Putting Your Talents To Use

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A talent is an exceptional thing, the more you use it the bigger it becomes. Yet there are too many people who avoid putting their talents to use.

Too many people worry about what other people will say and limit their lives. Too many people bury their talents. Some even think they don't have any; they are too ashamed to call what they have a talent.

I have the talent of teaching. Since my secondary school days I have had friends and enemies who prefer to learn from me than the teacher/lecturer. I remember friends who, during a difficult lecture, would come to my side and ask if I understand the lecture that their fate in that course is tied to mine. Then I progressed to being a part-time computer software and networking teacher both in my final year and during NYSC. I occasionally joke that if I teach you something and you don't grasp it, then it would take a surgery to stuff it in your head.

I also have the talent of logic. Though in this emotion driven world, it can be a curse. I am always logically thinking through things and evaluating situations. And it makes me terrible with people, so I avoid being too close to anyone (except the one). The good part is that it makes me excellent at technical things. It is part of the reason I left paid employment to be on my own, so I can keep doing more of the technical stuffs I love without putting a low ceiling over my career progress. I use this talent to solve other people's and companies' problems. And I am intending to use it to solve other problems I see in Nigeria that no one is solving.

What are you own talents? And how are you putting them to use?