Develop Your Unique “Talent Stack”

Every person is blessed with a “talent stack”: a unique combination of talents, skills, and abilities that, when combined, is worth more than the sum of their parts. Your talent stack is a powerful, one-of-a-kind, success tool kit. It gives you a distinctive edge in this world filled with billions and billions of people. So it’s worth considering your talent stack.

Dilbert cartoonist Scott Adams calls the stacking of talents “the math of success”. In the book “How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big“, he shares this simple equation:

Success Formula = Good + Good > Excellent

Adams also puts it like this:

“Every skill you acquire doubles your odds of success.”

Talents have a way of working in concert and amplifying each other. It’s freeing and empowering to look at life this way. You don’t have to be over-the-top-excellent or better-than-everyone-else at any given skill. You just need a variety of good skills that, together, create some magic.

Adams elaborates by saying:

“The idea is that you can raise your market value by being merely good – not extraordinary – at more than one skill.”

My Talent Stack

Take a look at the photo in this blog article. It’s a visual interpretation of my talent stack to illustrate the idea. It’s not exhaustive. But I’ve also been generous with myself. Remember, the talents in my stack don’t require world-class ability; they just have to be “good enough”. I’ve included the skills in my talent stack, represented byy the objects in the photo, as follows:

Beast Mode (T-Rex)

Ambition, Persistence, Self-Discipline, Resilience

Joyfully Nurturing Excellence (Flower)

In People, Plants, Projects, and Myself

Painting (Paint Brush)

Holiday Window Painting, Original Picture Design, Lettering, Tempera, Paint Pens, Acrylic, Canvas Painting

Photography (Camera)

Digital SLR, Aesthetics, Photo Editing, Portrait, Landscape, Product, Video Photography and Editing

Computer Skills (Laptop)

Blog Website, Social Media, Data Organization, Various Software Proficiency, eBay Sales

Relationships (Wedding Ring)

Spouse, Mother, Daughter, Family, Friends, Colleagues, Mentors, my Cat, Everyone, Everything, the Universe, Attitude of Generosity, Love

Communication (Phone)

Responsiveness, Openness, Initiative, Written, Spoken, Non-Verbal, Kindness, Business, Persuasion, Encouraging, Caring, Connection, Professional TV News One-Man-Band Reporter Experience, Journalism and Communication Bachelor’s Degree

Healthy Habits (Apple)

Self-Care, Healthy Eating, Sleep, Exercise

Time Management (Timer)

Focus, Timer Use, Daily Planning, Calendar Use, Ability to Finish, Ability to Stay on Schedule, Timing

Vision (Glasses)

Future Focus, Strategy, Visualization, Optimism, Creativity

Writing (Journal and Pen)

Spelling, Grammar, Clarity, Order, Formatting, Conversational, Short or Long Form, Blogging, Journaling

Money Management ($100 Bill)

Eliminate Debt, Build Wealth, Frugality, Budgeting, Math, Sales, Investing, Income, Entrepreneurism

Continuous Learning (Book)

Study of Practical, Philosophical, and Intellectual Ideas, Cultivation of Good Luck, Kaizen (Continuous Improvement), Compounding Growth, Personal Development

Again, I’m not claiming any of my skills listed above are outstanding. Just good enough to provide some benefit. Looking at my talent stack, and considering how my abilities combine and compound on each other, it makes me feel confident about the toolbox I’m working with, and my possibilities for the present and future.

This talent stack idea is especially meaningful to me right now, because I’m writing and creating a book about holiday window painting. I’ve never finished, published, or sold a book before. So I can’t rely on repeating a victory from the past. But, I can cobble together my existing talents and abilities, and continue to develop them. It seems that I already have a decent stack of skills, so I’ll just need to leverage them in new ways, and have a little faith.

I suggest you build your own unique talent stack. It’s a powerful exercise. It’s good to focus on your strengths. You can build your own literal talent stack of objects. Or write out a list. Or just mentally catalog your talents. Even casually. Be generous with yourself. Think about how your talents might combine with exponential benefits. The results will remind you of your great capabilities and your incredible possibility for success.