Know and value your gifts

I'm currently working my way through Great Work, Great Career by Stephen R Covey and  Jennifer Colosimo. As part of identifying my strengths the book asks, What are my talents/gifts? The  book stresses that sometimes gifts can be difficult to identify as people don't realise their gifts are gifts.  As part this process I developed a list of my talents that include:

• Mathematics/Numbers/Finance/Economics
• Computers/Information Technology 
• Marketing
• Problem solving
• Communication and;
• Time Management. 

It's easy to undervalue gifts, one because they seem so easy to us and second, because we associate with people who also share our gifts. For example, compared to friends of mine, I am relatively poor at mathematics. I'm certainly no calculus wiz. I probably never will be confident enough with the advanced mathematics required for Phd level economic research. By comparing myself with people who have that ability, I have tended to underestimate the value of the talents I do have.  I can create productivity saving tools in Microsoft Excel, I can do financial mathematics and many things beyond the ability of most people. I have in fact used these skills in my current organisation and it is quite probable that I am one of only a handful of people in my organisation capable of developing such tools. While it can be beneficial to be humbled by the ability of others don't let this lead you to undervalue your natural talents or underestimate their value in the marketplace. Know and value your gifts.