Is Education the Key to Success?

Every person has a talent or gift that the world will make room for. It is this gift that will enable you to fulfill your vision. It will make a way for you in life.

by Joshua Devaratnam

How will your gift make room for you?

What you were designed to be known for is your gift.

Every person has a talent or gift that the world will make room for. It is this gift that will enable you to fulfill your vision. It will make a way for you in life. It is in exercising this gift that you will find real fulfillment, purpose, and contentment in your work.

It is interesting to see that we have never been taught this. We are told from a young age that only education is needed for you to make it in life. Well this can be true to a certain extend but how about the others who have been truly successful but never had any education.

"Every person has a talent or gift that the world will make room for. It is this gift that will enable you to fulfill your vision. It will make a way for you in life. It is in exercising this gift that you will find real fulfillment, purpose, and contentment in your work."

Somehow we have swallowed the idea that education is the key to success. Our families and societies have reinforced this idea to us, but we will have to change our perspective if we are to be truly successful.

Education is not the only key to success

Education is not the only key to success in my opinion. Don't misunderstand me. I believe in education. However, if education were the only key to success, then everyone who has a Ph.D. would be financially secure and happy. Do you see that happening around you? I see people around me making enough to get by or they earn big salaries but work crazy hours with limited time to spend with their families. They don't really enjoy the perks of being successful.

Also, there’s tons of degree holders and PHD holders that are well educated but not living a comfortable life. Their wages are probably enough to pay for their commitments. And most people end up working to pay of their debts that they have accumulated from taking loans to either pay off car loans, education loans and housing loans.

I have met so many people that stay at a job they do not like because their commitments are holding them down. Some even stay in toxic environments because of this. So, how can we get around this?

If you are intelligent but are not exercising your gift, you're probably going to be poor. If you're educated but have not developed your talent, you're likely going to be depressed, frustrated, and tired.

You will hate going to work on Monday mornings.

Education, in itself, doesn't guarantee anything

It is your gift that is the key to your success.

A man's/woman's gift brings him before great people. You don't realize that the gift you're sitting on is loaded. The world won't move over for you just because you're smart. However, when you exercise your gift, not only will the world make room for you, but it will also pay you for it. Anyone - yourself included - who discovers his or her gift and develops it will become a commodity. If you're a young person in high school or college who is planning your career, don't do what people say will make you a lot of money. Do what you were born to do, because that is where you will make your money.

When you exercise your gifting, money will be a byproduct of what you love doing. No matter how big the world is, there's a place for you in it when you discover and manifest your gift.

"When you exercise your gifting, money will be a byproduct of what you love doing. No matter how big the world is, there's a place for you in it when you discover and manifest your gift. "

Alexander Graham Bell believed that sound could be converted into electrical impulses and transmitted by wire.

No one remembers those who thought he was crazy. We remember only the man who had the vision and created the telephone. If you do things in a halfway manner, you can always find a job somewhere. Yet if you do just enough to get by, you are going to remain simply an employee. However, if you decide that you're going to find something that is truly yours, then you will fulfill your vision, and you will be remembered by others.

Ask yourself today whether you are happy at what you are currently doing. If you are then, most likely you are at a place where you have been destined to be. If you are not, then ask yourself whether you are practicing what you are truly gifted at.

For example, if you have the gift of speaking but you are at a job that’s purely administrative with not much speaking involved then maybe its time to consider a career change. Or perhaps the place you are at was preparing and molding you for the next season of your life. You will always have a stirring within your heart when its time to move or consider a career change which involves your gifting. My advice is to go with your gut feeling and have the faith that you are making the right decisions.

"You will always have a stirring within your heart when its time to move or consider a career change which involves your gifting. My advice is to go with your gut feeling and have the faith that you are making the right decisions."

I have personally made a choice to quit my job because my true potential was not being realised at the job I was at previously. My gifting is in connecting with people, writing, public speaking and in the area of music.

Currently im teaching and playing music. I started #thecouragecatalogue to cultivate my gift of speaking and writing. I currently post lots of speaking content on both my Instagram and Facebook pages.

Am I an overnight success story? Of course not, it will take time for your giftings to manifest but I find tremendous joy and peace doing what im gifted at and eventually as I consistently work at my giftings, success will definitely find me. I truly believe this with all my heart. You can too!

by Joshua Devaratnam

Founder of thecouragecatalogue