When our story starts to matter

November 11, 2018 2:30 PM

Twain famously said that the two most important days in your life are the day you are born, and the day you find out why.

It’s an inspiring message to comprehend your true purpose as a human being.

However, there’s a missing step in the process. Because although it’s meaningful to recognize our reasons for being on this earth, if we fail to take action on those reasons, then we still haven’t done anything. We’re still just winking in the dark.

And so, perhaps there’s a third most important day of our lives. Perhaps our story truly starts to matter when we actually make a difference in the world with the talents we’ve been given.

And the key word being talents, not talent. Plural, not singular. Because single assets in isolation don’t have much value. What matters is the whole portfolio working together. What matters is the emergence of our talents coming alive as their elements are integrated into one another.

Adams, the world’s most successful cartoonist, appropriately named this principle our talent stack. It’s the overall value or sum of an individual’s skills. He writes that a talent stack is optimized for exactly what you are doing in the world, right now. We can forget about the pressure of being the absolute expert or the world’s greatest of any of those skills. Because it’s their combined power that makes them so handy.

And the good news is, anyone can develop a more valuable talent stack.

First, you have to figure out which of your talents go well together.

Next, you have to package them in an interesting way that also creates value for others.

Finally, you have to learn to be comfortable with your own power to make an impact with those talents.

With that formula, you will unlock your ability to make an impact.

Twain was accurate when he said that your understanding of your own purpose is an important day.

But remember, it’s not the only important day.

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