In addition to the ability to hope, with which we are all endowed (as humans), each one of us is also individually and very uniquely gifted with an exceptional talent in one or two particular areas of human endeavors—such as music, poetry, mathematics, carpentry, masonry, law, entertainment, engineering, business, parenting, oratory, surgery, sports, journalism, etc. A successful discovery of your true calling (when combined with the capacity to hope) can make an immense difference in the quality and scope of personal achievements and overall fulfillment in life.

Lamentably, many live their entire lives without ever identifying their true calling. Consequently, they never achieve their full potential and become optimally accomplished or fulfilled. I have often wondered what could have become of Amadeus Mozart or Marie Curie if their talent in music and science, respectively, had never been unmasked. What other possible life endeavors could they have pursued as successfully, and how accomplished or consequential to humanity would they have turned out to be under this alternative scenario?

Some of us just luckily “stumble” on our true calling purely by chance, and as a result, become quite successful and accomplished in life. Such was the case with Dan Gilbert, the now world-famous psychologist who at the age of 19 was a high-school dropout daydreaming about writing........

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