Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hello, and welcome back. This episode I call, what is your gift? So where this stems from is yesterday I was sitting in a coffee shop having an amazing conversation with an entrepreneur who sold their business a year ago. They're a big fan of Shine. And so he's read Shine, applied all the principles, and so we're having this amazing conversation. And like I said, he sold his business a year ago. And so he's wrestling with and struggling with what's next, his next thing. But he's feeling ready after taking time off for a year to really get back at it. And so I was just simply providing him some navigation, as I call it and as I do.
(00:48):
And so as we're having this conversation, I'm having some aha moments that are going to lead right back to you. But I'm thinking about this person, and he has this beautiful opportunity, this clean slate, this wide open space with no barriers and understanding now everything he's learned from Shine and freeing his True Self and living by the 10 Disciplines.
(01:10):
He's got this, again, clean slate to write his own ticket the exact way he wants. And so it got me thinking about you because that leads to the question, what is your gift? Because in the conversation it evolved into me calling it his gift. And again, this is just your skills, your abilities, your experience, your background, your history has led you to this moment where you have this gift that you provide the world. And some of you are fully living that gift. Some of you are only spending 5% of your time giving that gift to the world. But in this particular person's case, I kept calling it his gift. That was our working title for this thing because, again, he's got this opportunity to go apply that gift to the world with every waking moment that he wants to work obviously.
(02:01):
So got me thinking about discovery number three, know thyself because that's where we are. We're basking in discovery. Number three, know thyself. And, again, I'm just giving you a different spin, a different way to look at it, a different word which I've used in the past. But let's just call that thing your gift. And again, same question. What is your gift? And so for most of us, we're working all day every day and we're in it and we're in the day-to-day and we're mired in the fray. And so it's really hard to have this beautiful opportunity that this particular person has that I talked to yesterday. But nonetheless, I hope to create some clarity for you today.
(02:43):
So I want you to pretend for a moment, suspend disbelief for the next few minutes, and just imagine you could wave a magic wand and stop doing everything that isn't your gift. And we're talking work related right now. That you could delegate everything that you shouldn't be doing that isn't your gift and all will be taken care of. There's nothing to worry about. So just stay in la la and with me for a minute, waving that magic wand. It's all going to be taken care of. Everything's going to be executed, everything's going to be done as good or better than you can. And all that's left is for you to bring your gift and apply your gift to the world.
(03:25):
And so what is it? Also known as your calling, your vocation, your purpose, just to throw some more words at you. And as Aristotle said, "Where your talents and the needs of the world cross, there lies your vocation." So mine, as I've shared, I believe my gift is three things. I love creating content, I love teaching content, and I love providing navigation to the people in my life. And so those are the three things that are my gift. And so for this particular entrepreneur in the coffee shop yesterday, as we got clearer and clearer and clearer on his gift, and I want to apply this right back to you, but where I went to next is then, who is the ideal target market for that gift?
(04:19):
And so when I say target market, I'm going to bring a little EOS into the conversation just from a standpoint of the definition of target market is the demographic, geographic, psychographic of your ideal customer. And so when you think about providing your gift to the world, you could be thinking about what you're doing now because I'm sure most of it you are, some of it you are. But what is the ideal customer or client? What is the demographic, the geographic, and the psychographic of the perfect person to deliver that gift to? And is that what's happening for you now?
(04:51):
And so for this person yesterday, we got so clear, he has this gift. There's only a certain type of person in the world that finds tremendous value in that gift. So please consider that for you. And in the next place we went, another EOS tool, and that's the three uniques, okay. And so you can call that what you want, but what are the three words that would describe your gift in absolute clarity? Again, so for me, it's creating content, teaching content, navigation. But what is the simplest way to articulate that gift?
(05:23):
And I also thought about for you, in some cases it's a client or a customer, and I think that's probably the case in most cases. But for some of you, it's the people that you serve inside of your company. It's the people that report to you. So it's not always a customer and a client, but again, we're just creating clarity here. What is your gift? Who's the ideal human being walking the earth that's going to get maximum benefit from that gift? And can you articulate that in just a handful of words? Okay, so now what we're going to do is I'm going to hit the pause button, we're talking about your gift. And I just want to take a big step back and very frankly, I'm going into uncharted territory with this thought I had next, and I hope I can deliver this well because I couldn't help think about this is for driven people. This message is for driven people. But I couldn't help think about everyone else on the planet.
(06:18):
And maybe I'm saying this to you for someone in your life that needs to hear it, but for us driven people and the clarity in our gift, we can monetize our gift. We make money from our gift, and that's kind of how the world keeps score. And so there's a really easy way to keep score on how well we're delivering our gift and making an impact. But there's so many others walking this earth that have a gift that cannot be monetized, it doesn't pay anything, and the world needs them. And the world needs those people that do those things. And whether that's caring for a loved one, or being on a non-profit board, or just spreading love or healing people or helping people, whatever it is, there are other people that have a gift and unfortunately it can't be monetized.
