Time to read: 4 minutes
Article-at-a-glance:
- The “Acres of Diamonds” story reminds us that we often overlook the value and opportunities right where we are.
- Gratitude helps shift our focus from what’s missing to what’s already abundant in our lives and work.
- Asking how we can be helpful in our roles, teams, or communities reveals hidden strengths and chances to grow.
- Others can often see our “diamonds” more clearly than we can. Ask for their perspective to uncover what you might miss.
Earl Nightingale, an American author and radio speaker, once told the story of an African farmer who learned of diamond discoveries in his country, and then sold his farm to seek his fortune elsewhere.
But this story comes with a twist: the farmer hadn’t realized that his land was actually covered in diamonds, because he didn’t know how to recognize them in their rough state.
We do this in our own lives when we think the grass is greener on the other side. When we focus on what we lack, we fail to see the value in where we are because we’re dazzled by something “out there.”
This is more than a cautionary tale to appreciate what we have. This story can awaken us to the real treasures hiding in plain sight.
How to See the Diamonds in Our Lives
How can we recognize the opportunities and abundance in our own lives instead of focusing on everyone else’s diamonds? How can we recognize our diamonds in their rough state?
Gratitude
A very simple way to find diamonds? Decide to look for them because where focus goes, energy flows.
Sometimes, it’s just a matter of noticing. Gratitude invites us to pause and acknowledge the great things in our life right now.
When you see what you have, you start to realize how abundant your life is instead of focusing on what you lack. Not only does this make you happier, it can help you notice opportunities and resources and then utilize them.
Your Three Circles Journey
You are your own acres of diamonds, and your Three Circles Journey helps you realize the diamonds that lie within you: your strengths, your talents, and your contribution.
This is a lifelong journey with no real destination, because it’s a path you follow, not a summit you reach.
As you look for ways to be helpful, hone your skills, and try new things, you’ll find those diamonds and prepare for opportunities.
Ask Yourself: How Can I Be Helpful Where I Am?
What opportunities are there in your current role?
Sometimes we think we need to change roles, completely overhaul our lives, or be perfectly in our Three Circles 100% of the time to find diamonds. Like the farmer in the story, we overlook the opportunities around us because we’re focused on something else.
Often, there are clues right where we are. Ask your teammates where you’re already helpful and how you can be more helpful. Start by doing the work you were hired to do to the best of your ability, because if we hired you to do something, you can bet that thing is a need we have, and fulfilling that need is helpful!
We can always expand our role, but the point is to start where we are.
This doesn’t have to be confined to work. How can you be helpful in your family and in your community? Look for ways to help those around you, and you’ll find endless opportunities.
Talk to People Who See You Clearly
Our own farms look ordinary to us, but we may actually be the greener grass to someone else! Often, we don’t recognize our own strengths, so we need to ask others who might be able to see those diamonds from where they’re standing.
Ask your team what your strengths are. After all, our strengths seem ordinary to us because they’re built into who we are, and they feel like no big deal. To others, these same strengths might be incredibly valuable and unique.
Conversely, the person whose diamonds you covet might not see those same diamonds in their own lives. Help others find their own diamonds by sharing how they’re helpful and where you see their strengths!
The Diamonds Are Already Here.
They might not sparkle yet. They might look like ordinary dirt. But when we slow down, ask good questions, and choose to be helpful right where we are, we start to uncover the gems in our roles, our relationships, and in ourselves.
You don’t need to chase something far away to find meaning or momentum. You just need to look with fresh eyes.
So pause. Ask. Listen. Contribute. Reflect. That’s how we recognize the acres of diamonds we’re already standing on!
