Side note: It may be a good idea to start by reading this blog post I did 2 years ago.
A year or so ago, I had a conversation with a
certain teenager who had just finished High School. He wanted to know how to
become busy and stop being “bored” at home. (And about getting bored, I always wonder how someone can really get bored…).
Okay, I looked at him and asked him, “How much do
you really wanna get out of your rut…?” “So much… it is screaming right inside
my head and all over me!” he answered. So I told him, “I don’t think so. I am
not seeing it in you. I think you just want a quick way to get money and acquire
a platform upon which you will boast to your friends that you ‘ain’t the idle type’.”
He took offense. I liked it. I like it when people take
offense because I am telling them the truth. Yes, he took offense because I was
telling him the truth. Of course, he really really
really wanted to get something to do
- to keep him busy - but truly speaking, he only wanted to get money and get
over it – in the simplest way possible.
********************************
A few years ago after leaving High School and
because my parents were not able to immediately take me to College, all I could
actually do was to sit around and become idle. I bored my mom. I really did. I
bored her because I was not useful. So she called my dad and told him about it.
(This was mid-June after my KCSE – which I did about a decade ago, yeah I am
that old… J)
They agreed that I should get to where my dad was
and probably get to do something meaningful with my life. (Meaningful was the key word,
and I won’t mention towns because that is none of your business... Hah.)
Well, when I got to live with my dad, he taught me
a few things: that I had to learn to do stuff on my own and become independent.
As the only son, you can only imagine what went through my mind. Learn to do stuff on my own and stand as a
man? Oh no!! No way!! But in present-time Kenya, what do you expect if your
dad is not the CEO of some company or when he is not “well connected”? You have
to stand your ground and gain substance, or sit down and die poor. He always
reminded me (my dad) that he won’t always be around and I should (as his only
son) take charge and become a man my sisters and mom can lean on when he
becomes old…
Anyway – so you are asking - why am I telling you
all these useless stories?
Because of the following:
As much as I was able to do some menial work, earn
a little income each week and become financially independent, I kept myself
busy during my free time. I will share with you how I spent my free time in the
next few lines… I began by writing music. This is something almost everyone
does after High School so it should not be a big deal to you. Yes? Writing
music was easy: figure out a few words, rhyme them, and I was good to go! (From
then to now, I have ended up writing so many unreleased songs that I can’t even
recall which one was my first song - I’ll expound on this story after I have
become a recording artist one of these fine days.) The second thing I was doing
during my free time was reading and falling in love with quotes (remember that
I was only 18.) This moved me to the next level: writing tailored quotes. (I
have two books full of personal quotes as evidence.) Quotes expanded my
knowledge of phrases and words, so I decided to start writing my first book at
age 20. (This also is none of your business, haha, so priss don’t ask me about it...) The internet was gaining popularity
then so I used it often. Writing (yeah what you see here and what I post on
several occasions is just the tip of the iceberg) loaded my room with a lot of
stuff. I then decided to start making some research on people and personalities
– because by then, I had been given a minor leadership position at my church. I
wanted to understand people, so I read a lot about people – on the internet of
course, because I am not fond of paper or hard cover books. Alongside writing quotes,
a book and various songs, I also started writing poems and doing art and calligraphy
(my pastor can witness that I brought him a lot of my artwork at this stage.) I
was now 21 years old and still untrained (formally). But was I useful? Yes. 2
years earlier, at the age 19, I had joined the Praise and Worship Team at my
church because I just refused to sit around and do nothing. I decided to also
join my church’s intercession team which was mainly composed of women. Yes. Women.
Lots of women. Dang. A tiny boy
amongst a legion of women. Dang… again! We
met on Wednesdays for fasting and on Saturdays for general prayer. 1 year later,
I was teaching myself how to play the keyboard/piano. I took (and still take) very serious that
Bible verse that says, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me…” Philippians 4:13 and it has worked for me.
And I have now been improving on the things above
and adding more for the past few years: I have learned teaching, public
speaking, preaching, ranting (lol), bla bla
bla, and have grown in my walk with the Lord.
*************************************
I am sharing my tiny – and almost useless example
above - to give this blog post a practical background and meaning: that as far
as I am concerned, whatever I am going to tell you about capturing and knowing
your niche, abilities, gifts and talents, I am a devoted doer of it all. I
drink that water yo!
Now, there are a few things you need to know and be
able to understand well in order to capture and grow your niche (a niche
is a position particularly well suited to the person who occupies it).
These things, as listed below, are the very things I’ll address in depth in the
two parts that are this blog post;
1.
Your abilities.
2.
Your talent(s) and gift(s).
3.
Your passion.
4.
Your career/profession.
1.
Our abilities
Quote: Growing your niche is
simply moving towards KNOWING YOUR STUFF.