(07:08):
So with that said, there's no monetary reward for that, but I believe, and I'm smart enough to know that there is a reward that might be at a minimum, there's a place in heaven waiting for you, but whatever it is, I know there's a reward for it, and I want to acknowledge that it's just as valuable as the gifts that those of us have that we're able to monetize.
(07:33):
And so there's an exercise because I'm still stirring the pot here, and I've shared this in the past in various forms, but I don't think I've ever shared it on the podcast, but it applies right here and now because there's this beautiful exercise for really clarifying your gift, and it's a three part exercise with three questions, takes about 30 minutes so we're not going to do it here, but feel free to jot down what comes to mind as I'm talking.
(07:59):
But question number one is for you to answer, what are your three greatest successes? Question number two is then what are your three greatest failures? And then question number three is, what has life prepared you for? When I did that back at age 35, it was such a clarity moment in terms of what my gift was, and I hope that sheds some light for you. And so if you're still digging, searching, trying to find it, that exercise may help create clarity for you.
(08:34):
So whatever your gift is, I'm now going to take you and walk you through a little exercise. There's five steps, five parts of this exercise. But first, I now just want you to see it as best you can, even if it's still a little murky, but as clear as you can, see your gift. And worst case, try something on. And again, so for me, I'm seeing myself creating content which I absolutely love, teaching that content to the world, which I absolutely love, and then helping people navigate their way.
(09:09):
So please see it in your mind. Next, feel it. Now that your mind sees it, let's drop down into your body and feel it. What does it feel like to provide that gift to the world? To do that all day every day?
(09:25):
Number three, imagine doing it all out where everything else is being done that isn't your gift, where you've shed everything, you've delegated everything, you've eliminated all else, and you're just delivering your gift to the world.
(09:45):
Number four, I now ask you what sensations come up for you? I even felt a sensation as I said that. So there's still something brewing in me around my gift. And so what sensations come up for you as I took you through those first three steps? And I want you to stay right here because one of the things that may come up are some blocks, some fears, some things that you need to process that's holding you back from fully delivering your gift to the world. And like I said, I felt a little something in my chest, so I still have something to process around this. But ultimately there should be an absolute feeling of knowingness, a feeling of peace, know sensation, and that's where you know you're on the right path.
(10:35):
And then last, number five, I ask you to please think of one thing, one step that you can take to get a little closer to giving your gift to the world and being fully you, freeing your True Self. It might be to delegate something. It might be to process some head trash. It might be to shed some blocks. It might be accepting it, just embracing your gift and how beautiful it is and how badly the world needs it. Or it might be just going and telling someone, someone in your life, here is my gift. Here's what I'm going to bring to the world. Here's who I'm going to bring it to, and here's how I describe it.
(11:19):
And so there it is. What is your gift? I just want to take one more minute and I want to share something with you because if you listened a couple episodes ago, I shared with you how I was absolutely maxed out at 150% because I was revising Shine.
(11:36):
And with that, my work is now done. I'm back to my 100%, and I had a blast. Took about two months, but I just want to announce and share with you that the book Shine is officially updated. It comes out in February as a revised version, and the updates include a few things. We have flipped part one and part two after a lot of feedback, and so now it flows much better. We've expanded the target market beyond just driven entrepreneurs. It's for driven people. We've gotten so much feedback around that, that we're now clear that that was the right decision.
(12:15):
I have smoothed it out and updated it for lack of a better term so it flows really well. I lovingly like to say that I put a little God in it. Also, you can pre-order now, so if you're interested in pre-ordering, you can go to Amazon, make sure it says, "Revised," on it, just so if you want to get the order in so that it gets shipped to you when it comes out.
(12:36):
And while the title is still Shine, we've updated and revised the subtitle in reading line, which are now Shine: How Driven People Can Live A Life of Exceptional Success and Profound Purpose. And the reading line is 10 Disciplines, three discoveries, a guide for maximizing your energy, impact and inner peace. With all of that said, the original version is still great, still available. If you're handing it out, telling people about it, it's still there. Please don't stop. We are so grateful for that, so don't wait until February.
(13:15):
This is just if you want to pre-order it and get it shipped to you once it comes out. That's the reason for this. The original version is still great. I appreciate you. I'm grateful for you, and I hope today's message helped.
(13:29):
Thank you for listening in today. We truly appreciate you taking the time to spend with us, and please tune in for the next episode. Until then, if you'd like to see where you are on your True Self journey, go to shedandshinepodcast.com to take the True Self-assessment and receive personalized guidance.
(13:48):
If you're all ready to begin your inner world journey with Rob and myself, please join us for the next round of the 10 Disciplines group coaching program. We wish you all the best in freeing your True Self, stay focused and much love.
