This story is  an example of many  I have heard from talented people  who, despite their many gifts, are adrift when trying to find a future as challenging as it is personally rewarding.

I’m lost and I need help. I don’t know what I want to do and I don’t how to figure it out. I’m floundering, doing different jobs, hoping I’d find the right work, the right place and the right people, and nothing’s even come close.

I was the one most likely to succeed; the one who could do and get anything he wanted. I was a stand out in high school; team captain in two sports, president of student government, graduated with high honors, all without breaking much of a sweat. I went to an Ivy League university and that’s when I lost my way. I didn’t do drugs or drop out. I just couldn’t figure out the direction my life was supposed to take.

As far back as I can remember, I wanted to play sports. By the time I got to high school it was more than a dream, it was an ambition. My coaches said I had talent, I just needed drive.  As I think back on it, they knew what my problem was. I relied too much on natural ability.  So much came to me, so easily, that I didn’t have to work at it. I just had to show up. That was true in academics, on the playing field, and with friends.

When I went to a competitive university, there were plenty of students with talent, and most of them had drive. Within weeks it was clear. It didn’t matter that I was ‘gifted’. Compared to those achievers, I was back of the pack. Instead of adjusting, I responded the only way I knew. I pretended I was more than I was. Instead of trying harder (I didn’t develop study skills when I was in high school, because I didn’t need them) I didn’t try. Instead of becoming humble I became arrogant. I didn’t talk, I argued. I turned friends into enemies and enemies into disinterested parties. Professors took no interest in me because I wasn’t interested in class or what they were teaching.

By the time I graduated, I had a meaningless major and a bad attitude. I’ve been drifting since.

The primary challenge faced by those born with gifts who didn’t earn them, is finding directions that are as compelling  as they are challenging  and sticking with them long enough and strong enough to achieve the expert status they believe themselves capable of attaining.

Although your story is as personal as it is complex, there are fundamental ways to work your way through a maze of indecision:

Follow your interests.

Develop your strengths.

Define your values.

Interests keep you focused and strengths keep you learning. Strengths keep you trying and interests keep you motivated.  In combination, values, interests, and strengths sustain you when opening doors to people and opportunities that enhance your capacity to become more than even you thought possible.