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A Little Help from Your Friends: Tap Into the Hidden Potential of the People Around You

potential, dreams, friends, relationships, successDo you have a dream? If you’re like most people, the answer is “yes” -- or, more likely, “yes, but…” Just about everyone has a dream they’d love to pursue, but they just don’t know how.

What you need is a little expert advice. The TV line-up is chock-full of shows that promise just that. But chances are, you’re already surrounded by people who can give you the knowledge you need to get moving towards your dreams. You can be forgiven for not recognizing it; probably they don’t realize it themselves.

Everyone develops a body of unique skills and talents in the course of living, almost all of which can be widely applied. It can often take a creative eye to see these hidden potentials for what they are: a lifetime of expertise masquerading as everyday life. Who are these unwitting experts? Your friends, family, and colleagues, of course.

How many people do you know who excel at something so much that it’s become a defining part of their character? Instead of just admiring them for it, why not pay them the greater compliment of learning from them, of letting them set an example for you in the pursuit of your dreams?

What kind of understanding might you find hidden in the strengths of your friends and loved ones?

  • The natural storyteller: how to weave compelling narratives; how to grab and hold onto people’s attention; how to set people at ease
  • The slacker: how to relax; how to roll with the punches; how to accept criticism without letting it define you
  • The social butterfly: how to connect with strangers; how to present yourself professionally; how to avoid being defined by your weaknesses; how to listen
  • The entrepreneur: how to face adversity; how to understand financial data; how to plan for the unknown
  • The organizer: how to rally people to your cause; how to balance contradictory demands; how to stay cool under pressure

These are just a few examples of different types of people that almost everyone knows. Don’t dismiss people’s talents just because their accomplishments are small -- even the simplest achievement might be the outcome of an encyclopedic knowledge.

You might be surprised what you learn. And, just as important, they might be surprised at what you learn. You could be opening their eyes, maybe for the first time, to their own hidden talents. And what could be a better gift than that?


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Comment on This Article Community Comments (6)
 
 
Posted On Jan 17, 2009

What about the wealthy criminals who are never caught or the womanizers whom woman love; what skills could a guy learn from them? As a tax paying monogynous husband, I can dream, can't I?


 
Duparc
Apprentice User Apprentice User, Joined On 5/2007
Duparc  
 
 
 
Posted On Jan 18, 2009

This is true, I am always learning from my friends, and I hope they learn from me too, because I am a teacher... I've got friends in all areas of expertise, so I never needed to go to a stranger for advice or help. But there are two main ways of learning from friends: one is just watching them or following their example, I take this for free. The second one is through real service or professional advice, and for this I like to pay them, because it's their job and as a friend I should be the first to value it and understand that they need to make a living too. When they refuse my payment I tell them - "Please accept it because otherwise I couldn't come to you next time but would need to go to your competitor and pay them more than I'm paying you." So, they accept and both of us are happy.


 
Salud
Novice User Novice User, Joined On 4/2008
Salud  
 
 
 
Posted On Jan 19, 2009

Appreciate your quote Duparc. On my days off from work, I learned that those days when I really relax are the simple days of just taking note of everything around me on a very slow delayed ..scale. The things around me I refer to are those daily activities that take place in God's creation, that have been in action long before me and will continue after me.They are free and cost only the time it takes to observe them, but yet awesome in magnificance while at the same time exact in precision,like the habits of an insect and the setting of the sun.


 
Swiftchariot
Novice User Novice User, Joined On 8/2006
Swiftchariot  
 
 
 
Posted On Jan 01, 2009
"We Are the Sum Total of the Five People We Spend The Most Time With."  Jim Rohn - Business Philosopher

I love this quote.  In thinking about this post it made me ask "What if the 5 people I spend the most time with don't have the traits named above?"

If no one around you personifies a trait you'd like to develop you might want to consider pursuing a hobby you've been scared to.

A hobby that involves other people.  A hobby in which people with the same interests as you get together and enjoy each others company.

Some people (myself included) are not natural social lites.  But haven't you ever struck up a conversation with some random person and found out they had a similar interest you did which triggered an awesome conversation?  Maybe even a friendship.

This happens naturally when you pursue hobbies that genuinely meet your core desires.

Try this.  I seen it work magic in my life.  Maybe it will for you too.

Note Taking Nerd #2
http://www.mynotetakingnerd.wordpress.com

 
Note Taking Nerd
Apprentice User Apprentice User, Joined On 11/2008
Note Taking Nerd  
 
 
 
Posted On Jan 17, 2009

Note Taking Nerd, Checked the site you mentioned but not impressed. The site surely is designed for those who feel inadequate or in some way emotionally wounded and still hurt but, some of us are comfortable with our lot and are happy watching the parade as it passes by. May I take the liberty of quoting the following from a fellow life-traveller:

What is this life if, full of care,

We have no time to stand and stare?

No time to stand beneath the boughs,

And stare as long as sheep and cows:

No time to see, when woods we pass,

Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass:

No time to see, in broad daylight,

Streams full of stars, like skies at night:

No time to turn at Beauty's glance,

And watch her feet, how they can dance:

No time to wait till her mouth can

Enrich that smile her eyes began?

A poor life this if, full of care,

We have no time to stand and stare.

Leisure by W. H. Davies


 
Duparc
Apprentice User Apprentice User, Joined On 5/2007
Duparc  
 
 
 
 
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