I received this article from a guy who is 100 per cent down to earth and rock solid when it comes to helping people with their business. There is something about the tone of his language that you might find some encouragement in. If you're looking for answers to the question such as how to be successful, this article could help you to finally start stepping in the right direction.

By Perry Marshall

When I was in my 20's I was loaded with ambition and roiling with energy. "Full of vim and vinegar" as they say. Which led me to both my greatest failure as a young man and most profound lesson of my 20's.

At the time I was, like, totally drinking the motivational Pink Koolaid. I drove all over the country in my little green
Toyota Tercel with a stack of motivational tapes on the passenger seat and empty tape cases crunching beneath my feet, and I was becoming Mr. Sales Machine. I had a chip on my shoulder from all the no-show appointments (4 hour drive each way, I'd get there and call the guy, he'd say "Oh sorry, I forgot, can we reschedule?) and I was going to change the world with will and brute force.

I even had a little sign in my office that said "Massive Action Solves Every Problem" (a phrase I'd picked up somewhere, I thought it sounded good) and I actually believed it was true.

Ah, the foolishness and conceit of youth.

Funny thing, reality has a way of eventually fixing those misconceptions. Doesn't it?

When I was about 25 I went to a little workshop and this guy was talking about giftedness. He was explaining that there are some things we're naturally wired for, naturally gifted for.... and there are a whole bunch of other things we shouldn't be attempting to do at all.

He said that if you design your work around your gifts, talents and passions, life will be vastly more rewarding, easier, less stressful and productive. He said if you try to "force it" in a non-talent zone, you'll just frustrate
yourself.

I really liked this idea. In fact I liked it so much I got some extra training to teach this to other people.

But... I didn't actually believe it applied to me.

What I thought was, all I need is passion. If I've got enough passion and motivation, the gifts and talents will sort of take care of themselves.

So on I went, rolling down the road, saying my positive affirmations with the pedal to the metal.

Fast forward about 3 years...

-I've got NOTHING to show for my efforts, except about $40,000 of debt.

-I've just gotten demoted in my job, from sales to office manager, I've taken a pay cut and I'm swimming in a sea of humiliation and disappointment.

-My resume looks horrible because I haven't accomplished hardly anything in the last couple of years

-I've got a wife and a baby girl at home, mounting debts, and deep concerns about the future (deep concerns, in fact, about how we're going to buy the next set of diapers)

-Laura (nothing short of a saint) is patiently waiting for me to bash my head against brick walls enough to finally start to 'get it.' And she's wise enough to *not* say, "Perry, I've been putting up with your silly schemes for about 5 years now and it's time for you to pull your head out of...." But believe me, the lesson is finally starting
to sink in.

-One day she looks up in surprise as I walk in the door at 9:15am on a Tuesday morning.

"I got fired today."

I go down in the basement and get out my notes and exercises from that workshop. It's got a list of gifts and talents I've been completely ignoring for the last few years. I begin to sketch out what the right job, the right business, the right career would actually look like for me. Based on what I'm really good at. Based on what people close to me observe, what I uniquely contribute to the world.

Other people are usually better at recognizing our talents than we are.

After years of trying to bash through brick walls with the soft skin of my nose, I have finally woken up and begun to approach my work in a sensible way.

A year later my career has made a complete 180, I'm feeling great about what I'm doing, it's working, I'm making more money, and there's light at theend of the tunnel.

There's been no looking back since.

OK, so why am I telling you this story?

Because there's no such thing as THE success formula, as though there were just one. Now yes, there are unchanging eternal principles of relationships and business. But I'm not talking about those things. I'm talking about finding YOUR unique place in the world.

See, everyone's selling success systems and what not and that's fine. I sell those too. But those are not the thing. Success systems, marketing systems,marketing techniques, business strategies, those are not the real key.

The real key is finding YOUR unique, God-given talents, gifts, abilities and passions, and matching them to unmet needs and desires out there in the world.

When you do that, your life becomes SO much easier.

The most important thing I ever talk to people about in phone consultations and 1-on-1 sessions is their USP, their Unique Selling Proposition. USP is square one on the marketing game board. You get USP right, everything is easy. You get USP wrong, everything is hard.

The tricky thing about USP is that nobody can hand it to you on a silver platter. Nobody can dictate to you what it should be. You have to discover it for yourself. In fact it's something that grows and develops over time, just like you do.

If I could tell you anything about succeeding in business, it would be to stop trying to fight your own limitations, stop trying to "fix" your weaknesses, and start working in your strength areas. If you spend your life strengthening your weaknesses, all you end up with is a bunch of weak strengths. If you spend your life strengthening your strenghts, you are strong. You are mighty.

I can absolutely promise you, you have talent zones where you really shine, things completely natural to you, yet seemingly impossible for most people. Skills people want and need. These are the skills you most take for granted.

And That - that's the business you should be in. Not the business you hear some motivational speaker talking about.

The cool thing about that is, every day when you get out of bed, your gifts energize you instead of depleting you. And you're also more competition proof, because you've designed your world around your talents, and nobody else is like you.