Are You Using Your Divine Gifts?

A while back, I heard something that really resonated with me: we all have divine gifts that we’re born with.

I can’t remember exactly where I heard it, and actually it’s really something I’ve heard in lots of different ways from lots of different people (my mentors, the people I look up to, the authorpreneurs I admire, etc). But I do remember that Danielle LaPorte, a world-renowned transformational author and speaker, saying this:

“If you want to find your divine gift(s), you need to ask yourself one question: What do people thank you for?”

And what she meant by that is, on a regular basis, what are people always asking for your help with? Or what do they say thank you or send you appreciation for?

When I asked myself that question years ago (back when I read her book, The Fire Starter Sessions), the only answers I could come up with were: writing advice and style advice. People were always coming to me for advice on how to write their books or how to get their writing done, or they’d ask me for fashion guidance (a little known fact about me is that I LOVE fashion and personal style stuff. It’s another passion of mine).

So I told myself my Divine Gifts must be natural writing skills and natural coordination skills (because fashion is really just putting stuff together in interesting ways).

And while that’s not entirely wrong, it didn’t go deep enough.

The Truth About Divine Gifts

The problem with Divine Gifts is that they’re something we’re born with, something so innate to us that we do it naturally without even trying or thinking about it. And because of that, we discount these skills are valuable. We push them aside because we don’t see how they’d be of any use to anyone.

Until someone shows us the light. When that happens, we start to see our God-given gifts for what they are: our unique way to be of service to the world.

I saw that light recently, when I met my mentor, Kat Loterzo.

Kat and I are very similar, she’s just much further along in her journey than I am. Which is why she’s been such a motivator and inspiration for me. And she’s always talking about Divine Gifts.

I never really got it or fully understood what my Divine Gifts were, until I met her. She helped me get super clear on exactly what my purpose is in this world. And it’s funny, because I’ve been moving in this direction for a while now, I just didn’t see it clearly.

Because you can’t ever really separate yourself from your Divine Gifts. They’re just a part of who you are naturally.

Kat is one of the most inspiring and motivational people I’ve ever met. She blows me away with her productivity and how much writing she puts out in the world and how many awesome things she creates.

She’s always saying how she knows she was born for this. Born to motivate and inspire people to—as she says—“press-fucking-play” on their lives and actually start to live like they mean it. People thank her on the daily for motivating and inspiring them to dream bigger and take action on what they want.

And that’s when I realized it: holy shit, that’s what people thank ME for!!

On a daily basis I get messages via email and social media from people who tell me they love my emails and blog posts, and that I’ve inspired them and motivated them to step up and go after their writing dream. There are books in the world that never would’ve made it out there if it weren’t for the fire I lit under someone’s ass. I am the root source of motivation and inspiration for so many writers out there.

Then it hit me…my Divine Gifts: motivation and inspiration.

(Not unlike Kat and probably the reason I resonate so deeply with her as a person and with her message.)

I was born to inspire and motivate others (writers, most specifically) to get off their asses and go after their dreams.

I have been a hardcore go-getter pretty much since the day I was born. At 5 years old, I was the only person in my kindergarten class who could read, tie my shoes and program a VCR (thanks mom!). And it didn’t stop there. I always had goals, always had things I wanted to learn how to do or wanted to experience.

And I did it. I did it all.

All of the big dreams I’ve had for my life so far have come true. Because I’ve always been intentional and I’ve always taken action and done the work (though not always consistently—that’s something I’m working on).

By me being me, day in and day out, and living my life, going after my dreams and achieving them, I inspire and motivate others to see that they can do it too.

Those are my Divine Gifts. The two things I do naturally, without even thinking about it, because it’s just who I am. I didn’t have to learn to be motivated or passionate, or to have dreams and take the action to go after them. That’s just who I am at my core. I can’t not do those things. It comes naturally to me.

Being good at writing and good at storytelling and teaching people about craft isn’t a Divine Gift, it’s a vehicle for how I use my Divine Gifts of inspiration and motivation.

And this discovery has shifted a lot of things for me. I feel like a whole new person now with a totally clear understanding of who I am, what my message is and what I’m here on this planet to do.

My mission is clear: get more writing out into the world, both my own writing and through motivating and inspiring other writers to do their writing.

This isn’t specific to books anymore, it’s about all kinds of writing: articles, blog posts, poems, short stories, flash fiction, novels, memoirs, nonfiction books… all of it. Whatever you most need and want to get out into the world.

And it’s also about motivation, about success mindset, about getting inspired from the inside and using that as the fuel to achieve all of your writing dreams.

I have uncovered my Divine Gifts and now I want to use them full-force and have massive impact so I can create a ripple effect on creative writers that transforms the writing world as we know it today.

For that reason, I’ve come to a tough decision (and this was something I had already been thinking about since the end of last year). As of May 31, I will no longer be taking on new 1-1 story development coaching clients. The only way to work 1-1 with me now will be if you’ve already worked with me before or if you come as a direct referral from Larry Brooks.

I will, from here on out, be focused on making the most impact and having the widest reach possible. I don’t totally know what that looks like yet, but I do know it involves stepping up my focus on my Bestselling Author Mastermind and Students of Story groups, as well as doing virtual group workshops and more self-paced digital products. (And obviously writing a shit-load of new eBooks and novels.)

This is the business, the writing life, the life in general I’ve been dreaming of since I quit my job back in 2012. And now it’s finally manifesting in my physical world (time and space finally caught up with me!)

You can be an authorpreneur too and create exactly the writing life, business (yes, being a pro author is a business), and life that you dream of having. You have unlimited potential and enough power inside you to make anything happen.

Now you’ve gotta use it.

Share With Us

What are your Divine Gifts? What do people thank you for?

If you’ve ever thought about or have been dreaming of working 1-1 with me to develop, plan and/or write your novel, now’s the time to step up. You won’t have this opportunity again. (I’m no longer taking new 1-1 story development clients after May 31).

>> Schedule your free Story Assessment call here

Featured image courtesy of Alex