“You possess a kind of inner force that seeks to guide you toward your Life’s Task – what you are meant to accomplish in the time that you live. In childhood this tone was clear to you. It directed you towards activities and subjects that fit your natural inclinations, that sparked a curiosity that was deep and primal. In the intervening years the force teds to fade in and out as you listen more to parents and peers, to the daily anxieties that wear away at you. This can be the source of your unhappiness – your lack of connection to who you are and what makes you unique. The first move toward mastery is always inward – learning who you really are and reconnecting with that innate force. Knowing ti with clarity you will find your way to the proper career path and everything else will fall into place. It is never too late to start this process.” – Robert Greene

We all have strengths which will pay us huge dividends if we build upon them. We have natural abilities, gifts and interests that are entirely unique to us. Most people worry about correcting their weaknesses and try to become marginally better in areas that are of no interest to them.

Your weaknesses are weaknesses for a reason. They should stay that way. Without passion and a deeply rooted connection to your work, you will never rise to the level of mastery. You must follow your strengths. You must follow your interests.

Your natural strengths bring you huge opportunities. You have a much larger capacity for improvement. Most people never realize this. They go through life in jobs that are tolerable, doing tasks that they are not particularly good at and then wonder why they are not happy.

Your happiness is a function of being able to express your gifts. If your gift is music, you should be playing music all the time. If sports are your gift, you should be playing, coaching or writing about sports. We all have interests and passions that could transform our lives, we just need to make a commitment to finding and reconnecting with them.

There are clues all throughout your childhood. What things did you love to do as a kid? What got you excited? What activities did you naturally gravitate to?

The answers are somewhere behind those questions. They are already inside of you – you just need to find a way to bring them out. Remember, your weaknesses are weaknesses for a reason. Things that don’t excite you, don’t excite you for a very specific reason. Follow your strengths and follow your interests.

Forget about improving on your weaknesses and fight to reconnect with your childhood. That carefree, fun-loving spirit that kids always have is still achievable as an adult. The people who are successful in this world, find a way to express their childhood in adulthood. You can too.

Matthew Harris