Everyone is born with an
ability. Everyone. The Bible says so, and anthropological studies also prove
that all mankind is bestowed with the ability to do something. A society can’t
move without people’s various abilities. There is not one person on this earth
that lacks an ability to do something. Everyone has an ability. (An
ability is defined as the quality of being able to perform or a quality
that permits or facilitates achievement or accomplishment in something…)
I’ll give you practical
examples in a simple nuclear family: your dad is able to lead, your mom is able
to organize, your elder sister is able to give orders, the second born in your
family is able to cook, you are able to read and understand; and all these
people are endowed with qualities that enable them to do these things better
than everyone else.
Note: Your ability depicts
(describes or portrays) your talent and niche – it curves and exposes it.
Abilities are those tiny and
usually neglected awesome acts in our family members or community that define
the doers without asking. Is your sister able to cook the best meals than any
of you by using the weirdest methods and with very few materials? Yeah, you get
it. Is your brother able to naturally milk the cow without being taught? Yeah,
now you get it.
Let me bring it further down…
Within a society, various
abilities are exposed and discovered: a certain man has the ability to farm and
produce crop all year long, another man is able to predict seasons, a certain
woman is able to counsel quarreling families and bring them together, that
chief you know or that man next door is a great peace-maker, another one is
able to repair clothing without training, a certain young man is known for his
ability to mend shoes and make electrical repairs and another has the ability
to train people on nutrition, losing weight and physical fitness. Another young
man you know is good at sports… Another one is the best artist in town –
probably in graffiti or photography. A certain worship team member is known for
being able to sing like an angel without being taught and a given dancer and
keyboard player can do their thing so flawlessly that they are known for such
efficiency. All these are abilities we experience in our communities in our day
to day lives.
One fact is that people with
certain abilities always wonder why some other person (or people) cannot do
whatever they do in the simplest and most efficient way.
Have you ever met someone with
the knowledge of coding or computers? They have abilities acquired through
training that will blow you away. Scientists and doctors have abilities acquired
through training too.
So as you come to realize, abilities
are not limited to financial status, tribe, physique, level of education, or to
the level of one’s IQ. There may be people with a very low IQ score, who have
failed in school and some who never even went to school, but these people are
damn good managers (the likes of Steve Jobs, Simon Peter and Jesus.)
There are people who are very
observant and can detect mistakes in things/places that no one else was seeing,
there are people who are very analytical in nature – whenever you want
something scrutinized, you have to call them – and they know their stuff!! There are those who know how to save
money. (Note: an ability - like
extravagance in the use of money – one which wastes resources - is not a
positive ability but a vice.)
If you were to ask me if I am
lazy, I will tell you I truly I am lazy.
I know it. My friends know it. But if you were to ask my boss, my pastor or my
work mates if I am lazy, they will give you a different story. Why? Because my
abilities differ. I may not able to wake up early and attend classes, but I
damn know how to work smart. I may not be passing my exams, but I’ll give you
practical life advice if you needed some. I always tell people not to ask me
for advice on matters concerning school because I’ll fail them, but they can
come for real life stuff - I have a lot.
To round it off, we have
naturally acquired abilities (some inherited, and others learnt) and
abilities/skills acquired through formal or informal training. These are the
building blocks towards discovering your talent, gift and passion.
Therefore, if everyone has an ability
[to do something], then everyone has a talent, a gift and a passion. It may be
useful at home, or at school, or at work, or in the market place, or by the
roadside, or at church, or in the community. You have it. Everyone has it. Scan
through your life and discover it. Sometimes people tell you about it or point
it out to you. Just be keen to listen when they complement you. Also remember
that abilities are given to us or built in us mostly benefit others, so things
like watching TV and movies, eating (being a foodie) and stinginess are
negative abilities that should be avoided.
2.
Our talents and gifts
Quote:
If you want to grow your niche, don’t be in the wrong place at the right time
or in the right place at the wrong time.
A talent is defined as a natural ability or quality (so note
that talents borrow a lot from abilities), while a gift is an endowment given to someone by God (mostly, gifts are
only referred to when talking about one’s spiritual abilities – or abilities
influenced by a spiritual force i.e. God.)
I’ll give you a few practical
steps towards discovering your talent(s) and your gift(s);
a)
Have an incessant/unstoppable drive towards
doing something positive.
In the present world, everyone
wants to do nothing but achieve everything. Did you hear that? Everyone wants
to do NOTHING, but achieve EVERYTHING. Now, the dangerous thing about wanting
to do nothing but achieve everything is that we all end up idle and poor. Yes,
IDLE and POOR we become.
The truth is that if everyone decided
to do something in his/her society, (something constructive using their natural
or acquired abilities – like the ones I have described above), there would be
less begging and poverty. Poverty comes in because we all want to be lazy and
useless (at least I am lazy but useful. Haha.) We are all driven towards doing
nothing. It is our default setting. Doing nothing is our default setting. (And
this is the cause of many divorces and breakups in relationships – both parties
wanting to do nothing - all the time.)
