Talent, Skill, Knowledge, Information, Wisdom

Alright here we go. A bit nervous about this post because I want to make it as valuable as possible and as simple to understand… and well… it’s a pretty mind-cramping concept. Gonna take a shot anyways…

Here’s a look at 5 elements that define how much of an impact we have in our lives…

TALENT
Talent is this innate gift we’ve all been given. Again to not sound all wishy-washy with the lingo, I’d say it’s the beginnings of your passion (Passion itself is encompassed in all 5 elements). When you recognize your talent, you’re connecting with the roots of your passion. I believe the game of life is finding your talent, living it, and then putting it towards a purpose. We can all become good at anything we want, but I believe when you focus on something you’re talented in, you give yourself the chance to be great. It’s one of those things where thoughts and ideas in relation to your talent come effortlessly, but it involves a lot of work (and by work I mean the engineering definition of transferring energy… so capturing your thoughts on paper or executing your ideas). Once you begin to recognize what you’re talented at, life becomes a lot more meaningful.

SKILL
Skill is getting better at executing our talent. Just because you’re talented at something doesn’t mean you don’t have to build skills. Skills allow you to create new things in line with your talent. You might need design skills to express your talent, or even communication skills. You may even need cooking skills (which I def. do not have) to keep your life balanced as you live out your talent. As Will Smith says, “Skill takes hours and hours of beating on your craft. It allows you to connect with your artistry (others who have similar talents).” Even before recognizing your talent, you can start to build skill. Best thing to do here is find skills you’re interested in while you discover your passion. Then use those skills with people who have discovered their passion. From there you’ll start to discover your passion.

KNOWLEDGE
Knowledge is what you know about your talent and what skills you have. It’s what you’re aware of. It’s a filter of how you see the world and everything in it. To build your knowledge, build skills and capitalize on your talent. The more you execute your thoughts, the more knowledge you build about the world around you. You can begin to see what works and what doesn’t work in getting you towards your goals.

INFORMATION
We live in an age that’s bombarded with information. I consider information all the thoughts and opinions that surround us. Basically it encompasses everything that others see from their perspective. One way I like to coin this term is a quote one of my mentors gave me, “I know what I know (knowledge), but I don’t know what you know that I don’t know (information).” I think the most important thing to keep in mind here is to listen to information but don’t take it as face value all the time. Listen to other opinions, thoughts, and feedback, and understand it, but don’t necessarily mimic it.

WISDOM
Wisdom I believe occurs when you begin to see beyond your perspective from the lens of your talent.  It’s when you see how your talent, skills, knowledge, and information, can apply to making the world a better place. It’s when you see way beyond the present, and understand the impact you can have on the future. It’s a special place to be; however, being here makes you know better or worst than anybody else. It’s just a different game. Instead of searching for your talent and passion, you are now living it and putting it towards a purpose.

So as an example… It took me 25 years to discover what I was really talented at (Leadership Development) and sparked my passion when this talent began to consume me (it was all I wanted to think about). While discovering my passion I was building skills in leadership development, and now with #GameOn Leadership Coaching you’ll soon see I’ve applied many of my skills from engineering into expressing my passion for helping others find theirs. I’ve gained a lot of knowledge from the experiences in my life and am beginning to see the inner workings of my talent. There is so much information for me still to absorb, like learning about business and even more about leadership. However, right now I value every conversation as a way to collect more information. Finally, since I am now putting my passion towards a purpose of helping students and young professionals find their way, I’m seeing the bigger picture of my talent in making the world a better place. I am also able to see many other perspectives (not just my own) as you’ll notice from many of my blog posts. I have now tapped into wisdom which again makes me no better or worst than anybody else, instead it just allows me to take focus off of myself and put it on others. The game is no longer about finding myself, it’s using myself to impact others.

Alright I’m gonna leave it at that for now and see what you all think. Comment below and give me your thoughts. Did I miss anything? Did I contradict myself? Anything unclear? Disagree? Agree? Whatever it may be comment on it and let’s really crowd-source this to turn it into something that can really benefit others.