Find Your Gift By Looking Into Your Past

I didn’t know it at the time but upon reflection I realised that what I got into trouble for in school for was part of my gift.?

Let me explain…

When I was in Year 2 (around age 6) I remember my teacher Mrs Matthew was very strict. I was in blue class at Orchard School in London, UK. We sat in groups to do activities and I would always talk to the other kids and get distracted and inevitably distract them too. This continued throughout Primary School (grades 1-6).?

It became so frequent that Mrs Matthew thought there was something wrong with my hearing. She recommended my mum to take me to see a specialist hearing doctor lol. I went to see them and it turned out there was nothing wrong with my hearing – I just chose not to listen. I continued to talk in the following years and was always sent to the Headteachers (Principals) office. Every parents evening the feedback was the same: Vipul talks too much.

Once I got to Year 7 in Secondary School (High School), my little brain was trained to keep my mouth shut and be quiet. I no longer participated in class and felt shy to openly talk. By that point I was trained to think talking was bad. And as a result, I thought there was something wrong with me because I couldn’t openly participate and socialise the way other kids did. Whilst I did have some friends, my social confidence wasn’t where I’d liked. Now the parents evening feedback was the opposite: Vipul doesn’t participate enough. Plus, they told me to do extra reading (I’ll address the reading part shortly because I later realised I did enjoy reading, just not what they were giving me).

When I began self-reflecting after University I realised communication (both written and verbal) was a strong skill of mine and something I enjoyed doing. It was something that came naturally to me as a Gemini and it brought me joy. I eventually got paid to be a Recruiter (basically to speak to people everyday), got a writing contract to write about stuff I enjoyed talking about, I published a book called Searching in Silence, and started started a podcast where I spoke to people from all over the world, ironic right?

For a long time, I struggled to figure out what my gift was. Everyone seemed to have their lives figured out and I was unsure of where I fit into the world.?

We could have multiple gifts (called multipotentialites). But one of mine is to create engaging conversation as a bridge to a deeper connection between souls. My purpose is to hold space for these types of conversations.?But I never would have realised that until I changed my perspective on my past.?

I invite you think about this:?what could your past mean if you saw it from a different perspective? What clues can you pick up about the things you did?

For me, I thought I was a bad student that had issues listening and paying attention. It turns out that deeply listening and speaking to people is a gift.

Now back to the reading thing.

I realised after University that I love reading and educating myself. It’s just that the material school was telling me to read wasn't stimulating me intellectually. Their advice was on point. Reading does expand the mind and is very beneficial. But I couldn’t focus on stuff that didn’t engage me. What engaged me was reading all the personal development and spiritual books I could find. Read my article on 7 Books that blew my mind open to find out more.?

I write all of this to invite you to think about this: what once came effortlessly to you that you really enjoyed doing and for whatever reason you stopped doing or aren’t doing enough?

What I’ve found along my journey is that when I wasn’t in pursuit of money but pursued the things that felt aligned to my soul, the money followed. Because people pay for energy. And when you’re doing the thing that lights you up and brings you joy, your energy is magnetic, contagious, infectious. People want more of it. They value your energy. They value you. And most importantly you begin to love yourself and your life.