Hey, what’s up? It’s Marie Forleo and you are watching MarieTV, the place to be

to create a business and a life that you love. And this is Q&A Tuesday where it’s all about

Q’s and A’s and today’s Q comes from Miss Sasha and she writes:

“Hey Marie. I get caught up with something you usually say at the end of your videos.

It goes something along the lines of the world needs that special gift that only you have.

I don't really see myself as someone that has any special gifts and especially nothing

that I can offer to the world. Unless there’s a world’s best procrastination competition.

I’ll go next week.” Very clever. “How can I work out what these special gifts are

that I was sent into this world with? Thanks for any advice. Sasha.”

Sasha, this is a super great question. You know, I have never met one single person who

doesn't have any gifts, but I’ve met loads of people who wonder if they even just have

one. I think part of the problem is this word gifts. So when we hear that word gifts or

talents, instantly we think of someone who can sing or dance or talk to dead people or

solve gigantic quadratic equations without using a pencil.

So I think the first step is we need to look at gifts in a broader way. So a simple shift

is to start calling them strengths. There’s no one that can say they don't have strengths,

right? And I bet you have strengths you’re not even aware of, Sasha. Now, the million

dollar question is, “Well, how do I figure out what my strengths are?” The best place

to start is with one of my favorite books of all time.

Behold Marcus Buckingham’s Now Discover Your Strengths.

Sasha, I recommend this book to everybody and now when you read it you’re gonna discover

that every single human being, including you, is born with a unique set of strengths. Now,

the book also comes with a code so that you can take this awesome little test and discover

exactly what your strengths are. Now, the thing about strengths, they’re really an

ability you have. It’s something that comes very naturally to you, it’s something that

when you do it you actually feel stronger. It’s something that you can imagine yourself

doing repeatedly, happily, and successfully. Now, most people overlook their strengths

because the fact it comes so naturally to them they take it for granted.

For instance, are you a great learner? Do you have a strong sense of empathy? Do you

thrive on competition? Do you have a knack for imagining the future and getting people

excited about it? Can you win other people over even if you’ve just met them?

All those things are strengths or what you might call gifts. And, yes, they are special

and useful even if they’re not talent show material.

Presenting James, magnificent spacial relations problem solver.

You know, if you guys just move all these chairs like one inch over you could probably fit a whole other row.

Now, once you know your strengths, the whole key is to continue to use them as often as

you can and to develop them. It’s a big key to happiness, both in your regular life

and at work. Now, here’s a big thing you don't wanna get tripped up on.

Don't try to look for the perfect job or the perfect business to start in order to

express your strengths. Your strengths are gonna be with you for life and if you’re

like most people in this day and age, you’re gonna have many evolutions in your career,

so you don't have to worry about it. So for example, in my own life two of my top strengths

are positivity and communication. Now, I used these strengths when I was on the floor of

the New York Stock Exchange on Wall Street, I used them when I was a bartender, I used

them when I was a Nike athlete, and I use them every single day in my business and here

on MarieTV.

Now, there’s loads more we can talk about as this is a big and fascinating topic, but

the two most important steps you can take are, number one, recognize that yes you do

have gifts. You’ve just gotta start calling them strengths. And number two, you want to

find out what those strengths are and start using them as often as you can because the

world really does need it. So let’s land this plane on one of my favorite quotes of

all time and, yes, it’s a Tweetable.

Vocation is the place where our deep gladness meets the world’s deep need.

That was my A to your Q, Sasha. I really hope it helps. Now I would love to hear from you.

Have you ever had a doubt that you have any special gifts? Did you have any ah ha’s

during this episode? Or if you discovered what your gifts are, I would love to know

how you figured it out.

As always, the most awesome discussions happen after the episode over at MarieForleo.com,

so come on over and leave us a comment now.

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Stay on your game and keep going for your dreams because the world really needs that

special gift that only you have. Thank you so much for watching and I’ll catch you next time on MarieTV.