The Dream Dean

I just finished my 18th Life Design Catalyst Training last week (Monday through Wednesday), using the Training as a way to help me contemplate my “what’s next?” for work, which starts on July 1, 2023.

Last week, I started reading the book, “10X is Easier Than 2X: How World-Class Entrepreneurs Achieve More By Doing Less” by Dan Sullivan and Benjamin Hardy (Amazon link: https://www.amazon.com/10x-Easier-Than-World-Class-Entrepreneurs-ebook/dp/B0BGK74SR5/ref=sr_1_1). To be honest, I don’t know if it’s much different than MANY of the 10X is better than 2X videos produced by Benjamin Hardy. However, there was one section of the book that REALLY, REALLY, REALLY stood out for me: it was about “Unique Ability” – so much so, that I created a summary, which you’ll find below (summary based on the book “10X is Better Than 2x” by Dan Sullivan and Benjamin Hardy and from the website, “What is Unique Ability” – https://resources.strategiccoach.com/the-multiplier-mindset-blog/what-is-unique-ability):

Your Unique Ability is the essence of what you love to do and what you do best. It’s your own set of natural talents and the passion that fuels you to contribute in the ways that most motivate you. When articulated, it describes the “you” that makes you who you are. Your life’s objective is to develop mastery in and fully express your Unique Ability.

Your Unique Ability is how you create value and wealth that is unique and specialized. It’s your radically unique way of doing what you do, such that no one else can compete with you even if they wanted to. You Unique Ability is also your unique vision and purpose – your “why” for what you’re doing. Your Unique Ability is qualitative and individual, it’s the extremely unique value that ONLY YOU can create. It’s not just what you do, but how you do it. Your Unique Ability is where you have superior skills, where you’re completely intrinsically motivated and thus energized and engaged, and it’s also where you see never-ending possibility for improvement.

Your Unique Ability is the purest, freest, and most honest expression of yourself and your purpose. Your Unique Ability is personal and internal. It sheds light on the ways you naturally strive and calls attention to the things that motivate and fulfill you in order for you to understand your deeper impact. Therefore, it takes being honest with yourself about what you want most. And it takes extreme courage and commitment to live in your Unique Ability.

You can begin by brainstorming what activities and skills in your day-to-day life can be described as a Unique Ability by these four qualities:

1. 1. Superior skill. You produce outstanding results with this talent. It’s so natural to you, you can’t help but do this extraordinarily well. Others notice this skill, rely on it, and value it.
   2. Passion. You love to do this, and probably did it in some form long before you got paid for it. In fact, many people continue to give their Unique Ability away for free because they don’t recognize how special and valuable it is.
   3. Energy. Using your Unique Ability gives you a boost of energy. The people around you get energy from you too, because it’s fun and exciting to be around someone who’s both passionate about and talented at what they’re doing. Likewise, when you surround yourself with other Unique Abilities, your days are filled with positivity, dynamism, and creativity.
   4. Never-ending improvement. You’re already exceptional at this, yet you could do it for the rest of your life and always find new ways to get better and better.

You can also use these six tips to guide you on the way to identifying your Unique Ability:

1. 1. You love to do this everywhere—not just at work or in business.
   2. It shines in many different situations and opportunities.
   3. Your Unique Ability is “factory installed”: you’ve been doing it since childhood.
   4. It comes to you so naturally, you might not think it’s anything special.
   5. Other people count on you for these special talents.
   6. You can get better and better at this for your whole life…and still find it fascinating.

Reflect on these three questions as you think about your Unique Ability: (1) Do I have a Unique Ability? (2) If so, can I describe/define my Unique Ability? (3) How much time do I spend engaged in my Unique Ability?

People engaged in their Unique Ability are those who have learned how to focus and leverage their unique strengths, so much so that they build their lives around these abilities. When you embrace your Unique Ability, work become play, allowing you to follow your curiosity and interests and become open to new potential and possibilities. Defining your Unique Ability is a sure-fire route to elevate your standards so that you can take charge and design the life you want.

“Unique Ability requires you to determine what you personally like and dislike doing, and decide that others’ opinions about it are irrelevant. The basis of Unique Ability is to continually be conscious of the activities and the settings you like and that energize you – and the things that don’t. This is where freedom starts – with the understanding that your own judgments about your own experience are 100 percent valid. Unique Ability is really amazing…and it’s never is a lot of different activities. There’s just 2-3 that are really yours.” – Dan Sullivan

As I was summarizing this section, I realized that my Unique Ability IS Life Design Catalyst work! Yes, I know I’ve been dong it for a while, but the article help me understand my OBSESSION with LDC work. I’ve been doing this work all my life, as noted in one of my seven-word life mottos from the Lollipop Moments activity – “Achieving more than one ever thought possible.” Whether it was leading our neighborhood sporting activities to leading my friends on Dungeon and Dragon adventures to leading bicycling groups on various MS Rides, I’ve always had this insatiable urge to help people achieve more than they ever thought possible.

So, as I venture into “retirement” – no longer working for institutions on a regular 9-5 schedule, I’m ready to engage fully in Life Design Catalyst work at a much deeper level.  I see that part of my “role” is to help others identify their Unique Ability through the exploration of purpose and possibilities. I’m imaging a world – starting in education – where we help people, young and old, identify and engage in their Unique Ability as a form of service. You think the world might be a better place?

Want to join me on this ride? Let’s do it!