There is greatness in you right from the moment of your birth. It is a seed that God has implanted in an obscure part of your body waiting to be found either by you or someone else. All you need to do once this seed is found is to water it consistently until it germinates. It is now up to you to nurture the seedling and allow it to grow to its full potential. Greatness is not an exclusive preserve of a rare breed of human beings. It is an attribute that you and I can achieve if we make deliberate efforts and remain focused.

Everyone is born with potentials for greatness but not everyone has the ability to tap into those potentials provided by nature for human benefits. When it comes to the pursuit of greatness, human beings can be categorized into three groups in terms of their approach and level of commitment.

The first group, through sheer hard work, courage and steadfastness, nurtures its seedling of greatness to fruition and full potential. They are the go-getters. The second group consists of people who are not persistent enough with their nurturing activity and their seedling of greatness grows up but never reaches its full potential. There is yet a third group of people who either fails to locate the seed of greatness in them or simply refuses to water the seedling due to laziness, lack of strong will or commitment of purpose. The seedling therefore dies off in them.

Greatness can be found in various professions and careers. We have great teachers, great philosophers, great physicians, great scientists, great industrialists, great custodians, etc. You can be great in anything you set your mind to and for which you have the capabilities. Only you have to be ruthlessly determined and deliberate in order to unearth those possibilities lying dormant within you. And remember that your dreams are pointers to the direction you want for your destiny and greatness in life. Here are 5 ways to tap into your hidden talents and activate them for your greatness

Identify your God-given talent:

The first thing for you to do is to identify one thing you are naturally good at and in which you are likely to excel if you find yourself in any competition. God has deliberately hidden at least one talent in you when he created you. But he wants you to discover it at some point in your life. We discover our talents at different stages of our lives.

Whereas some realize early in life what they are naturally capable of doing, others, for one reason or the other, discover their talents only in their early or middle adulthood. These are the people who probably have experienced several failures in life before they finally found a way out.

Be proactive:  

You have to be proactive. Without action, there can be no reaction. Now that you have identified your area of strength, take the leap of faith and go after it.  The action you need to take now is to begin to nurture and develop that talent until it matures. No one will take the initiative for you. You have to. You don’t expect greatness to land on your laps on a platter of gold. A farmer who is provided with an arable piece of land but refuses to plow it for cultivation should never expect a high yield of harvest from nothing! You can only reap where you have sown.

Work harder:

Look around you and study the history of the great men and women who have made their mark in life. You will find out that nearly all of them worked very hard before they got where they are.  I say “nearly” because I agree with Shakespeare that some people are born great, while some have greatness thrust upon them. But I believe that only very few great people fit this description. And they represent an exception to the rule. The golden rule is that you have to work very hard to achieve greatness in life.

Hear what the legendary Mohammed Ali had to say on the need for hard work before greatness: “I am an ordinary man who worked hard to develop the talent I was given. I believe in myself and in the goodness of others”.

Stay focused:

When you stay focused and develop your talent, you are sure to attain the level that God has set for you. All you need to do is believe in yourself and create time to consistently develop that which was given to you. Staying focused is a key component of success which can also lead to your greatness.

Have a positive role model:

You need a positive role model to look up to for guidance in your chosen career, profession or vocation. The person must be someone whose achievements you can emulate. He or She must be able to guide you every step of the way and where necessary. James Brown was a good role model for the young and burgeoning Michael Jackson. Michael tapped into his God-given talent, emulated James Brown’s mesmerizing dancing steps, worked and practiced hard until he eventually became a superstar and a musical genius.

What steps are you taking to activate your greatness? Which of the three groups above do you belong to? Is it the group of go-getters, the lackadaisical group, or those who lack the commitment to take action to develop their talents?   Try the following and change your life for the better: Identify your hidden talent, take action and work consistently and tirelessly to develop it with the help of a good mentor. If you remain focused, you are definitely on your path to greatness for the benefit of humanity.

Isaac Olatunbosun is a contributing writer for Huffington Post and The Good Men Project. Follow me on Facebook or connect with me at http://www.isaacolat.com

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