free to other car makers, which multiplied Volvo’s ideas and now a safety belt is now a standard safety feature in all cars. What if Volvo had held on to their idea? Would they be known?
Simon Sinek didn’t trademark the golden circle. He allowed everyone to use it for free which allowed his idea of “why” to multiply rapidly. If he had trademarked it, would he be where he is today? Would he be doing what he is doing to the world with his ideas?
The Lesson
You will most likely not make any substantial amount of money in the first few years when operating in the area of your gift. But, still you have to serve your gift to people and possibly offer more value for the money that they will pay you. This is because you are unknown at this stage and you still fighting for your relevance.