If we want to discover our
talents, we should be driven towards exploiting all our abilities. ALL. All of
them. What do you love? Exploit it!! What do people enjoy whenever you do it?
Exploit it!! Put all your strength in ensuring that you are moving all your
might towards bettering a specific area in your life. What change do you need
in your family, church, work place or community? Work towards solving it in the
tiniest way you can!! You don’t have to be great, you just have to begin. You can
start with working on one ability at a time, until (as I will show you later) you
have developed a passion for it. We acquire the drive to explore and use our
abilities through desiring personal growth. Unless we desire personal growth,
we will never discover what we can do and achieve in our immediate society.
Many successful people work
endless hours to meet targets, yet many lazy people think they don’t have
talents or abilities. Talents are grown from the abilities God has given us:
abilities that positively influence our immediate societies. Once we acquire a
strong urge to do something about the little we already have, we grow into what
we should become. We should remember that perfection is not acquired in one
day. Talents
can be discovered through the realization of needs: the need you see wherever
you are is a platform upon which your ability and talent is built. Therefore,
what disturbs you most to need change is what arouses and directs your ability
and thereafter, your talent and gift.
b)
Develop
consistency – practice a lot
I have been training several people
on how to play the piano. (Those who know me well know that no one taught me
how to play the piano. I just woke up one day, told the Lord I wanted to know
how to play it, practiced a few notes for 3 months and voila!! I had already
known enough to teach you a few things about playing it!!) Consistency worked
for me. I have spent time telling every new student I have that unless you are
consistent, you can never perfect any art. NEVER. You see, art depends on
consistency, while science depends on specificity. Art without consistency will
fail, and science without specificity becomes pseudoscience. (Yeah you
can quote me on that one also. Lol.) So discover your love, your ability, your
talent, learn a thing or two about it, but don't start boasting that you have
known it. Seek to become better!! Our keyboard player and several other people
always ask me why I am not recording my music, and I tell them, I need a phase
in my composition and music writing where I'll become consistent in my music
style and writing. I want to be perfect. I want my passion for what I do to be
intact. You may see it as a waste of time and talent, but I wanna give out something
complete, not half done – and only consistency helps you grow your talent
towards that.
Thus this is how talent is nurtured
through consistency: you discover your ability > you then focus your
strength on that ability > after that, you keep on focusing your strength(s)
on it until you are becoming better and better by the day…
An example is a person who is a
great cook. First, they realize they can cook > then they do everything to
better their cooking > then they expand their knowledge through research and
learning new methods of cooking (new recipes and different cuisines) > they
keep learning and doing what they do best until they ease themselves into
perfection…
c)
Grow
I always say, “If you want to do something, start doing it. Now. Start doing it now. Stop
wishing you can do it... If you have the energy, time and (whatever limited)
resources at your disposal, still do it.”
Everyone knows that no business
empire started with flourishing capital. No invention begun with people who
"had it all". Someone had to believe that THEY ARE ABLE TO DO
whatever was before them, and they did it. Simple. They did it.
This blog did not begin as a website
- I had no resources for a domain subscription. But I want to assure you
something - this blog will surely GROW into a website! Mark my words. I saw an
opportunity, and I took it. Blogger offers free blog services, I took it. As
write week after week, I dream of the day I'll register a website with my own
domain. I dream of adding so much more to the website. But I am not just
dreaming, no. I am using the free available resources available to me. I am
writing.
So what can you do? Are you a poet?
Do you have an ability in sharing your mind and thoughts? Is your ability in
helping people? Can you lead? Do you cook? Do you love writing scripts? Do you
design stuff? Are you a great critic? Is your ability to decipher things high?
Are you moved when you hear people talk about technology or cars or games or
plays or movies? Do you love singing? Don't wait to have a music producer for
you to perfect a singing habit. Start it with what you have. Record those clips
on your phone. Record them. Capture the opportunity. Research in your area of
interest, get the loophole and go make it a reaaaaally
biiiig hole!! Use the minimal
resources you have to achieve the goal of growing your talent. Use your
church's keyboard player to practice and rehearse. Use your mom’s garden to
grow flowers and vegetables. Use your brother’s laptop to learn coding. Use
your dad’s bicycle to run errands. Use whatever resource (plus a bit of the
internet) to grow. Grow.
Simply grow your talent and gifts
through exposure. Add in more effort through networking with people who are in
the same field you are interested in. Use that phone of yours to research and
grow instead of WhatsApping and
chatting the whole day. Get mentors from
the internet. Save articles. Read and re-read them again and again. Have blogs
and websites you follow. That is what I call seeking to grow. So, grow. Grow your talent!!
Quote: Unless a talent is grown, it will soon fade
away.
To be continued
in Part 2…
Bonface Morris.
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