When someone tells me,
"I don't think I have any special talents,"
and I say I don't believe that.
I believe you are born with greatness,
I believe that you have a unique talent within you,
I believe every one of us is born with a reason,
that you could bring something unique to the world
that no one else could do,
you just have to find it, you have to nurture it,
you have to grow it.
Sometimes I see my fans posting in the comment
and they say, "Dan, I want to be just like you,"
and I always tell them, "Don't try to be like me,
"I never want you to be like me,
"I want you to be the best version of you."
If I try to be Tony Robbins, if I try to be Brian Tracy,
I would fail 100% of the time,
but I could do a pretty damn good Dan Lok.
So here are seven questions that you could think about
to identify and find your unique talent.
One, how did you like to spend your time as a child?
So think back when you were growing up,
what did you like to do, right?
You liked to run around, what sports do you like to play?
What activities do you like to engage in?
There's a reason why you naturally gravitate
towards certain activities, and certain task,
and certain fun things, think about that.
Number two, what are you passionate about as an adult?
I remember when I first learned public speaking
when I joined Toastmasters,
at first I was just learning it
because I wanted to reduce my accent,
I wanted to improve my English, my speaking skill,
and develop a little bit of confidence.
That was it, but as I learned more, as I observed more,
as I watched other speakers, I developed a passion for it,
that I found out, you know what?
I could share my story, I could share my message,
and that would bring me a lot of good emotions,
a lot of good feelings,
and I developed a passion for it over time,
being able to speak, being able to train,
being able to speak to large groups of people,
so that's how I discovered my passion.
Number three, what do people compliment you on the most?
You see, sometimes we are good at something,
we don't think about it,
and in Toastmasters, one of the things that you get
is feedback from your club members.
And I remember that people would give me feedback
on those forms and I would read them,
and they would say that,
"Hey, Dan, you are a natural speaker."
I'm like, "Natural?
"There's nothing natural about what I do at all,
"it's just hard work," right?
And when I get enough compliments,
when I get enough validations in some way,
I recognize, "Hm, you know what?
"Maybe there is something special here
"that I could further develop,"
and that's how I got the idea.
And number four, what are you naturally good at?
What are you naturally good at?
Because sometimes we are good at something
and that becomes unconscious competence
that we believe and we think everybody is good at that.
It's so easy for you, it must be easy for everybody,
well, that's simply not true.
There's a reason why you're naturally good at it,
maybe it's your DNA,
maybe it's the way you think about things,
maybe the way you problem solve,
you see things differently from most people.
There could be your talent.
Question number five,
what do you find easy that is hard for others?
Ties into question number four,
so take some time to think about it.
What do you find that is very easy for you,
but very hard for others?
Question number six,
what activities make you lose track of time?
And no, it cannot be binge watching on Netflix
or playing video games, that's not what I'm talking about.
It has to be an activity
that adds value to other people's lives,
it has to be an activity that helps other people,
it has to be an activity
that solves problems for other people
because that's where your talent lies.
And the last question
and the most important question of all, I believe,
is who do you want to help?
Who do you want to help?
Who do you want to impact?
If you've got nothing that you love as a child,
and there's nothing that you feel passionate about
as an adult,
and no one compliments you on anything,
and there's no activity that you engage in
that makes you lose track of time,
well, then we've got a problem.
What it means is you have been conditioned to be average,
you have been conditioned for mediocrity,
you have been conditioned in such an environment
that greatness is not cherished, it's not celebrated,
and if that's the case, what do you do?
I know that will be a question
that a lot of my fans will ask.
I want to give you one simple action that you could take
and that is to learn martial art.
Through martial art, I learned about myself.
As Bruce Lee said,
"All knowledge ultimately is self-knowledge."
Through that you learn discipline,
through martial art, you learn focus.
It doesn't matter what martial art,
I would suggest an Asian martial art
because they teach you the philosophy
as well as the fighting aspect of it,
it teaches you about yourself.
It is a very, very powerful self-discovery process
beyond than just a form of exercise,
and that's what I've learned and that's what has helped me,
and no one can help you if you don't help yourself.
Live a life of abundance and adventure
or a life of maintenance, your choice.