Hey, how are you today?

First lemme start by saying that sometimes English actually annoys me – not the language itself, but having to be all conscious and meticulous about tense, word placement, conjugation, spelling, context, effective messaging – ugh!

Sometimes it’s borderline unappealing and I’d much rather hum or sing a melody, dance out the message or point to something with a quick head-nod to avoid having to start piecing together the endless puzzle of words or decoding them to either deliver or understand a message.

(Even to type all that as an explanation is…kinda tiring actually – for the brain. The actual typing is a breeze, but do you ever feel like the act of consciously thinnnnkkkkiiiiinnnng is – well, work? That’s probably ’cause it is. It’s also an amazing gift – to have a functioning brain and to make use of it.

Onto the message of the day, shall we? Let’s get to those pros of having a good command of English (or any language, including sign language) and I’ll share a free online tool that’s a boss at real-time assistance with grammar.

I can trace this feeling about English to a seed of ingratitude in me (not cool, but being honest and here’s why.) Languages and writing are something that I always ‘took to,’ having grown up reading a book a day for quite a number of years plus writing songs, journal entries, and short-stories from early school days.

But, as a Singer and musician, I have struggled with fully embracing and fusing this admin and organizational set of skills which have consistently been and still to this day are key assets in my business and the businesses of my friends and clients. It’s not that they’re not enjoyable; it’s just that – well…ingratitude, let’s just call it what it is, uh?

Are you a good communicator?

How’s your command of the English language, and are you using that skill to its fullest potential?

Journaling and Blogging have re-awakened my passion for fluent writing, and though business is often the topic, it’s still a beautiful dance for me because blogging is an adventure that puts a pep in my step now it’s aligned with messages designed to serve – and because y’all are here.

Here’s how a ‘good’ use of the English language (or any) has come in handy and it can do the same and beyond for you:

• reading my Bible (had to put that first for me)
• understanding the essence of messages received + communicating with others
• speaking up for someone else or highlighting a socially significant message
• writing creative business proposals for others, like the one on the menu today
• getting the punchline of a decent joke
• e-mail writing + marketing
• hosting / watching live videos + webinars
• song + script writing + listening
• course creation + eBook composition
• compiling accurate meeting minutes
• blogging 

Ever heard of Grammarly? Well, it’s literally highlighting any typos as I shape this post – showing corrections and offering better approaches to structuring sentences. Download it (free) and it’ll start working across the platforms you use for typing.

So what about you?

What gift or skill do you have that maybe you’re not using to its fullest potential or even exercising at all?

How can you start to:

• serve others through that gift or skill
• equip or present your business more clearly
• using your skill or knack for English to earn through any of the pros listed earlier 
• show thanks for the gift, skill, time & sound mind you still have to make use of them

As dull as some things may seem in some seasons, laziness and ingratitude are not healthy things to hold onto as habits. We’re all works in progress, so let’s progress through our works! It’s all by grace so puffing ourselves up just won’t work – it’s kinda like trying to ride a bicycle on balloons for wheels – epic fail.

But hey, we’re still here and each of us has a set of gifts – whether English is one of your leading ones or not, you’ve made it through a whole blog post about it, so that’s an indicator that maybe you can make use of it to help others, read a book and learn something, share a message, and boost your business at the same time.

Ready? Set! Grow!