I was struggling to
put finishing touches to something I had been contracted to do when my phone
rang. I took the call but the caller who
incidentally is my Coach could tell that I was distracted. I was speaking to her on the phone but even
in that distance she could tell I wasn’t fully present. After about five minutes she asked me; “Is
this a bad time? I can call later, because you are not responding to me.” I apologized and told her that indeed I was
distracted because I was rushing to meet up a deadline on a contract I had to
deliver on within the hour. She said she
understood and hung up.
Weeks later, we
were face to face, and out of the blue, in one of the rare times we shared a
one on one together on that trip, she recalled that telephone conversation and
asked me “So tell me, that particular contract, is it your best use?” Wow! That one got me, and was an answer to the
questions a lot of people have asked me over the past few years.
Most people are
confused as to what God has called them to do, or the reason why they are on
earth and it is not because they are bereft of gifts and skills. Rather
it is because they are good at so many things that it becomes almost impossible to
settle on what they should really be doing. Perhaps you fall in this category; Well, thinking through the question “is that your
best use?” did help me and I hope it helps you too.
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| ideastylist.com |
First what does the
question “Is this your best use?” mean? My Coach wanted to know if that
particular task I was doing that day was my best I could do. Now the thing is I am very good at this task,
I am really good at it! So initially I
felt since I am good at this, shouldn’t I find a way to convert it to income
amongst all the other things I do?
However, the more I
thought about it, the more the quotation by Tim Redmond comes to mind “There
are many things that will catch my eye but there are only a few things that will
catch my heart.” When you chose to be the
best and most impactful you in a particular field the first thing you must know
is that it is not because this is the only thing you can do well. It is just that on the scale of preference, priority
and impact that which you choose carries more weight, both in value and reward.
So how do you
recognise your best use? By asking and answering the following questions:
1. Is this a taught or acquired skill or is it a
gift bestowed?
2.
How many other people within your
circle or team can do this at least 80% as well as you can?
3.
Honestly can you keep doing this
even if you are not paid for it? What are you willing to sacrifice to continue
to be used in this way?
4.
Is the time you spend on this use commensurate
with the reward? To answer this
question, please note that it is critical to define what a reward looks like to
you.
5.
Do you look forward to retiring from
being used like this, or is this your lifework?
6.
How many other people are blessed
with this use, besides you?
7.
Does this blessing endure or is it
temporal?
8.
Whose life gets better, really
better because you did this?
9.
What is the worst that can happen
should you not be used in this way?
Well for me by the
time I got to question four, I recognized quickly that indeed that was not my
best use. The question now is, am I
discarding that use totally? No I am not;
I chose to only use it for those who I really love as an act of service and
love rather than a tool to earn an income.
I believe that if I focus on my best use, amongst which is serving you
on this blog, I will make more impact and ultimately more reward.
Hugs
Sistar B
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