”I have no special talent. I am only passionately curious.”

– Albert Einstein

What is your biggest talent?

Maybe you’re good with words? Good at inventing and building things? Or maybe you’re a skilled entrepreneur, or a great pastry chef? Whatever your talent might be, talent alone will never be enough. Hard work, persistence and will power will decide exactly how much of your talent that will come forth. Nature alone isn’t enough; you’ll have to nurture your gift.

Talent can, however, be seen as a vital starting point, but without the dedication and will power to develop and master your skills talent alone will never be enough. While you can be extremely gifted in a particular skill, the likelihood that you succeed decreases greatly as soon as you stop nurturing and developing your talent. Someone else with less talent working day and night cultivating their skills will most likely succeed with far greater possibility.

”Self-regulation is the process of identifying a goal or a set of goals and, in pursuing these goals using both internal (e.g. thoughts and affect) and external (responses of anything or anyone in the environment) feedback to maximise goal attainment. Self-regulation is also known as will power.” (OpenStax University, Psychology)

With this being said, I strongly agree with Mr. Einstein when it comes to the importance of being passionately curious.

But firstly, you’ll have to know what you’re good at. Here’s where self-awareness comes into play; the more you know yourself – your strengths and weaknesses – the better you can prepare for your upcoming success. Secondly, you’ll have to know how to develop your talents even more – meaning constantly educating yourself, as well as learning from others that already succeeded in your field of interest.

Last but not least, you’ll have to make an important agreement with yourself; Despite how much struggle you’re facing you’ll have to decide that you’ll never quit. This means that you’ll have to feel a great deal of passion towards what you’re doing. You see, it might take you 30 years before you’ll succeed; maybe you’ll succeed when you’re in your 60s (and you won’t experience that if you throw in the towel when you’re 25 or 45). If you want something really badly, like really badly, cause it occupies your mind day and night, then quitting is not an option. The more passion you’re feeling towards achieving your goals, the more likely it will shine through and therefore, have a greater positive effect on other human beings as well.

Now back to being passionately curious. Being passionately curious will help you on your way towards success. A curious being is not afraid of trying new things, and not afraid of thinking differently. A curious mind never stops asking questions, although it might make him or her look stupid. Stupid are the ones that don’t know, and still don’t ask for help. If you’re semi-good at something and your wish is to improve, than I strongly believe being open-minded and curious will be a tremendous help on the way.

Curiosity + Will Power = Success.

Moreover, curious people aren’t afraid to change things up, or to look beyond the path they once carved so neatly. Sometimes things don’t go our way, and it’s in those moments thinking outside the box comes in handy.

So whether your talent is running a multi million dollar business or baking cookies, it’s important to remember to always strive for progression, and to be open-minded to do things in a slightly different way.

That having been said, I wish you all a great weekend (filled with curiosity)!

 

❤

Linda