What is your talent?

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

Ken Robinson

Sir Ken Robinson is a specialist in innovation, creativity and human resources, a consultant to governments and the world's leading cultural events. Some moments from his speech at The School of Life are about finding yourself and making the right choice.

"The idea of the Dalai Lama is that just being born is a miracle. It is a miracle that we are here with you now. By the way, congratulations. You did it, while billions are not. But you are here, you are they did it, and you are not here for long. With a tailwind, maybe 90 years, which is a blink of an eye for a cosmic scale. And the Dalai Lama simply believes that being born is already a miracle, and the big question is that you will to do with your life now that you have it. What - waste it? Or do something interesting with it? Something that is important - for you, at least? So this is what amazes me for a very long time time: very, very many people spend their whole lives doing things that they really don't care about. They just try their best to get through the work week, they try to endure in anticipation of the weekend and do not feel any satisfaction from the work done, at best in the case - they treat their work with tolerance, at worst - without it."

". The difference is that some discover some abilities in themselves, while others do not. Therefore, the latter often come to the conclusion that they do not have these abilities. I also often meet people who have definitely found their calling, congenital talents. They love what they do, and their life is directly related to it. They do what they have a natural predisposition, you know - they know how to do it."

A talent to play billiards? And why not … yes

“I included a woman named Eva Laurens in the book. I met her on the plane - I don’t know if it’s worth talking about it in front of my wife Terry, but since we are now in a crowded place, I feel almost safe. When we sat down in Florida, next to me was a woman, terribly beautiful, about forty years old, and we got into a conversation - she asked me something. And I tried to imagine who she was - works where- on TV or maybe in design. I asked her what she does and she said “pro billiards.” Read about her - Striking Viking Eva Laurens. She is from a small town to the north. from Stockholm. When she was twelve years old, she went with her brother to this town with various entertainments, and there they went into the billiard room. When they entered, she froze at the door, not believing her eyes. I asked what she saw. Eva said: “It was Aladdin's magic cave - something fantastic. I'm a room with circles of green light and people leaning over tables. Like a church. And this sound of balls hitting each other! Their vibrant colors on green fabric. It was so exciting."

As a result, she became the champion in the local competition, and then she took part in other championships. she founded the world's first Women's Billiard League, which now exists internationally. She hosts competitions, conducts workshops, has written a book and appears regularly on television. She loves it all. And she said to me: “When I come to the billiard table, I still cannot say afterwards whether I was with him for twenty minutes or three hours. At this moment, I lose my sense of time. And most interestingly, I hated geometry when I was in school. But billiards is geometry in action. As the ball moves across the table surface, you see new angles and shapes. I now use billiards to teach children geometry - a discipline that I myself did not like."

So, one of the main signs that you are in your place is that your sense of time is changing. You know how it is - when you do something that you do not have a heart for, five minutes seems like an hour. When you enjoy what you do, an hour seems like five minutes."

The talent for walking in your arms? There is such a talent

“When I talk about the human resource crisis, it seems to me that it happens mainly because a lot of people have rejected the abilities that they have. I know a lot of people who have had the chance to show their innate talents, and this is how they understood their purpose Others were helped by those who saw talent in them before they noticed it themselves.

In almost every story, there is someone who helped and supported the person. The last example I want to give is a guy named Bart Conner. He now lives in Norman, Oklahoma. When Bart was six, he discovered that he could walk on his arms as well as on his feet. I have no idea how he found it, but it did. He later said that this skill was not particularly useful, but he gained popularity. Every time during a party, when the conversation froze, someone told him: "Bart, show me this number on your hands," and the conversation immediately resumed. And then he found that he could climb stairs on his hands - just as easily as on his feet. No one really thought about it - hand-walking was just a "Bart trick" for house parties. But Bart's mom, when he was 8, took him to a local gymnastics center. He said after: “I will never forget the feeling I experienced when I entered the gym. It was a cross between the grotto of Santa Claus and Disneyland. It was an intoxicating feeling. " Intoxicating! I asked him why. He replied: "Well, there were balls, jumps, ropes, mats." Look, is this how you feel when you walk into the gym? It seems to me that not all are.

He started going there, and soon he spent every day there, because he liked it. Ten years later, he stepped on the mate of the Olympic Games to represent America. He became the most successful gymnast in American history. He now lives in Norman, Oklahoma and is married to Nadia Comaneci. Do you remember her? First gold medalist in women's gymnastics. They have a son, a lovely boy named Dylan, after Bob Dylan. I don't know why not Bob. Everything is upside down! He and Nadia have their own gymnastics center and are both top gymnasts in the Olympic Movement.

So, two words about this whole story. First, Bart's mother could tell him as a child: “Listen, stop walking in your arms. We realized that you can do it, but now forget it and do your homework. " But she didn't, she encouraged him, and that's why he started such an incredible life. However, here follows the "second". Although she supported him, she did not know about the path that he had to go. She couldn't predict it. Because. I'm sure Bart’s mom didn’t think: “Okay, this is Bart, he is six, he can stand in his arms, and in Romania there is this girl, and here I have a Bob Dylan album”. It all happened naturally. And the fact that we ourselves create our lives - that we create - is the greatest blessing of human existence. We are not obliged to follow any one once set course, we can change it, not only create, but also alter it. And it is more likely that we will do this redrawing in the event that we find something for ourselves that gives us satisfaction and brings joy. Because really, the only thing that matters is energy."