Are you a "the"?

I read this post on Seth Godin's Blog:

The article in the Times didn't set out to say something vitally important about marketing, but it did. In starting off a profile it says,
"For the past couple of years Jun Kaneko, the ceramic artist..."

It didn't say "a ceramic artist." No. It said, "the ceramic artist".

The entire tone of the piece changes. It's so much better to be a 'the' not an 'a'.

Which are you?

I don't think it's a trivial distinction. In fact, I'd argue that it's worth an enormous amount of your time and your budget to focus on becoming the.

After reading this, it made me think about something I heard John Maxwell say. He said, "People stand in line for above average." He was talking about developing your strengths. Spend 80% of your time working on your strengths.

Let's say you are weak in something or not gifted at something - rank that as a 4. (below average)

Then rank something that you feel you are good at or gifted at - rank that as a 7. (above average)

Now - your odds are pretty good that you can get that 7 to a 10 if you work on it. However, no matter how hard you work on your "ungiftedness", you will never be able to get it above a 7.

People stand in line for 10s. Find out your strengths - spend time working on them, and become a "the"!